Last year I bought as a trial Fiberreed Hemp M and was from the beginning struck by its warm deep sound that I was looking for on my Yani Tenor Sax.
I am playing with a Dave Guardala Fat Boy mouthpiece with a gap of 8…
Being a happy user of Legere American Cut 2.5mm for some time, I missed that rough Sax sound in my playing. And here it was….
However, to play a full pop song with the HEMP M got me often short of breath, so than I have been looking for other Hartmann reeds, than would give me both the warm deep rough sound and won‘t give me the breath supply problems. I bought other Hartmann reeds through Thomann, such as the Carbon reed and the Copper Carbon Classic reed, all in M or 2.5mm strength.
For me, the Carbon reed didn‘t bring me what I was looking for, but the Copper Carbon Classic, gave me almost all I wanted. Really very smooth and easy to blow, and the vibrations especially in the middle to lower tone-range are fantastic. All in all, I played this reed for awhile happily, but found that this Copper Carbon reed of 2.5mm is a little too soft for me, as occasionally my lip pressure cuts the sound completely, so, that was kind of annoying, at times.
So, I had been thinking, perhaps I should try the same reed ( Copper Carbon Classic) in a stronger version; the 3.0mm model.
At the same time I thought perhaps the HEMP reed in M is a bit too strong for me, so I decided to buy the HEMP MS for a try.
Wow, what I did was for me, absolutely the answer to all my blowing problems.
The HEMP MS is playing fantastic, gives me the warm deep rough Sax sound and the easiness of blowing, and has become my No. 1 favourite reed by now.
The Copper Carbon Clasic 3.0mm also gives me the right strength for playing in all registers impeccably, and also with warm rough Sax sounds, albeit a little brighter, which is also excellent.
So, my final verdict: Harry Hartmann’s Fiberreed HEMP MS is my # 1 favourite, whilst the Copper Carbon Classic 3.0 is my runner up.
With both reeds I can produce sounds that are out of this world…. 😊
It did take quite some investment in expensive reeds, but for me it was worthwhile, to discover the perfect tools that makes make music fun for me…. 😊 😊
