I Tried Plastic Saxophone Reeds… Again

The reed is our favorite thing to blame when we’re not getting the best sound on the saxophone right? It makes total sense that technology can solve this problem for us and be able to provide a saxophone reed that is perfectly consistent, sounds great and lasts a very long time.

Who wouldn’t want that?

So why are we still mostly playing on dried out pieces of grass like this then? Surely, synthetic reeds are superior.

Légére French Cut Reeds Review

I’ve been trying every brand of synthetic reed for many years hoping to find the holy grail and today I’m at it again. I’m going to try these new plastic reeds from Légére. This is their latest offering that they call French Cut which they describe as being darker than both their signature and the American cut reeds.

I have several different strengths of these for both alto and tenor, so in addition to giving you my thoughts on these reeds and doing a review, I’m also going to demonstrate for you how the different strengths perform and sound on the same mouthpieces to hopefully help you in choosing the best strength reed for yourself whether that’s synthetic or cane.

I recorded a bunch of playing examples on alto and tenor using different mouthpieces so get your ears ready. I put time stamps so you can jump around and compare quickly and I will put links to everything I’m playing in the description for you.

Légére Alto Reeds

First let’s start on alto and I’m playing this amazing new BetterSax Tradition alto saxophone this is the one that is a for-rent only instrument available exclusively from Sweetwater in the US. And I envy any kid in school that gets one of these to rent.

I did not have an instrument of this quality and caliber until I was in my second year of university and my parents had to lay out a ton of money. This horn is killer!

I’m playing the BetterSax Burnin’ mouthpiece with a 7 tip opening, and starting out with a Légére French Cut 2.25 strength plastic reed.

The musical selection is an etude I wrote on the chord changes to But Not For Me. I made that for BetterSax Studio which is my online interactive lesson group.

Légére French Cut 2.25 on Burnin’ mouthpiece

I started out on the softest of these reeds that I have and I’m working my way up. The 2.25 played well, but was a bit on the soft side. When reeds are too soft, the upper register can go flat and you’ll have less reliability in the altissimo range. Not to mention the sound can get a bit brighter and buzzier.

Légére French Cut 2.5 & 2.75 on Burnin’ mouthpiece

These two strengths were right in the sweet spot for me on this 7 tip opening mouthpiece. Remember that the tip opening of your mouthpiece is going to have a big impact on which reed strength you choose. A more open mouthpiece will want a softer reed and vice versa.

Légére French Cut 3.0 on Burnin’ mouthpiece

The 3.0 is getting on the too resistant side straight out of the box. You do have to account for the fact that even these plastic reeds will soften a bit once they get broken in, so if you want to play a reed for months, you’ll want it to be a bit on the hard side at first.

Just like with cane reeds, if I played synthetic reeds, I would want to have softer and harder reeds ready to go for different situations.

Sometimes you’ll be in a setting where you are going to be putting a ton of air through the horn and you want more resistance from your reed. Other times you will be playing in quieter setting and want a softer more responsive reed.

Comparing a Synthetic Reed to a Cane Reed

Before we move on, let me play the same selection on a cane reed with the Burnin’ mouthpiece. This is a BetterSax Jazz Cut reed 2.5 strength right out of the box, no adjustments or breaking it in first. I just wet it in my mouth very briefly.

I’m going to save my thoughts on cane vs plastic for the end, but feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts based on what you hear as we go.

Is French Cut for Classical Style?

Now the Légére people told me that these French cut reeds were designed to be a classical style reed, but that a lot of jazz musicians were liking them, so that’s why I played a jazz selection on a jazz mouthpiece.

Now I’m going to play a classical selection on these same reeds but using a more closed mouthpiece. This is the BetterSax Classic mouthpiece which is designed to be a versatile and affordable plastic student mouthpiece.

Légére French Cut 3.0 on Classic mouthpiece

I started out with the hardest reed since the tip opening of the Classic mouthpiece is much smaller than the Burnin’.

The music is from an upcoming BetterSax course on Classical Etudes by my former teacher Bob Faub. Key an eye out for that course coming soon.

Légére French Cut 2.75 on Classic mouthpiece

Unfortunately I did not have anything harder than a 3.0. These French Cut reeds play a lot softer for me than other Légére cuts. Even their reed strength comparison chart shows this.

I think a 3.25 or 3.5 would work quite well on the Classic mouthpiece.

Légére French Cut 2.50 on Classic mouthpiece

As I tried the softer reeds, things got worse. The sound suffered, the pitch went flat, and when I played the 2.25 strength Légére French Cut, it just distorted even with very little air.

Légére French Cut 2.25 on Classic mouthpiece

So if you want to get a clearer, rounder sound with less buzz you’ll want a harder reed. Keep in mind the trade offs though. Harder reeds are less responsive in the low end and require a lot more control to play at softer volumes.

Testing Légére American and Signature Cuts on Alto

I also compared these to a Légére American cut and Signature cut, both of which I found to be darker than the French Cut which is the exact opposite of what Légére says about these on their website. If you play Légére reeds please let us know in the comments your thoughts on how the different cuts compare.

Légére American & Signature Cut 2.50 and 2.75 on both Classic & Burnin’ mouthpieces

The signature 2.75 worked great on the Classic mouthpiece and I think that got me the best classical sound out of everything I tried. The American cut 2.5 also sounded good on the Classic mouthpiece and wasn’t too soft.

On the Burnin’ 7 tip opening the Signature 2.75 was too resistant for me but the American Cut 2.5 played nicely and I found it to be less buzzy than the French Cut.

My Favorite Combination for Alto

So out of all of those alto tests my favorite Légére reed on the Burnin’ mouthpiece is the American Cut and my favorite for the Classic mouthpiece is the Signature.

You kind of have to try all this stuff out though side by side to know which one is the best match for your setup and sound concept.

Légére Tenor Reeds

Tenor players, I have not forgotten about you. I tested Légére tenor reeds as well. Here’s the French cut in 3 different strengths going up. I’m playing all of these examples on the BetterSax Classic Tenor saxophone.

The etude I’m playing is one that I wrote for the BetterSax Studio over the chord changes to Have You Met Miss Jones.

Légére French Cut 2.25, 2.5, & 2.75 on Burnin’ mouthpiece

Honestly I wasn’t liking my sound with any of these reeds. The 2.5 was probably the best match as far as strength goes.

For comparison, listen to the difference when I play a cane reed. Again this is a BetterSax Jazz Cut 2.5 straight out of the box, I wet it for no more than 10 seconds and slapped it on there.

Comparing Légére Synthetic to a Traditional Cane Reed

Not only does it sound way better, to me, the cane reed is more responsive across the range. I have more control when it comes to the tone and intonation. And perhaps the most important thing for me is that cane reeds feel much more comfortable for my mouth.

Let’s hear the Classic mouthpiece now on tenor with the Légére French Cut reeds.

Légére French Cut 2.5, & 3.0 on Classic mouthpiece

I found these French Cut reeds to be too buzzy for any kind of classical sound. Definitely would not be my choice for playing this type of etude.

Perhaps a harder reed would have helped.

Listen to the Légére Signature Cut 2.75 on the same Classic mouthpiece setup.

Légére Signature Cut 2.75 on Classic mouthpiece

Now that sounds pretty good. The 2.75 Signature cut matches very well on this mouthpiece for me.

Conclusion

So you probably have guessed that I’m not sold on the plastic reeds this time once again. I did give them a fair shake as always and I truly want to love them. Now with the various cuts and strengths that Légére offers, I know I can find reeds that sound good and match my mouthpieces well.

Don’t get me wrong, I consider these to be a good product and I know some spectacular musicians who play on them and love them. The main reason why I can’t play on these plastic reeds comes down to comfort.

After a certain amount of time playing these, I start to get this strange pain in my lips which feels like the vibration of the reed is somehow pinching me. Does anybody else get that?

Everybody’s different and I know there are people that don’t play cane reeds for various comfort reasons or even allergies. Anything that causes pain when playing the saxophone is a deal breaker for me though.

Main Takeaways

Overall, I find the new Légére French cut to be softer in relative strength as well as buzzier compared to the American Cut and even more so compared to the Signature Cut.

I would choose the American Cut for jazz and the Signature for Classical, however your experience may be very different so as I mentioned earlier, you have to try these things out to know.

So for me plastic reeds have not yet solved our reed struggles, but if you watch this video right here, you’ll learn my 14 best tips to get better performance out of every reed so you can stop blaming them and start sounding better.