how much weight can reasonably be put on the tip of a reed

[Wolf Molkentin]

hi all,

 

as I‘m resuming my EC activities 😊:

 

the pic included shows a pair of D# reeds, which I’m intending to tune down to Bb, but restricted to adding even more lead (as opposed to further weakening the „belly“ through heavy filing)

 

they‘re perfectly responsive in their current state - can I reasonably expect them to still speak when tuned to Bb that way?

 

any suggestions welcome!

 

@adrian brown, would really appreciate your input

 

best wishes and many thanks in advance, 

🐺

 

 

Edited April 2 by Wolf Molkentin
expanding my post, replacing pic with edited version

[d.elliott]

Bb to D# is a 6th of an octave or 5 semitones, it is a lot. The common yardstick is the down tune of the low G# to F nat on an English, often done by weighting to preserve the strength in the working area of the reed. Even this can occasionally, slow the responsivness of the reed pair. The G# to F is a fourth, or three semitones.

 

At least you can always undo solder, just protect the working area of the tongue with a heatsink.

 

[Wolf Molkentin]

thank you David!

 

apart from my treble ECs (which I all tuned down from Ab - my choice throughout - to F at the low end, just as mentioned in your reply) I‘ve already successfully done it over 4 semitones with my TT (D# to B natural) as well

 

but I‘m intending to play this tenor in its lower keys (starting with F major), so the Bb seems more useful, which would in fact make for the widest gap to date for me

 

OTOH, these reeds had already been extra-weighted before I‘m even starting; but I take it from your reply that this doesn‘t mean so much on its own as long as they are working fine presently

 

best wishes, 🐺

 

Edited April 2 by Wolf Molkentin
expanding my reply

[wunks]

Assuming a Bb shoe won't fit the slot, If you could come up with a C or C# that would, you could work from that.  

[Wolf Molkentin]

13 minutes ago, wunks said:

Assuming a Bb shoe won't fit the slot, If you could come up with a C or C# that would, you could work from that.  

 

thank you for the suggestion!

 

but no surplus reed shoes available here unfortunately

 

(and they would have to be fairly short, so most likely of the same size, with tongues possibly even further weighted already)

 

best wishes, 🐺

 

 

 

Edited April 2 by Wolf Molkentin
expanding my reply

[adrian brown]

Sorry Wolf,

 

I've only just seen that you reached out to me in your original post. The only thing I have done like this is to take one of the duplicate low Bb's on the Jeffries 38 Anglo layout down to a low D (6th). I've had to do it on all my Anglos to keep the relative layouts the same and the only one that was a bit tricky was on my FC Anglo, where the response is a bit iffy. (On an FC, it's an Eb - G, so hardly surprising...)

But it's worth bearing in mind that with a low D on a Anglo it's enough to simply suggest the low note - it's never really going to be used in a bass run, so it can be a bit weak and will still sound great in a chord. 

I hope this helps 🙂

 

Adrian