Rico Reserve Baritone Saxophone Organic Reed-3.0 ODLR0530

In my quest for better health for my whole family, I’ve been considering what we use the most in our daily lives, and if those items are keeping us on track for a healthier lifestyle. For the budding sax player in the family, his musical instrument is what he uses the most. We recently had a conversation about instrument hygeine, sanitizing reeds, etc. after practice – which led us to consider what those little wooden reeds are actually made of. When I heard that D’Addario also makes organic reeds, I knew we had to try them out. Turns out we are both glad that we did! He moved from tenor to bari sax not too long ago, and he was nervous about having the capacity to make some of those bigger, bolder sounds. However, he’s doing fantastic, and well on his way to being the next Leo P (yes, he loves to dance too)! The reed might be the smallest part of the saxophone, but using a reed that is well-made promises a beautiful return. That’s why quality is so important, and no doubt these will be the reeds we choose from now on. He’s highly satisfied with these, and I feel good about him using them as well!

子どもがバリトンサックスを演奏しているので購入。
一番最初に購入した時、5本のうち3本に割れがあり返品しましたが、その時の対応が良く（キャンセルしたい旨連絡すると、すぐに返信が来て、お詫びとともに返品方法の手順が記載されていました。また、交換も可能との別の選択肢も書かれており、購入者の立場に立った対応だと感じました。この時は交換だと使いたい日までに間に合わなかったため、キャンセルし返品しました。返品後は速やかに返金もされました）、以降定期的に購入しています。
子どもの話では、価格がリーズナブルなので少し心配だったが、特に問題なく使えているとのこと。子どもの友人もよく使っているらしいので、良い商品なのだと思います。

I’m no musician, but rather, the parent of one. The bari sax reeds I’ve been buying over the years cost 30% more than these and my sone likes these just fine. Time will tell if they last as long, but for now…we are very happy with these.

Although a bit stiff (3.5 strength) for my current embouchure, these are good playing baritone saxophone reeds right out of the box. My personal experience in testing these seems to indicate they produce a bit warmer sound with my Selmer SA clone.

Although these reeds do NOT come with traditionally available rigid plastic reed holders, they are packaged attractively in custom cardboard holders. I tried several reeds from the package of 5; they all played consistently through all registers, but I did notice one reed could be just a bit stiffer than the next. The reeds seated well against the facings of the mouthpieces used, indicating little to no unevenness to this portion of the reeds tested.

I tried the reeds with a variety of both metal, plastic & hard rubber mouthpieces & did find the reeds seemed to play more comfortably for me with a particular stock mouthpiece I have available; the reeds played less well with other mouthpieces on hand, including an Otto Link Tone Edge piece, but please remember these reeds are firmer than I’m accustomed to using at present. Also, any reed may perform better, sometimes much better, by shaving a small amount of cane material from certain areas of the reed. However, I did not modify these reeds in any way during the testing.

I recommend these quality made baritone saxophone reeds for all player levels for a variety of genres.

NOTE: I didn’t have access to a bari over the summer, but tried the tenor version of these reeds, which after a close inspection and trial with my bari mouthpiece, I assume will perform roughly the same.

I’ve played on Vandoren reeds for nearly two decades, but am always on the lookout for a better reed—or at least a viable alternative. For me, these didn’t quite hit either mark, but are still a very good reed.

I randomly selected one from the box and got it ready—I generally let a new reed soak for a half hour, dry out, and then wet it again—and took a look. The tip was uniform and the heart was consistent (see the picture). The grain was almost perfectly straight, too. It played pretty well, too, though like most reeds, it needs more of a break-in period to tell for sure.

The one thing I did not test is the longevity, and I read some reviews that said these “die” pretty quickly. I can’t comment on that directly, but will update my review if I experience this.

Overall, as i noted previously, this is a very good reed, and if you’re looking to try something new, give this one a shot.