Friday, October 28, 2011

Rico Jazz Select Filed Revisited

Sometime last year I reviewed Rico Jazz Select Reeds, and I've recently tried the Filed version again so I wanted to post an update. I accidentally purchased two boxes at the store, and before I realized my mistake I had opened the box! Disappointed I had made such a blatant mistake I slapped one on anyways, and there was something alluring about the sound. I've practiced with them this week, and decided to re-review them this week.

Here is a quick list of the highlights:
  • Clear & balanced sound
  • Sufficient punch or edge created by the reed
  • Fairly easy to keep a clear sound even after embouchure fatigue
This combination creates a reed that is malleable and easily shaped by the player, as opposed to reed that shaped the player's sound for him or her. The RJS filed reeds are much like a mouthpiece with a medium baffle that sometimes offers a wider sound palette than one with a high baffle.

As far as consistency goes, if you expect the same you get from most brands of reeds you'll be happy. Here are a couple clips from a recent playtest.

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4 comments:

  1. UnknownOctober 28, 2011 at 2:07 PM

    But is your current choice still the orange box reeds or have you switched to these now? I've been using Van Doren Javas since they were introduced but I think I'm in between strengths right now and I've been debating trying the RJS as I might be able to get a close to the middle. Anyway just wondering.
    Thanks,
    -Barry

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ben BrittonOctober 28, 2011 at 7:45 PM

    I switched from Rico Orange to RJS Unfiled a while ago. Now I'm thinking of switching to the Filed. In my experience it's hard to find that in between reed strength. I had a similar experience searching for that right strength, and I finally resolved it with some embouchure changes. Now I'm more flexible in terms of what reed strength I am comfortable with.

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  3. UnknownOctober 29, 2011 at 6:39 AM

    Oh okay I went back through your equipment reviews and just saw the one about the orange box reeds...must have bypassed the update. Yeah I feel like I can play on either the Java 3 or 3.5 (harder side of one softer side of the other) but the 3's seemed to go south a lot quicker than I wanted them to. I've been back on 3.5 for a month or so because I feel like I can work with them and play in the ones that are too hard so more reeds are potentially good...it's tough though because sometimes playing in a harder reed ends up with it feeling stuffy...oh well, enough stream of consciousness....except to say that I've always gravitated towards unfiled because I think I've noticed that filed reeds don't last as long for me...but who knows?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ben BrittonOctober 29, 2011 at 7:57 AM

    In my experience a good reed last around a week or even a little less.

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