Légère Reeds - Tenor Saxophone Reed, Signature, Strength 3.00 (TSG3.00) - Premium Synthetic Woodwind Reed

I will preface this by saying i’ve already had several upgrades to my setup throughout my now 9 years of playing saxophone. I’ve tried many mouthpieces, ligature setups and reed brands and had settled and a wood reed that made consistently good jazz reeds for my setup, specifically vandoren zz for those who care. also for those who care my mouthpiece is a rousseau jdx6 with a 70$ metal vandoren ligature, don’t remember the exact kind. I am a college student who tried to get my wood reeds to last long and would always get complaints from my teacher that my reeds are dead. the inconsistency and degradation of wooden reeds was affecting my embouchure and limiting my growth in tone production. Long and frequent practice sessions would make my wood reeds different/worse every day. I had always dismissed plastic reeds as being unprofessional until my teacher (an incredibly talented musician who has played with many famous musicians) told me he uses plastic reeds for every saxophone except bari. He noticed the issues I was having with wooden reeds and let me try his 2.25 strength legere signature. I was floored when the tone I was getting from the reed was actual better all around and more consistent across the range of my horn (including altissimo) than almost every wooden reed i’ve ever played on. not only that but it is the same price as a box of vandoren zz which would only last me a couple months or so if that while the plastic reed does not suffer from such degradation in quality over time. The fact that the reed plays the same has allowed my tone production to become incredibly consistent and significantly improved because I don’t have to constantly readjust to different reed qualities. I would absolutely recommend this reed to anyone that has doubts about wooden reeds or can’t put up with the hassle. I won’t have to buy another reed for a long time if ever and my sound has never been better.

Returning (beginner) tenor player. Last time I tried a non-cane reed was when Fibracell was the name, and that was easily a dozen years ago. This is incredible! Truly! Box to mouthpiece & instant sound. Better balance than the Fibracell back them. Literally no more cane reeds for me!

These are the only reeds my son will use on his Cannonball Big Bell tenor sax. He loves the feel and the sound of the synthetic reed over the wood. It lasts quite a while so it's definitely worth the money.

Great reeds! They last a long time and sound good.

First, I'll start with a bit of a snarky comment to all of those reed purists out there...if you are reading this review, give up on cane as your primary reed!...it's ok, only the stuffy symphonic reed players will frown and sneer...it's ok...really...you are reading these reviews for a reason!After giving up on even finding 1-3 good reeds in a box, and then the tragic sense of loss when one of those good reeds meets their respective end of life for any reason, I initially started using the Bari brand of synthetic reeds. With a decent setup...and I will only talk tenor at this point, I got a decent sound at most levels of playing. From funk, rock, jazz, to church worship music, where the cutting edge is, at times, necessary and a sub tone, sweet sound is also needed, the synthetic reed is a valid option.Since, having a difficult time finding the Bari, brand, I tried the signature version of the legere reed for tenor sax. Again, for purposes of comparison, the current reed was a Bari med strength. (Horn is a Selmer SBA...pre mark 6, with a rovner eagle 6* metal mouthpiece and rovner lig and usually amplified with a AMT wireless sax mic) and had been in use for about a month of 3 nights a week...3-4 hours a night. So, the Bari was developing those stress cracks, which signifies eventual failure...First impressions of the legere was the sound has a bit less edge and volume than the Bari. The sound, however, seems a bit closer to a cane reed sound. Not having a decent strength comparison, and not enough of a big name player to warrant free reeds of varying strengths, it is clear that the 2.5 strength legere is softer than then Bari medium and probably even the equivalent cane reed. If play testing, I would have opted for the 2.75 strength vs. the 2.5 as these seem a bit on the weak side.The response of the reed falls in the 5 star category in my humble opinion. I cannot yet allude to the longevity, nor the difference between the signature, studio and standard. It seems you can push the reed to get a decent volume as well as very soft tones...so, I will continue to use. Altissimo notes were ok...though the softer than anticipated reed leaves the Eb and E a bit flat...could be me or the horn.I am glad the reed is out there...wish retailers would carry (Sorry Amazon) for those of us who double a lot (Sop, alto, tenor, Bari, bass and clarinet), the synthetic reed is the only choice for instant sound the moment you pick up the instrument. I say, perfection is a 5 of 5...and the weaker than anticipated strength is the main reason for a 4 of 5 rating...closer to 4.5 of 5.