Legere BB Clarinet europea Signature 4.0 Reed (bbes4.00)

I always use Legeres on my saxophones, but this is the first time I've tried it on a Clarinet. It's European Cut, so it makes me sound very sophisticated.

Pros: Fairly consistent tone, somehow evens out sound across the registers. Biggest plus is that playing altissimo is 3x easier with this reed compared to the V12s I was previously using. No need to buy a box of reeds every 3 months either.Cons: Reed shape didn't exactly fit my M14 Lyre, and I would say that it consistently plays at 85% of a cane reed's potential. It lacks a certain warmth that the best cane reeds have. Also doesn't come with a reed case? which is a small issue to deal with.

The Legere European Cut is a beautiful product. Most important thing to consider is that though it is a quality product, it is different from cane. Even among cane reeds, different cuts behave differently. So it is important to find a proper mouthpiece that is a match to this reed for the best results. I use a Backun Vocalise R model mouthpiece and it works perfectly with this reed. Cane is out of my life forever!

I haven't played on a real cane reed in ~5 years now. I think the width of the European signature cut reed series really helps match the reeds to the Vandoren V12 line, my previous cane go-to reed, and their hardness chart really does hold up. They seemed almost like sax reeds in width when first looking at them, but sure enough they mate well to Vandoren profile 88 mouthpieces and make a nice full sound. Back when I was playing weekly in a community band the reads would hold up nicely for about six months before they began to be less reliable. Part of me thinks that the high prices result from the longevity and consistency of these reeds, as I can't imagine getting a set of 4-5 of them worth almost 10% of the resale value of my clarinet! I've had many compliments on my "natural" tone despite using these very unnatural and useful reeds.

I didnt like that it was open when I got it and it was defective other than that it was fine