Premier Synthetic Alto Saxophone Reed

If you are new to synthetic reeds, then this is the option for you. This reed is constructed in a way that it plays, feels, and looks exactly like a natural reed! Everyone who I have shown my reed to is blown away that it's synthetic. There are a couple other people in the band with synthetic reeds, but they are clear plastic, which is much more obviously synthetic. Looks aside though, this reed plays great! I have had a ton of difficulties finding the right reed for my instrument. I thought there was something wrong with my sax because with a natural reed it would basically quit playing about an hour into rehearsals. I finally decided to try experimenting on synthetic reeds, and now that I have found fibracell I don't think I'll ever go back to natural reeds. In my case, the wood reeds really did seem to be the cause of my poor sound quality and my difficulty in playing. In the month or two that I have been using fibracell I play better, can play for longer periods of time, and have a MUCH nicer sound quality than I have ever had before! Now, one word of caution. These reeds seem to be about a half to a full step "softer" than natural reeds. I normally play a 2.5 strength natural reed, so I originally bought a 2.5 fibracell reed. This was a mistake. The 2.5 strength reed was SO soft that I had a very hard time blowing any harder than a whisper. If you are used to stiff reeds then you may find that these reeds "lock up" if you blow very hard at all. For that reason, I suggest that when buying a Fibracell reed you step up the strength at least a half to a full step stronger than what you are used to with natural reeds. I decided to step up slowly and I purchased the strength 3 reed. The strength 3 reed plays MUCH better than the 2.5 did. It honestly still feels just a little bit soft compared to what I was used to, but it's really growing on me. Though I may eventually try to step it up again to 3.5. All in all, this is an excellent synthetic reed. Best one I have found yet. Better than clear plastic looking ones that cost twice as much. Get a couple of these things and they will last you longer than an entire box of natural reeds and you will sound a LOT better!