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TOP TEN MOST IMPORTANT concerns when selecting a good reed:

1) Quality of cane
2) Quality of cane
3) Quality of cane
4) Quality of cane
5) Color
6) Grain
7) Thickness vs. reed strength
Contour-shape
9) Curing, maintenance, preservation
10) Serendipity: good luck..! bonne chance..!

vandoren mouthpiece
nebulizer mouthpiece
asymmetric mouthpiece

1) - 2) - 3) - 4) QUALITY of CANE - holds the key to finding a good reed. The point can not be stressed enough. A good piece of cane can usually be spotted by visual inspection.
5) COLOR - the cane should have a golden - almost buttery - appearance. There may be bark marks (often a good sign), i.e. water marks which produce dark beige and brown streaks, stains, speckles and other markings on the bark on the lower half of the reed. However, the vibrating top half should be richly hued. Avoid reeds that look very pale, sandy or whitish beige, or greenish in hue. Avoid reeds which show patches of discoloration on surface of vibrating slope, or streaks of discoloration on the back
6) GRAIN - should be uniform, from bottom to top, with evenly spaced larger grains extending all the way to the very tip (without them a reed may play well but will not last)
7) THICKNESS - in general, a good reed tends to be thin at the heel. But thickness of the basic reed stock does not relate to reed strength. The latter is an issue primarily germane to the choice of mouthpiece (see below)

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