Good Tone Guild
Location: Palm Springs, CA Web Site: http://www.goodtoneguild.com/?sec=home
Oboe Reed Reviews
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Entries (RSS) and Comments (RSS).
March 11th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
Meg has fantastic customer service, she was there every step of the way with my order. I think though after trying two reeds (exchange process was also easy) I don’t think the style is what I was looking for. Technically well executed and I will recommend everyone to give good tone guild a try, but personally I might try a few others before deciding these are truely a “fit.” I am an “adult amateur” player who was formerly very successful in my high school days.
These would be fantastic reeds for anyone in the 5th grade through high school level especially with parents who can’t believe how expensive the oboe habit gets!
Also worth noting that Meg states on the website that she tunes one type of reed sharp, keep this in mind if you already play sharp.
February 11th, 2008 at 11:12 pm
These are the most consistent reeds I have been able to find commercially available. There are other sources of very good reeds, but I typically find that out of five reeds, two will be great, two will be fine, and one will be marginal. This is NOT the case with Good Tone Guild. I have been very happy with all the reeds I have ordered from them. I was ordering the “Pro” reeds to supplement my own reed making and have recently given the “Artist” a try. In my opinion, the Artist reeds are worth the extra money.
December 2nd, 2007 at 4:01 pm
The single best reed I’ve ever played on came from Meg. It had incredible tone and response in all registers. I’ve never had a reed from her that was unsuitable for playing. Her customer service is great as well. She used to live in my area, and the first time I ordered reeds from her, she invited me to her studio so she could adjust the reeds specifically for me and give me some pointers. I recommend anyone looking for finished reeds to buy from Good Tone Guild.
October 9th, 2007 at 6:14 pm
After a bicycle accident two years ago left it almost impossible for me to hold a reed in my hand to scrape I had to look for a reed maker. After trying reeds from various makers I stumbled upon Meg’s web site. I have been using the Artist reeds ever since. The reeds are scraped to my specifications and I have never been disappointed. I plan on using Good Tone Guild reeds for many years to come.
May 4th, 2007 at 7:22 pm
I share the opinions of the last group of users. Although I came to the oboe late in life and play only for fun Meg has been unfailingly helpful and supportive, and her reeds have been consistently excellent. I live in Tasmania, and it is certainly worth my while to order them from the US rather than buy locally.
For what it is worth I crow Meg’s reeds at the bottom of the reeds near the cork.
Alex Bell
May 3rd, 2007 at 7:13 pm
I share the opinions of the last group of users. Although I came to the oboe late in life and play only for fun Meg has been unfailingly helpful and supportive, and her reeds have been consistently excellent. I live in Tasmania, and it is certainly worth my while to order them from the US rather than buy locally.
For what it is worth I crow Meg’s reeds at the bottom of the reeds near the cork.
Alex Bell
May 3rd, 2007 at 7:12 pm
I share the opinions of the last group of users. Although I came to the oboe late in life and play only for fun Meg has been unfailingly helpful and supportive, and her reeds have been consistently excellent. I live in Tasmania, and it is certainly worth my while to order them from the US rather than buy locally.
Alex Bell
April 26th, 2007 at 6:22 pm
reeds very thick and unresponsive. would not use again.
February 15th, 2007 at 4:14 pm
Oh my gosh, these reeds are less than average. I have never felt so uncomfortable playing on these reeds. They look cheap and sound cheap.
January 9th, 2007 at 5:20 am
My son started playing oboe in September 2005. I immediately did some internet searching and uncovered a couple of reedmakers, from whom I ordered a couple batches of reeds and while they sounded ok, I was never satisfied with the sound my son was making (the other oboists, all a year further along in their careers, always had a much richer tone).
In May 2006, I decided to find a new reed maker and stumbled upon reedreviews.net. I dug through all the listings here, identified a half dozen candidates and Meg’s Good Tone Guild ended up at the top of my list.
I ordered a batch of her “Rookie Reeds” and she immediately contacted me regarding my son’s skill level and playing traits in order to best fit his needs. Upon receiving the reeds, I had my son play them each for about five minutes (using Meg’s very thorough break-in instructions) and he immediately sounded better than he ever had before (this was especially surprising since the reeds were still “fresh”). His tone was much richer and smoother than he’d ever played before, and after a couple of weeks it just got better; from his perspective, my son said they were easier to play than any of the others we had tried.
Based upon our experiences with her, I would strongly recommend Meg as an oboe reed source. Her customer service is as good as it gets and the reeds are the best we’ve found for young players (from which I assume that they are just as good for more advanced oboists, too).
August 27th, 2006 at 7:30 pm
I’ve been playing these reeds since I started the Oboe (about 2 years ago) and they’ve always been pretty good, most even better than that. I’ve never had one that didn’t give me a satisfactory sound right out of the packaging. They are awesome for learning to play the Oboe! I’m a mediocre player, but I constantly get compliments on my sound. Although I am currently looking for something even better (which I haven’t found yet…) I highly recomend these reeds. Also, Meg is very helpful. I broke my “good reed” three days before a solo contest, and she sent me a new, equally nice reed just in time. I am only a high school student, but I’m pretty picky about having a nice, fairly dark sound. I think these are the best reeds for beginners/students, and, if you’re looking for reeds, you should definitely try at least one from Good Tone Guild.
May 12th, 2006 at 8:48 pm
I ordered reeds for my daughter, an aspiring young oboist. The reeds are consistent, easy to adjust, came promptly, and Meg is unbelievably helpful and generous with her time and consulting advice. These reeds are responsible for my daughter’s enthusiam about practicing the oboe. She feels successful every time and enjoys playing as a result of having a case full of good reeds. Thanks Meg!
May 1st, 2006 at 10:55 am
I have my Master’s in performance. I bought reeds from GTG to trial as a backup when I was trialing from several different suppliers mainly as suggestions for students. I had to perform the Tchaikovsky 5th this past weekend. I had nothing in my reed farm that was up to the task so i pulled three from my Good Tone Guild supply. I could have used any of the three, but played on the best of the three. I just ordered more as backup. I told Meg that I could hang up my reed making tools… her reeds are that good!
April 27th, 2006 at 9:30 pm
I have been using Good Tone Reed oboe reeds for nearly 2 years now, and I can’t possibly recommend them enough!!! I have never found a reed which was so consistent in multiple climates and performance settings. When I started using these reeds, I acheived a richer, darker sound on my instrument which I was never able to attain on other reeds. Both my private instructor and my performance ensemble directors at my university noticed great improvement in my overall sound after I switched to these reeds. Now, I refer all of my private students to good tone guild to buy their reeds. They are the absolute best reeds you can buy for a good price. I have never received anything but the best of service with every purchase I’ve made. I recommend Good Tone Guild reeds in the very highest!!!
April 26th, 2006 at 7:15 pm
I have been a satisfied customer of Good Tone Guild reeds for several years. Not long ago I performed Ibert’s Escales on a Good Tone reed, and while most of the orchestra was applauding my efforts, the first clarinet player exclaimed “What a reed”! She described my tone as dark, like chocolate”. I can depend on getting consistently good reeds from Good Tone Guild…definitely the best buy for my money.
April 17th, 2006 at 3:32 am
Good Tone Guild reeds are great, especially for students who do not have a teacher who can adjust reeds for them. Most of my students use them for the first few years they play, and I can now spend much more time on playing and less on fixing reeds in their lessons. Almost all the reeds play right out of the “box” with good tone and response. The reeds come with a wire, which is a novelty (and usually makes me think of a crappy Rico or something) but it can be slid down if not needed and then pushed back up to get a bit more life out of an aging reed. Reeds come with lots of information from Meg, too. My only complaint at all is that the student reeds could be a little more resistant.
April 9th, 2006 at 8:47 am
A (revised) comment from Meg Cassell, the reed maker at Good Tone Guild: