Rico Reeds

23 comments

1 Annie { 06.01.10 at 4:48 pm }

Intermediate--Plays Weekly--Used 2-5 reedmakers--Reedmaking: Buy and do not adjust

I was currently uusing Rico they work! Used it for a long time. Music teacher gave it to me. RECOMMEND!!!

2 oboist { 04.03.09 at 12:36 pm }

Intermediate--Used 2-5 reedmakers--Plays most days--Buys but adjusts

good for beginners, but not beyond middle school levels.

3 an insider { 01.30.09 at 7:20 am }

Rico bassoon reeds were made by Jones so you know the whole story.

4 baffoon { 01.29.09 at 5:51 pm }

i was playing my bassoon and i couldn’t get my E out.
I tried to ajust the reed opening(which was way to open)and it completely broke
DO NOT buy Rico bassoon reeds
they’re terrible

5 Oboegirl { 09.18.08 at 7:17 pm }

I am helping a 5th grade student who just started the oboe. He got some of these reeds with his instrument. They are awful! And they have a wire! He can only get about 3 notes to play! I will be getting him some different reeds asap!

6 jyflush { 09.17.08 at 3:18 pm }

I’m a sax player and i use the Hemke brand which is owned by the Rico company. They provide a full rich sound which is not too bright. The only downside is that every box has at least one bad reed in it. Otherwise, I’m a Hemke addict!!!

7 Anonymous { 09.17.08 at 3:14 pm }

i hate them, not, i use them

8 gone { 06.03.08 at 6:00 am }

Rico oboe and bassoon reeds are gone and not being sold anymore. Please revise your listings.

9 Anonymous { 04.12.08 at 6:10 am }

I was was in a hurry to get a new reed, so I tried one of these. The reed opening was way to big and I could barely play it. It was IMPOSSIBLE to even keep a note at one pitch! Then the little wire thing around the reed cut my lip. When I tried to adjust the reed opening, it cracked right down the middle! NEVER buy a Rico oboe reed. They’re terrible. This company is only good for Clarinet and Saxophone reeds if that….

10 Michael Kenyon { 03.12.08 at 7:00 am }

I find rico reeds are a really good free sounding reeds. I have been playing on one of these reeds on/off for about 6 months now and it has an really reedy/free tone, and produces a nice vibrato. I think it was a medium/medium hard.

11 Anonymous { 12.17.07 at 2:15 pm }

I have only been playing for a year, but these reeds are not that bad for a beginner like myself and are the only reeds i can get without ordering them offline.

12 hoboe { 10.29.07 at 4:51 pm }

Hate these reeds. My mom keeps bugging me about it when she goes and gets me a reed like Rico at a store out of town and I try them and hate them…. She just doesn’t understand!!! The reeds supllied around my area stink!!

13 observer { 10.20.07 at 6:33 am }

Rico has quit selling oboe and bassoon reeds under the Rico and La Voz reed names. This is what the music stores are saying now.

14 rnlmelody { 09.21.07 at 8:24 am }

I’ve seen a lot of Rico reeds with wire, probably because they can’t stay open on their own. These reeds are hard to play and sound awful. Please don’t waste your money.

15 Anonymous { 05.02.07 at 12:58 pm }

4 years played – These reeds have pretty bad tone and they are really soft. I wouldn’t reccomment these.

16 Anonymous { 03.01.07 at 8:54 pm }

Definitely do NOT recommend.

17 Clara { 02.08.07 at 2:35 pm }

maybe I’m kinda biased (because my director hates the clarinet and sax rico reeds) but I think that a few do agree with me that these reeds aren’t that great….I’ve already left my comments (as anonymous on the Jan.26) so there ya go…

18 J.A.K. { 01.27.07 at 11:42 am }

Returning intermediate student. I have a squawking fibrecane reed that actually serves me better as a emergency backup than the best reed Rico sells. Appalling.

19 Anonymous { 01.26.07 at 1:51 pm }

I don’t like these reeds never have never will…I will use them for minor things if necessary b/c they are the ONLY reed I can find nearby.

20 cath { 07.04.06 at 9:03 am }

I used them for about 3 months, and found them ok to begin with. They were poor quality though, and I quickly moved on to Nick Winfield reeds, which I love!

21 EmChev { 04.10.06 at 7:46 am }

At my first Oboe lesson my teacher gave me a Rico reed to try. I found it really hard to make a sound…which was because the reed kept falling in on its self! I had a reed of another make which I had been reccomended by Howarths when I bought my oboe, and I found this much easier to play on, confirming our thoughts that the Rico reed was the problem.

Although it has to be considered that I am aleady a Flute player and so may have stronger muscles than those who are beginning oboe for the first time, espechially at a young age. The Rico reed may work well for younger, first instrument beginners but it was not for me.

22 Howard Ng { 03.29.06 at 7:15 am }

Poorly made staple, over soft cane, no vibrations, i wonder if their highest criteria is to make the reed ’sound’, and then they sell it at a price no one can afford. Very very idiotic when you consider Rico sells such wonderful single reeds.

23 vboboe { 03.27.06 at 10:59 pm }

18 month newbie comment – tried these in my first six months, medium soft collapsed readily, mediums collapsed quickly, no medium hards available locally so went over to another brand after that. Cane coarse grain and goes mushy when wet. Worked OK in very beginning when embouchure still weak, but quickly outgrew them. Might suit youngsters starting on oboe much better than adults but triangular plastic tube packaging bends and crushes easily, and needs great care putting reed back inside without damaging tips. No ventilation to air-dry reeds in this packaging either.