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“I just wanted to say… still in trial phase but first 3 reeds on your new staple design [JIR Custom] I ADORE. I had high hopes given that my usual suspects are Chiarugi 2+ and Chudnow, but so far, they exceed those hopes. The scale, ease of response, and projection without having to adjust my work much is just wonderful. Will continue experimenting, but I imagine ordering many more in my future.
I just am so pleased that I wanted to share. Thanks for your R&D, effort, and the confidence that you could put something better into the world. We are all better off for it.”
“I tied on some blanks and did a day one scrape and got the staples to beep super quick, but I’m like you, the first 3 minutes cane flies off everywhere.
Today, I wanted to scrape one further to see how it was on day two. I’m using a Mack + shape atm, I usually do a Gilbert 1 on Pisoni brass or german silver tube, though lately I’d been going for brass, mainly because it’s a bit cheaper, and has a higher copper content than German silver, and since copper is softer than nickel in the silver tube, it was more attractive to me (in my mind).
My reed looked horrid, but as we know, looks aren’t everything. I “petted the kitty” and smoothed out the plateau/heart area, and dusted the edges of the reed. It still did not look great, but WOW I was kind of floored because... it honestly, wasn’t an amazing reed looking reed, but the scale and tone (to my preference) was just almost perfect! I play on a Howarth XL (all grenadilla) and I COMPLETELY relate to you when you mentioned playing over the break can be a little troublesome with thicker staples. I’ve experienced it especially with Db to C, making my Tchaik 4 precarious every single time.
The reed was something I made in a hurry because I was excited to see the end result. I scraped a few more areas and clipped, and it just got so much better. I haven’t been able to just hit the second octave key and have notes pop out with minimal embouchure adjustments for tuning in a long time. It was clear, the notes were vibrant, and had a nice “floor” to the sound. I could play all three Cs with minimal embouchure adjustment for tuning, mainly the most minute fluctuations to get the low C out.
I was so elated, I almost started happy-crying. I went to pet the kitty one more time and I took off the side of the tip! I wasn’t even mad because I know if the reed was THIS good with it having a not so perfect scrape, I know it’s going to be amazing. I tried the reed in its damaged shape and it still played pretty good, but I decided to chuck it to see how well the shape of the staple held up. It didn’t change. I have a few more reeds to make, and maybe I should have saved my email for later, but I was so excited about these staples.
I will definitely be buying more in the near future. Also, I know some people in the comments had asked what kind of mandrel to use. I tried the Pisoni, but it wasn’t to my liking, and the best fit I found from my stash was the Chiarugi 2, not the 2+. I think I bought it because I read somewhere the Chiarugi 2 fit the Steven’s tubes well, which never worked for me, even though my initial teacher insisted on them.
I’m just so over the moon. As a toxicologist/chemist by day, I appreciate the experimentation you put into the staples. You’ve been my favorite resource oboe-wise for a while because I just resonate with how you approach reed making and wanting resistance in the reed (in a good way). When someone says they love an easy free blowing reed I’m like, gross.”