I play Mitchell Lurie Premiums. They are 5 to a box. They do tend to be a bit softer when comparing similar strengths to that of Vandoren. My fix to that is upping the strength a half strength. The other "problem": they don't last as long? Who the heck wants a month old reed to stick in their mouth? I switch mine out every two weeks or so no matter what. I also personally shave them down to the perfect resistance for me to play with a full, large, centered tone: Or I can play very nicely ppp. I use a Vandoren B45 mouthpiece also. I tried the M13L mouthpiece. Wow, that is a HORRIBLE mouthpiece. I recommend never getting that one. I think it's almost time to replace my Vandoren mouthpiece though...I think it's sound is going in it's old age! I am thinking Pomarico Crystal. I used to play on a Vandoren Crystal, but they have discontinued those. I still have it on my Eb though!!!! Hope this helped Toni!

-Dennis

I used mitchell luries for a very short period of time and found them terrible, they just didnt work for me at all

V12 on the other hand i love and find i dont have to break them in at all
they give a lovely sound and the boxes seem very consistent

regular Mitchell Lurie reeds are not the greatest. They do, however, IMHO tend to give a better sound quality than any Vandoren I have tried (Regular, V12, Blackmaster, Whitemaster) on any instrument (Bb, Eb, Bass, Sax). Of course, the Premium Mitchell Lurie's are quite a bit better than the regular, but definitely not as inexpensive. I believe a box of 5 reeds is around 11 or 12 dollars. Regular ones are designed for students I would think. Less expensive, not as good in tone quality. Just there so you have a reed to play. Kind of like La Voz, or Rico Royal. For those that are along in playing to where they desire better tone...you move up to the Premium. I almost have to CHEW a Vandoren reed to get it to play on my clarinet. It is so tough and takes an unbelievable amount of time to prep. Then it lasts the same as a Mitchell Lurie because I have taken so much of the wood out to get it to make a sound (and this is only on a 3-3.5). I play a modified 4 on ML Premium. I't s probably a 3.65 or 3.75. I suggest getting one of each Toni, and modifying them to get them BOTH where you want them. See how long it takes you to prep them, and see how long they last. Like I said, I never use a reed longer than two weeks. I also try to play about 4 hours a day. Remember that playing the clarinet is also like an investment. You have to keep putting money in to get a return on it. If that means forking over a little extra cash every couple months for better reeds...I suggest it!

-Dennis

Well, you need to work on persuading your parents that you're REALLY into the clarinet and make them get into it also. That way when they see that there are things you need, and you explain to them that this is what it takes, I am sure they won't mind. Truthfully though: $5 should get you one of each to try out. Then even if you got the more expensive ones: 5 reeds for two weeks each is 10 weeks. so every $50 allowance you spend $12 or so of it. Then you ask for upgrades for christmas and birthdays! Oh, and don't forget about upgrades on Easter!

-Dennis

Hee hee! I use Vandoren's, and it jus so happens that luckily, out of 10, about 8 of my reeds are perfect. That's just my opinion, though I've never tried the other brand...lol!

maybe you have probs with vandoren reeds cos youre buying ones that are too hard? vandoren reeds are notoriously 1/2 - 1 size harder than MLs, and V12 are even harder than regular vandorens
i play on a 3 v12, used to play a 3 1/2 vandoren, and i think when i played ML i had 3s when i was playing a 2 1/2 vandoren

It's not the strength I didn't like. I tried all of the strengths. It was the fuzzy, horrible sound quality that I hated.

-Dennis

A few years ago I bought a selection of reeds: 2 each from Vandoren V12, Mitchell Lurie, Rico Royal, La Voz and some other one which was very poor. After a couple of weeks I binned them all except the Rico Royal, and have continued happily and successfuly on my Rico 3.5s for about 5 years.

personally I play on vandoren v12s the work great I recommend them

I used to play on a rico but i have found they produce a poor sound and are very soft even at a size 3.

i don't believe this..i change my mouth piece
vandoreb 5jb...didn't like the crystal..only to find i should also try different reeds!

Try the Vandoren Rue Lepic reeds... generally, more of them work in a pack than the regular/V12 Vandorens

i am thick...how do you know if a reed don't work?

i just bought a box of v12's because my store was out of normal vandoren. anyway, i was using a few reeds and they were REALLY good. when i pulled out a few more, they were hard to play on, and sometimes the sound wouldn't come out of my clarinet at all. Half my box turned out to be like that. So when you find a v12, most of the reeds might be bad, but when you find a good one, it's REALLY good. I personally won't buy them anymore because I don't feel like having half of my expensive box of reeds go to waste for nothing.

For mann's question, its if you dont like it much... its if you think you can play better with another reed, esp. if the reed is broken.