Does anyone know the width of saxophone or clarinet reeds?

Question

I'm looking for the width of soprano/alto saxophone reeds and all clarinet reeds. Measurements can be in inches or metric. If you know the length too that'd be great, thanks.

Answer 1

Actually, clarinet and saxophone reeds are typically the same size. Soprano sax reeds and Bb clarinet reeds are interchangeable, except for the fact that they are designed to work better on the instrument marked on the box. Eb alto sax reeds are the same size as Eb alto clarinet reeds, and so on. You can even use soprano sax reeds on an A clarinet! All reeds come in various strengths and in various shapes/styles of cut in order to get a particular kind of sound. You may have to experiment in order to find the right strength and cut for the sound that you are looking for. Finally, every reed is unique. They are sorted according to instrument, strength, and cut, but depending on the fibers in the individual reed, the sound and even the playability of the reed can vary greatly. I hope that this helps!

Answer 2

They vary according to which instrument they go on. I have a degree in saxophone performance and the deminsions of the freakin reeds was NOT on the test. Go buy some and measure them yourself.

No, 2.5 does not mean millimeters and in fact has NOTHING to do with size. It is the resistance strength of the reed and can range from 1 to 5.

And no, you cannot interchange alto saxophone and alto clarinet reeds successfully. Or soprano saxophone and Bb clarinet reeds. The resulting garbage coming from the instrument proves this out. Again I say, ya wanna see the difference, go buy some and check it out.

Answer 3

Clarinet Reeds have widths according to the player's strength and sound quality. I know I prefer French cut 2.5 Reeds...which I guess is in milimeters?

Check out www.ricoreeds.com I'm sure they have info there.