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For marching and pep band season at college I decided to try these plastic cover reeds in hopes they would last longer and adapt better the weather conditions. Upon trying these reeds I discover that they give almost a good of a tone as with a normal reed and they broke less frequently. After a whole season I can say that my reeds didn't warp with the heat and were equally responsive in both warm and cold weather.

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This is my reed of choice. It is ready to go without soaking or warmup. However I don't play in a clarinet section. I'm usually the only clarinet in the ensemble when I play clarinet. I like the reed for jazz and solo playing, but would not use it in a clarinet section - too bright and projecting. The one drawback is that after playing for an hour or so and then setting down the horn for an hour or so, the reed has retained all the mosture and has become so water logged and soft that it is useless. I often play an hour (rehearsal), wait an hour (Sunday School class) and then play again (Worship service). But because of this problem, I have to get another reed for the performance. However the reed does dry out eventually and is good as new, say the next day. This is not a real big problem, because you just have two or more ready to go and put on a fresh one if you've stopped playing for more than 10 or fifteen minutes or so. It doesn't seem to be a problem if I just keep playing. It seems to be the wet idle time that makes it get soggy and soft. Go figure.

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Other reviews said if you use 2 1/2 reeds of Van Doren, then use a 3 reed for Rico, so I bought a box of both. I found that plasticover 3 reed was stiffer to me than a 2 1/2 Van Doren so I tried the 2 1/2 and it was perfect. I've been using it for about a week now and it plays great. It seems to have more of an edge than a regular cane reed, but for my purposes I like that sound a lot, because it seems more exotic and loud, plus easier to do staccato on the same note. I'm still not reaching the highest notes I can reach with a regular reed, but its only about 1 or two notes less. The plastic is really good for me, because I usually never take my clarinet apart for weeks at a time, because I like to leave it on a stand already set up, so I can have it instantly ready to play when feel like it. This will cause reed deterioration, but with plasticover reeds I think the plastic coating will help the reed last longer in this situation.

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I love being able to play as soon as I assemble the clarinet, without having to soak the reed and then toodle aimlessly until it is warmed up. I am an amateur musician of medium ability, so I might not have the finely tuned ear to judge its tonal qualities, but I do like the way it sounds. Having tried it out, I'm now ordering more.

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These Plasticover reeds are awesome!!!! I recently switched to Plasticover and the tone they produce is amazing! These reeds also don't irritate my lips as much as the other ones. I reccomend these to any clarinet player.