Reed Tools (Reed Knife, ReedGeek, and A.L.E. Reed Balancer) Review & Demo

Reeds are finicky things, but they can be adjusted and fixed with the right tools. This video demonstrates and reviews a variety of my favorite reed adjusting tools: Landwell Knives, ReedGeeks, and the brand-new A.L.E. Reed Balancer.
Conclusions: My favorite tool is the Bullet, but the A.L.E. Reed Balancer is the best bang for your buck! The Geeklet is perfect for the reed adjusting newbie, and the Double Geek is perfect for someone who needs to balance the weight of the tool in their hands. The knife is outdated, dangerous, and downright inconvenient!
ReedGeek's Channel for further exploration: / reedgeektool
My video on reed selection and care: • Clarinet Reeds! A Demo...
Shop these products:
Landwell Knives ($110): rdgwoodwinds.c...
Double Geek by ReedGeek ($115): www.cleverclar...
Bullet by ReedGeek ($115): www.cleverclar...
Geeklet by ReedGeek ($50): www.cleverclar...
A.L.E Reed Balancer ($20). www.alereedbal...
My Setup:
Chedeville Elite Mouthpiece (F2): www.cleverclar...
D'Addario Evolution Reeds (3.5+): www.cleverclar...
Silverstein HEXA Rose Gold Ligature: www.silverstei...
Corbin Traditional Barrel (65 mm): www.cleverclar...
Selmer SeleS Présence B-flat Clarinet: www.cleverclar...
T-Shirt by the Clever Clarinetist: www.cleverclar...

[@bobblues1158]

Excellent tutorial!! I am sending this to my friends who complain about the money they use on reeds. But they are either too lazy or scared
to fix the reeds. They do not understand that reeds are by nature not perfect (I am talking mostly about Jazz players) and adjustment is
a normal way of life for classical players. I played Oboe and learned to make my own reeds. I am a
Jazz Sax player and my thing Is: I make every reed play ! I tell these players to give me all the reeds they would throw out. I will fix them.
I will send this tutorial around to my friends! Thank you Larkin.

[@krommer66]

Great video!

[@prairieGhostCat]

I’m a sax player and have been looking at getting a reed balancing tool. This video was so helpful, you demoed all the tools I’m debating over! Thanks!

[@sparkshot289]

My case is perhaps a strange one, where I actually went from using a ReedGeek classic over to a traditional reed knife, and retired my ReedGeek to all but the smallest adjustments and travelling with. The main reason was really just because of the ergonomics of a full sized reed knife for scraping and its cost compared to the double geek.

[@zvonimirtosic6171]

Excellent tips, and thank God, finally a clarinettist who knows how to work on reeds!
Just one tip: when thinning the reed, you may put it against the strong light (say, against your desk lamp); the light behind will pass through the reed, and show variations in the thickness across the vamp. Thicker / uneven parts will appear as darker clumps, and is easy to see where exactly we must remove the excess of material. When the light passes through evenly, on the left and on the right side, the reed is then balanced.

[@aspenx1304]

Totally interesting

[@hudsoncampos5976]

👏🏽👏🏽👍🏽👍🏽