How to find a good reed just by looking at it

[@thelookingcat]

This is actually true, though there are some gems that end up being pretty good without looking great, depending on density. Some unbalanced mouthpieces may prefer unbalanced reeds, and on clarinet I know we can adjust the reed on the mouthpiece itself to accommodate for unbalanced parts

[@saxophone6740]

you can use yamaha Synetic reed.

[@briansransom]

Except that it’s not true. I have seen reeds that looked a lot worse than this that played great, and I’ve seen reeds that looked perfect that just plain didn’t work. You have to play every one. You can’t tell by looking at them.