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REEDS, REEDS, REEDS! The bane of a sax player's life!So many brands, cuts, prices - it's a minefield! Then you find one that you like and the next one is totally different!It's no wonder that over the last decade or so many players have been opting for premium quality reeds - better cane and more exact manufacturing on a raw material that by it's very nature is inconsistent.The best cane produced on the market comes from the french company Rigotti - hence why most of the boutique brands have the …

"In 2014, I challenged our Woodwinds team to create the first synthetic reed to duplicate the properties and playing characteristics of natural cane. After numerous years and thousands of hours, we accomplished the task by creating a material matrix of co-polymers, longitudinal fibers and real cane elements that have the physical and sonic properties of real cane" -Jim D'Addario Here at Curly Woodwind HQ we've been hearing about D'Addario's (secret) project for quite a number of years - eve …

ABSOLUTELY! Ever had the cursed sticky G# key on your sax? Just as you're playing a killer phrase in front of the whole wide world, the pad sticks leaving you playing a G natural doing your best Les Dawson impression - we've all been there and it's not very pretty! It's an age old sax problem and over the years various ideas have tried to solve it. Any pad that remains closed on your sax is going to have more moisture residue left on it, making them prone to sticking to the tonehole -& …

Here at Curly Woodwind we recondition every single instrument we sell. This shows the stages that an instrument may go through as we make them ready for saleCondition on arrival Taking apart and assessing conditionBefore and after cleaning and oiling the bodyBeforeAfter cleaning and oiling the bodyCleaning the keyworkRecorking the jointsReplacing the bumper corks.Putting new pads in.Re seating the padsFinished and ready to play …

A brand new online saxophone magazine! Hosted by top UK pro player Dean Masser and Curly Woodwind's Bob Whittaker, Hornclub features sax news/ chat, listening recommendations, saxophone reviews/ demonstrations and introduces the "leading note diminished" method of improvising.Every episode will have demonstrations of specific saxes/ gear and feature a short tutorial. The "leading note diminished" approach to improvising is the REAL deal! Forget all those scales, chords, ii/v/i's you've …