Drone Reeds Cane (Set of 3) (In Stock)

I’ve tried every make out there. MG make the best, at least right now. So often with other makers the tenor diameters are not nearly the same and the lengths are radically different. That makes it very Much harder to get the same harmonic balance between the two tenor reeds. MG although not exactly the same are closer than most other makers. The bridles are always tied too tightly IMO but that’s easily fixed. MG’s are not perfect but they are better than all the rest. Send a note to Higgins and ask them to make sure the tenors are as close to each other as possible in length and diameter.

I got these to try out cane reeds, I've been playing them for about 6 months and I am very impressed with the sound. They are much easier to set up that I expected thanks to the setup info at the MG reeds website. The more you play them the more reliable they are and the better they sound. I won a competition playing these reeds. I am very pleased with these reeds and especially with J Higgins. Their pricing, speed of delivery, and above all the extremely helpful and polite costumer service are unbeatable. I highly recommend J Higgins and their products.

I got these first as a bass then the 2 tenors, and they are all played in now. The tonal quality cannot be beaten. The setup info on the MG reeds website is very helpful for setting up and adjusting the pitch. I highly recomend these reeds for those who want great sounding drones.

I have purchased the reeds for future use; therefore, I cannot comment any further. So far, I have no complaints. Your rating section requires a: "Don't know" or NA - the #1 is incorrect! M.Jolly (John's reply: We hope you like them when you try them!). Sorry we don't have a star system for future reviews).

It took a bit of tinkering to get these reeds to fire off, I had to insert a paper clip into the bass drone reed. The two tenors I have are of slightly different sizes, which causes one to pitch much lower than the other, so the top of the tenor drone is almost fully-against the projecting mount when using these. Getting them to vibrate was a bit of a challenge, and I did try all of the recommended ways in the included pamphlet. I did get them to fire, but unfortunately, they use so much air that I cannot play comfortably, even with the bridle I had fashioned for them. Being that these are all-cane, they're tone is constantly changing, meaning that you'll have to tune and re-tune many times. I suppose that this would be a great reed if you wanted your bagpipe to be all-traditional like I try to do with my own. However there is a reason why many half and fully synthetic reeds try to mimic the wonderful sound of cane, but without the inherent headache that comes with working with them. I would not recommend these to beginners, maybe to novices, but i'd sooner say that this is something better left to the piper that has been playing for many years. All-in-all, a great-sounding reed, but very hard to work with. I knew of the risk that would be involved with these reeds, and if you're wanting to give them a try for yourself, remember that they're hard to work with, but they do sound very nice when in-tune and set up properly.