These reeds were required to be used when I first started as a student using 2 1/2 reeds. They were easy to play of course as they were very thin. After a year or two our new band director recommended Rico La Voz reeds to me. I never went back to these. Vandorens offer AMAZING quality in the two good reeds that come out of a box of ten, but as I started using La Voz reeds I noticed that about six reeds of a box of ten were quality reeds. In that sense the box of La Voz reeds are much more consistent and worth your money then the Vandorens. Vandorens are great for the two reeds that come in the box of ten, but I will recommend Rico La Voz reeds instead. Great reeds for the money but there are still better reeds out there.

P.S. The La Voz are cheaper too

I used these exclusively back when I played in high school. I was on a Bundy II (nightmare) so the only thing I could afford to spend extra on was reeds and mouthpieces. And let me tell you, these made an immediate improvement compared to cheaper Rico reeds.

This was a great reed, definitely built for classical playing. However, for jazz stuff I used my teeth to compress the area of the reed right behind the tip where it started to thicken for a brighter tone. This worked well and had the added benefit of being easier to tongue and prolonging the life of the reed. I even used that for my brief fling in a ska band.

Speaking of the thinner tip, it makes articulation very easy. Also, I was never fast on the tongue and tended to do aggressive double tonguing. The only complaint I had was that the thinner tip was more prone to chipping with my double tonguing - a small sacrifice for great sound and playability.

Overall a great reed with a very warm sound. This was one of the reasons I was able to hold down first chair with a crappy Bundy II.

These reeds are very nice and i don't use anything else. I play on strength 3 reeds and they work fine. My only complaint is that sometimes there are a few bad reeds, but other than that they're a good buy.

I used to play on 2 1/2's but I bought a pack of these reeds, 3 hardness and now whenever I play, I sqweek all the time. It usually goes away when I play really loud but I can't play soft anymore. I'll ask my band director tomorrow and see what he thinks though. Otherwise these are great reeds! Tip is very even and well formed.

I would highly recommend these reeds to anyone, the Vandoren reeds, no matter what strength, produce a better sound than the standard reed my high band director carries. My middle school jazz director told me about these and after trying them I hate to use anything else. Especially useful for jazz styles, again, highly recommended.