Harry Hartmann Fiberreed Onyx Soprano MS

I got this free with the Thomann TSS-380 Soprano Saxophone, so in some ways I should be grateful to have it at all, as I don't usually buy fiber-based reeds.

On the plus side, it is an interesting colour (I don;t think I have ever seen a black reed before), it will last longer than a 'real' reed and was quite easy to blow.

On the down side, the sound is brash and unfocused, certainly compared to the Java reeds I usually use. In particular, I could not get the soprano to 'speak' higher than C#, with only low, strangulated noises coming from the palm keys. This was very disappointing, as I can play at least up high F# with normal reeds of around the same strength.

Very strangely, the TSS-380 plays at least one tone flat when this reed is on the mouthpiece, compared to any other of my 'normal' reeds. I have never had that issue with any other reed, before and it is certainly very puzzling.

This means that the reed only has limited use - and will probably stay in the packet from now on.