Chartier CPB-MS Plastic Bassoon Reed, Medium-Soft

Plays well

description was for a bassoon reed which is incorrect. an oboe reed arrived. i ordered a second one thinking an incorrect product was pulled, but a second oboe reed arrived.

I’m quite surprised with the quality of this plastic reed. It’s not a professional grade reed, but I was looking for a free blowing reed that I can use for children to test out my bassoon, while being able to sanitize the reed in between use. (I’ll be involved in an “instrument petting zoo” soon) The resistance is a little more than the medium soft strength that I ordered, but I’m thinking that I can simply adjust it by closing up the reed a bit with the first wire. The opening of the butt of the reed is a little narrow for my Fox Reynard bocal, so I attempted to ream it a bit. It now fits sufficiently on the bocal. As far as intonation goes, the 3rd space E sinks in pitch, but will suffice for what I’m using it for. All in all, I’m very pleased with my purchase and it’s just what I was looking for.

My F is so sharp it sounds like a G I tried tuning it and it didn’t work also my tone is horrible on this I’ve been playing for 6 years worst reed ever

As stated in the item name this reed is plastic. That being said, I still get a fairly good tone from this reed. I'm fairly new to bassoon and I get a similar tone as from my cane reed without having to worry that it's going to break all the time.

Good for practice only

My son really likes this reed and I was happy not to have to spend a fortune for a plastic reed.

I figured I would give this reed a shot. For a young bassoonist in my ensemble who needs a consistent, stable solution, this is great. It is surprisingly free-blowing and not too stiff. Certainly not for professional applications, but better than expected for beginners.