NOTES FROM PIPEY'S CORNER

Volume X Number 2 - August, 2002

The World's, Pleasanton, And All That

August arrives with another birthday, several depressing anniversaries, and of course, the Glasgow Open on the tenth of this month. Already hundreds of bandspeople are winging east (or west) to Glasgow Green and spend small fortunes in the pubs of Europe's Cultural Capital.

Geoff Ross' Omega Reeds

These just came in and will be in stock by the middle of the month. A truly innovative design, the Omega reed incorporates a flexible body in a rigid metal frame, with adjusting screws for deforming the body to affect reed strength, pitch, and tone. A great deal of engineering has obviously gone into the design, and the execution and workmanship on these reeds is impressive (as is the weight).

In appearance these reeds have a unique look - definately not the handmade look of Wygents, nor is it the mass-produced appearance of Shepherd and Henderson. The only was to describe it - they look like they've been machined - very professionally made.

In testing these reeds we went over the impressive (and slightly confusing) instruction sheet, and simply tightened the 'grub screws' (Allen keys) on all the pressure joints, as they were loose in the box. and plugged them into a set of Glens. A couple more adjustments to the body screws, and we're off. First impression - nice tone from the tenors -well-balanced and full. The bass is a little buzzy, but that should mellow out with blowing-in. There's also a tendancy for the bass to roar on strikein, which may require either some more careful adjustment or the use of a flow restrictor included in the set.

I would say that some careful adjustments would be necessary to reduce the amount of air they take after playing for a few hours. As set up from the makers, they're not as air-efficient as Duatones, but then again, I'm spoiled....

The only design flaw I see is in the rubber tone plug left over from the old original Ross reed days; hopefully this will be replaced by an aerodynamic screw plug in the future. On the practical side, these reeds are very heavy due to the cast metal frame, and may be a problem coming loose in the pipe; if you lose one in your bag, you'll definately know it....!

All in all, a very well-made reed with impressive design features, and a good alternative to the Wygent Duatone line. We'll have stock at Pleasanton.

Speaking of Pleasanton, only a month away, we'll be in our usual place in the Back Of Beyond. See you there; our friendly and helpful crew will be there to take your money....then later in September I'll be doing three 9/11 memorials; a week after that I'm off to D.C. for my brother's burial in Arlington...plus the usual round of weddings and funerals.

So we hope to see you in Pleasanton - we'll have Jamie Cavin, Mike Baker, and Sabrina Brown working the booth this year - hell, I might even get five minutes off.....

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BLACK PART SPEAKS - NEXT MONTH!