Steuer Exclusive Bb Clarinet Reeds - Singles

Note: These are priced per reed. One of 'em. Feel free to buy one reed, a few reeds, or mix strengths. I don’t charge a premium for breaking up the box.

Steuer is one of those reed companies that a lot of American clarinetists have somehow managed not to hear about (I hadn't). They’ve actually been making reeds since the late 1940s—the company started in Germany, but today the reeds are made in Carqueiranne in southern France, practically next door to the cane fields.

The Exclusive is their higher-end French-cut Bb clarinet reed. Steuer uses a moderately thick blank made from the denser center portion of the cane, and cuts it in the direction of the cane’s growth (don't they all? I dunno, but Steuer mentions it in their description). Anyway, the idea is a reed with a warm, substantial sound, clean articulation, and better stability as it ages. 

How do they feel relative to something you'd know?

The cut is closer in concept to the thicker-blank Vandoren V12/D'Addario Reserve sort of world, and Steuer’s own strength chart reflects that, which is to say that they're about 1/4- to 1/2-strength harder than the Vandoren Traditional.