Bassoon Reed Measurements
Bassoon reed measurements for better reed making experience including reed length, reed blade & tube length, wire placement, and reed blade thickness with expert tips and recommended tools for bassoonists and educators. Perfect for students, teachers, and reed makers!
A Blueprint for Better Bassoon Reeds
Preferred Reed Measurements
Blain Custom Pro Bassoon Reed shown
You can get some practice by working on your own reed blanks or try a 2-pack of professional bassoon reeds!
Overall Reed Length: 55mm
Tube Length: 28mm
Blade Length: 27mm
1st wire: 2mm from collar to the center of the wire
2nd wire: 9mm from collar to the center of the wire
3rd wire: 5mm from the end of the tube to center of the wire
Critical Point
Extreme tip: 0.015-0.020mm in thickness, depending on hardness of the cane.
From 1mm to the extreme tip of the reed, this is a chisel-like tip carved with a razor blade directly after clipping the blank. I then lightly clean this up across the tip using 1200 grit sand paper and blend into the blade.Critical Point: 8mm from the tip of the blade
This is usually anywhere between 0.65-0.72mm in thickness depending on cane hardness, you can basically blend out from this point and get a reed that works very well
Preferred Reed Shapes, Gouge, and Reed Strength
Preferred Bassoon Reed Shape: Blain Shape and Herzberg “Original”
I prefer a reed shape with around a 15mm tip width for my reeds and relatively wide throat and tubePreferred Gouge: Standard 1.35mm / -0.10 Standard Eccentric Gouge Bassoon Cane
Preferred Reed Strength: Medium strength and high density cane
Still looking for a recommendation?
My go to reeds are the Blain or Herzberg “Original” Medium Strength Custom Pro Bassoon Reeds
A Few Adjustments
Nothing can substitute good cane!
Since you made it this far… The only true statement I think all reed players can agree on is nothing can substitute good reed cane. Luckily for us there is a lot of great cane and it is relatively inexpensive- it’s unfortunately an invasive species across most of the Western Hemisphere! The reason why reeds are cost what they do is because of the labor and time it takes to go from a grass growing in Southern France to something that a conductor will deem acceptable in the concert hall.
If you have just started adjusting your reeds a few tools you should have on hand are:
General tools like: a nice set of 5-Inches Needle nose wire cutter Pliers, a small ruler with mm or 1/16” increments, a sharpened pencil (7B is good for marking on reeds)
Bassoon Reed Specific Tools including: a reed plaque, cutting block (billet), holding mandrel, and reed knife
Swiss triangle file, I recommend Nicholson or Grobet
I also really like to have 500 grit and 1200 grit wet/dry sandpaper on hand
Your first adjustment can always be the wires, as the adjustment is reversable
Be sure to only adjust the wires with the reed on the holding or forming mandrel
More to come very soon!