Welcome to Tiger Reeds. Here you can purchase beautifully playing handmade bassoon and oboe reeds for students and professionals.
Current processing time: ~1-2 weeks from time of order. Thank you for your patronage!
Hear Tiger Reeds in action and meet the reedmaker:
(A note: At this time, I only teach in the local Knoxville, TN area. Long-distance/Skype lessons have been discontinued. Thank you for your interest!)
Current processing time: ~2 weeks from when order is placed. Thank you for your patronage!
Audio samples (headphones recommended):
Bassoon:
Sorcerer’s Apprentice excerpt – Dukas
Andante – Weissenborn #15
Tansman Suite for Bassoon and Piano, mvt. 2 Sarabande
Oboe:
Scherzando – Ferling #24
Handel Sonata for Oboe in C Minor, mvt. 1 Adagio
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Five finish levels: Soft, Regular, and Hard (finished), Mostly-Finished, and Blanks (see below for explanation)
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Shipping:
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USA:
- Ground: $5.00 – orders up to $75.00. $75.00 and up – FREE. (~2-5 business days once shipped)
- Expedited: $10.00 flat (~2-3 business days once shipped)
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Canada:
- Ground: $10.00 – orders up to $100.00. $100.00 and up – FREE. (~5-7 business days once shipped)
- Expedited: $30.00 flat (~3-5 business days once shipped)
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Australia, New Zealand, and UK:
- Ground: $20.00 – orders up to $124.00. $125.00 and up – FREE. (~7 business days once shipped)
- Expedited: coming soon!
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Elsewhere: contact me for a quote.
Available finishes:
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Soft finished:
- Beginners, weaker muscles, lower-octave playing (2nd bsn/2nd oboe). Most flexible, least resistant.
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Regular finished:
- “The perfect one-size-fits-all reed”, most players; flexible, wide dynamic range, resonant. Most popular strength. Flexible and comfortably resistant.
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Hard finished:
- Exceptionally strong players, very flexible/bright instruments. (Don’t use this to fix a biting problem – this will make it worse! Change your embouchure instead! I can easily help you with this.) Most stable, most resistant.
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Mostly-finished:
- Blank with cut tip and first scrape, featuring Tiger Reeds long-lasting cane and fine blank assembly process. Finish to your specs.
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Blank:
- Tied/wired reed blank, uncut tip. Economic and efficient.
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Why are Tiger Reeds better than other “handmade” reeds?
- High quality cane – tested with a Reeds n’ Stuff hardness tester to verify strength
- Hand-assembled and hand-tuned to fit the individual piece of cane
- “Calibration and care card” (FREE) helps you quickly adjust your reed to your preferences. This is unique among reedmakers.
- Rich tone with excellent response and tuning control
- You will spend vastly less time adjusting and more time playing.
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Reed-making process:
Bassoon
- Start with consistently-gouged, high-quality cane.
- Each slip is profiled on a custom-modified machine.
- Cane is shaped.
- Shape 1: Fox #2 shaper is standard and complements most brand/bore/bocal setups — medium-wide at tip and throat.
- Shape 2: Rieger #1A is available on request — it is narrower at tip and throat.
- Shape 3: Winstead #1 is available on request — it is wide in throat and much of blade, then ‘tulips’ slightly towards the tip.
- Each blank rests for a period of time.
- A Rieger tip profiler ensures a consistent tip, then reed is hand-finished according to highest standards.
- Each reed is play-tested and finished, then sterilized before packaging.
Oboe
- Start with consistently-gouged, high-quality cane.
- All cane is hardness-tested. Soft cane is discarded.
- Cane is shaped.
- Shape: Mack/Pfeiffer shape is standard — it is a relatively narrow shape to balance octaves and enhance richness across registers.
- Slips are tied onto 47mm staples.
- Each tied blank rests for a period of time.
- Reed is hand-finished according to the highest standards.
- Each reed is play-tested and finished, then sterilized before packaging.
Hi, Zach – I’m trying Tiger on the advice of a fellow oboe-player, David Fram, who just discovered you and raved about your reeds.
Excellent news!
Your reeds are on the way. I would be quite happy to hear your impressions once you’ve played them a bit.
Thank you for your interest and for remaining in touch.
In harmony,
Zach Millwood
Tiger Reeds
Do you make English Horn reeds?
Thank you for contacting me, Mrs. Hirschman.
At this time, I do not produce handmade English horn reeds. Many great reedmakers specialize in EH reeds, and I am quite satisfied with my work in oboe and bassoon reeds. You might consider viewing Forrests Music’s website for a listing of excellent handmade EH reeds, and you’ll be greeted with a plethora of options.
Happy reeding!
In harmony,
Zach Millwood
Tiger Reeds