About Us
West Double Reed Company is a manufacturer of oboe and bassoon reeds and a seller of reed making accessories and supplies. We offer products on the internet and through a growing list of traditional retail and online music stores. Our goal is to please our customers with the highest quality products and service in the industry.
Company founder Glenn West studied bassoon with Dr. Wendal Jones, Charles Ullery and Sharon Kuster. He completed a Master of Music Degree in Bassoon Performance at the University of Minnesota and currently performs with the United States Military Academy Band at West Point, NY. Glenn has performed with the Spokane Symphony, San Antonio Symphony and La Orquesta Sinfonica de la Universidad de Guanajuato, Mexico as well as with various orchestral and chamber groups in Washington State, Texas and New York's Hudson Valley region.
Glenn has been involved in the commercial music industry for nearly 20 years. As a student of Jones Double Reed Products founder Wendal Jones, Glenn began his relationship with JDRP first as a bassoon reed tester, returning later as a bassoon reed maker and quality control expert and ultimately occupying the position of JDRP General Manager. This experience led to the development of the West oboe and bassoon reeds.
Our Oboe and Bassoon Reeds
West Student Oboe and Bassoon Reeds are designed and finished for double reed players of all ages and ability levels. Student Reeds are ideal for younger double reed players allowing for easy production of a nice resonant tone with excellent intonation and easy articulation.
West Artist Bassoon Reeds are for intermediate to professional musicians. They are made of the highest quality cane available and an attention to detail that results in a full, rich sound with excellent intonation.
Cane used for our reeds is the highest quality Mediterranean cane available.
West Oboe and Bassoon Reeds fall into the following strength categories:
- Medium Soft - Fairly bright to bright sound and free blowing. It doesn't take much effort to get this reed to play and you can get a lot of sound out of it. These reeds will also play soft pretty easily. Low notes articulate well, while the upper register takes a little more effort.
- Medium - Range from slightly bright and free blowing to slightly dark and slightly resistant. They play high and low with a beautifully resonant sound and easy articulation. Most student bassoonists will want this reed.
- Medium Hard - Fairly dark to dark sound with controllable resistance. If you like a more "covered" sound and a reed that you can "push" against, this is the one. Upper register is easier while the low notes require more effort to articulate. This reed is very playable, considering the darkness. You won't find any hard reeds here that are difficult to play on.
Our Cane Products
Only the highest quality cane goes into our processed cane products.
Tube cane comes directly from the growers or authorized dealers and is sold by the tube. Oboe tubes are hand sorted based on 10-10.5 and 10.5-11 mm sizes. Bassoon tube cane is sold as it is received and tube diameter will be listed when possible.
Cane processing is done on our machines according to precise quality control measures. "Select" cane products are hardness tested and grouped into listed measurements. Hardness testing is done near the center of the gouged piece of cane to get the reading in the blade area of the eventual reed. At times we may hardness test near the ends of the gouge to get an overall average hardness of the cane piece.
Cane product measurements:
| Bassoon |
Oboe |
| Cane Length: 120mm |
Cane Length: 76mm |
| Gouge Thickness: 1.20-1.30 mm |
Gouge Thickness: .58-.62 mm |
| Shape: Herzberg |
Available Shapes: RDG-1, RDG 1 |
| Profile: .80-.85 mm thickness near collar, .35-.40 mm at fold |
|
Select Cane Products
Only the highest quality cane we produce go into our Select Cane Products. "Select" means each piece of cane is hand selected based on production quality and
is hardness tested and grouped into two strength categories: .16-.20 (harder) and .20-.24 (softer). Anything outside of those ranges is rejected as being either "too soft"
or "too hard".
What does all of this mean for you? Let's say you like cane that is more on the harder side. You purchase 10 pieces of gouged cane from any quality double reed company. According to
our testing procedures, you may find that only half of your reeds "work" the way you would like. Or maybe only 2 or 3 out of the 10 are usable.
Some are too hard and some too soft. Selecting cane based on hardness reduces your "reject" rate, eliminating the cane that makes those too hard or too soft reeds before you put the time in on making those reeds.
Results of our last shipments of Silvacane and Medir cane will help illustrate the benefits:
| |
Silvacane |
Medir |
| Average Hardness |
.2195 |
.221 |
| % Rejected ** |
25% |
25% |
| % tested .16-.20 |
30% |
20% |
| % tested .20-.24 |
45% |
55% |
| ** Cane testing outside of the .16-.24 range. Still usable cane, just not what we choose as "select". |
Based on our selection standards, to get your "harder" cane out of the 10 pieces you purchase, only 2 or 3 would work for you. Or you could get 5 or 6 good pieces
if you like "softer" cane. The point is, you never really know what you will get out of those 10 pieces until you make them into reeds and play them on your bassoon.
Select cane gives you the type of cane you like, saving you time and money in the process.
Our Guarantee
If you are unhappy with your West Double Reed Company items return them for a full refund or replacement within 7 days of receiving the items.
- Reeds may not be modified and must be returned in original packaging.
- Only unused cane may be returned for refund.
- Reeds purchased from a retail location may be exchanged for a like reed or refunded the cost of purchase up to the listed retail price as stated on our website.
A copy of the store receipt showing the purchase date must accompany the returned items.
- Only domestic orders are eligible for refund.
- Returned reeds must be postmarked within 7 days of receipt of the order. Reeds purchased from a retail location must be postmarked within 7 days of purchase.
Secure Online Ordering
Up to 256 bit encryption ensures that your transactions are done in a completely secure environment.When you are ready to place
your order, you will be directed to the secure area of our website. Look for "https://" in the address bar and the locked padlock or key icon in your browser and know
that all information entered is safe and secure. You will remain in the secure area of our site until checkout has been completed.
Payment Methods
We accept Visa, MasterCard and Discover credit cards.
Shipping Your Order
All orders are shipped via the United States Postal Service.
Orders for cane, reeds and other small items incur low shipping fees since these products are light and don't require a large
box for shipping. Reed making equipment such as machines are heavier and will incur additional shipping fees. At our discretion, we
may ship your order in more than one package to ensure your items arrive to you safe and undamaged. We wouldn't want that new profiling machine
to damage the cane included in your order! Split shipping in this manner will be at our expense with no additional cost to our customer.