Forrests Music

17 comments

1 Anathema { 03.17.11 at 10:43 pm }

Advanced--Plays Most days--Used 2-5 reedmakers--Reedmaking: Buy but adjust

I have been playing oboe for just around four years now, and during my first two, I always bought my reeds from Forrests. Being quite a beginner, I didn’t know what the big deal about good reeds was. My music director suggested Forrests oboe reeds because they were such high quality, so I bought them. Over time, I bought harder and more hand-crafted reeds and over time, I noticed that the quality of the reeds has severely diminished. I ordered three hand-finished Dustee reeds two months ago, and I was severely disappointed. Out of the two regular reeds, only one worked (the other was cracked) and it was still severely out of tune. The hard reed that I had worked wonderfully… For about a week before it started chipping. I thought maybe I got a bad batch of reeds, and idiotically ordered again. I bought three hard Dustee reeds, and the same thing happened: they all chipped very quickly, and were hideously sharp as well. The only good thing about Forrests is the fact that their shipping is incredibly fast — but at the price of shotty reeds.

2 Friesian { 11.02.10 at 5:30 pm }

Beginner--Plays Most days--Used 2-5 reedmakers--Reedmaking: Buy and do not adjust

The first time I tried these reeds (Forrests gold label regular and also medium), about two months ago, I was extremely pleased with them. They were easy and fun to play on, and they had a nice, in-tune sound. They were the best reeds I had ever tried. My band director even commented that they sounded like very good reeds. The reeds lasted a little over a month and a half and retained their good sound. However, after that, they started to go down hill with age, and so I ordered three new Forrests gold label reeds, two mediums and one regular. The new reeds came just in time for my concert thanks to the excellent service and speed Forrests has. But as soon as I started playing on the reeds, I realized they weren’t nearly as good as my last batch. They are very resistant, and I just can’t seem to get them in tune. One plays extremely flat with an ugly, dull sound, and the other with an obnoxious, sharp sound. The third reed usually wont make a sound other than a high-pitched whistle, no matter what I do. At my concert it was very embarrasing to play with those reeds. I am still playing on these same reeds, trying to get them to sound well, but I am not having any success what-so-ever.
All in all, Forrests offers good service and fast shipping, but their reeds are unreliable. I am not so sure that I will order from them again after having these reeds.

3 hautbois76 { 10.29.10 at 4:24 pm }

Advanced--Plays Weekly--Used 6-10 reedmakers--Reedmaking: Buy but adjust

I like the concept of Forrest’s providing handmade reeds for people who do not want to make their own. The problem with this is that they seem to buy inferior reeds in bulk from makers who also sell direct and who are undoubtedly sending Forrest’s their seconds and/or rejects. The Albion color system keeps players from knowing who really makes these reeds, thus preventing us from going direct to obtain better examples of the reeds we want to give a second chance. It also provides the maker some anonymity, thus encouraging even poorer work. I understand Forrest’s benefit in this kind of marketing, but it defeats the purpose for those who expect quality from a so-called “handmade” reed at handmade reed price.

I finally obtained accurate source info on the maker of one of Forrest’s reeds and the difference between those from Forrest’s and direct from the maker are like night and day.

Like other reviewers, the Duste reeds I got leaked. The Albion Gold was very unfinished and totally unplayable with bark more than halfway up the heart, which is unacceptable for an expensive handmade American cut reed. The blades were noticeably cracked just above the thread. They sent a replacement, which was nice of them, but useless as it was worse than the first reed. The tip was ridiculously too open to produce a tone on both, so they obviously are not play tested by the maker. Forrest’s reed quality control seems non-existent as well. Luckily, I am able to do some adjusting, but this is not good for someone without these skills.

At these prices, students are better off buying Jones and Gower oboe reeds at the local music store where they can at least see one side of the reed to avoid major overlap and nasty, inferior scraping. I have never received a reed from Forrest’s that responded well over the entire range of the oboe and unless I hear of major improvements, I will not be buying reeds there again. Students, parents, teachers, and doublers deserve better. Considering that they are double reed specialists, I am very disappointed with the quality of handmade reeds coming out of Forrest’s that they obviously feel are acceptable.

4 Curty { 02.10.09 at 2:55 pm }

The dustes are o.k., you just have to work on them a little bit, but the have anew line called forests silver. It is a really good line, I highly suggest it!!!!

5 Minnn { 12.13.08 at 12:48 am }

The Duste reeds sound good, but the three that I ordered leaked. Forrest’s was very nice in offering to replace them. Also, some of the corners of my reeds were not intact. Despite the chipped corners and the leaks, the reeds projected well and had good tone. I was surprised.

6 oboes rock! { 04.10.08 at 6:26 pm }

I recently bought a lovely sounding cabart oboe, and decided to switch oboe reed brands to go with it. I purchased two Albion and two Forrest’s reeds hoping that they would match the amazing sound quality of my new oboe. I was extremely dissapointed with all of them! One of the albions was OK, but the other sounded like, not a duck, but a goose! Both of the Forrest’s reeds were almost completely unplayable, and all of the reeds were unreasonably flat sounding even after being worked on to death. It was keenly imbarrasing one day in my band when we were rehearsing a song that I had an opening solo in, and it sounded so awful that all my conductor could do was stare painfully at me in silence! All I can say is that your making a rather large mistake if you buy those brands.

7 kimber { 02.13.08 at 9:35 am }

I have used the Duste reeds for years, including the EH reeds, which are wonderful right out of the box. I tried several Albion labels, but didn’t find a one with a tone/feel I liked. I did get a leaky Duste in the last shipment, which Forrests promptly sent out a replacement for. I also have no problems doing slight scrapings to adjust right to my needs.

8 Arturo Rodriguez { 12.18.07 at 6:17 pm }

I’ve been buying reeds from Forrest’s for a few years now. The quality has been pretty good, some were consistent and others maybe not so much. I bought a ‘hard’ duste reed and found out by looking at it through the light that too much had been scraped off, so it produce an uncontrollable sound. I use an older Rigoutat oboe, so it’s a little more resistant than newer ones. So I try to use a medium to hard strength reed. The Duste brand reeds haven’t been as consistent as they were a few years back. One of the reasons I was told by a friend who has a serious passion for playing oboe and english horn is that the cane hasn’t been of great quality, mostly due to climate changes and the way it is harvested. I bought a couple of Albion English Horn reeds and they sound great; however, the only minor problem I have is that they take a while to break in and need a little adjusting. Other than those minor issues, the reed stays consistent even on an old stencil Noblet English Horn (made by Cabart – pre-buy out). Besides with the consistency of these reeds (sometimes), they’re better than buying random reeds from another company. I think that Forrest’s however, should include a broader variety of reeds.

9 LL { 12.07.07 at 11:10 am }

I’ve never once gotten a reed from Forrests that is good quality. It’s not worth the price at all. Usually,I have to buy 6 at a time in order to get one decent reed. Forrests and Duste reeds are good for beginners, but for a professional-level reed, save your money.

10 Teri { 05.04.07 at 6:08 am }

I am also a 20+ year player and purchased two oboe d’amore reeds that were absolutely unusable. One would not speak at all, as the cane itself was flat and of an extremely hard texture. The other was unstable, creating a sound ranging from very bad English Horn to extremely flat oboe, and this was all in one measure.

In all fairness to Forrest’s Music, I find them to be among the best suppliers in the US for double reeders. Fast service, clear and concise catalog and a wonderful assortment of items from which to select.

11 Maggie { 03.26.07 at 3:11 pm }

I bought 4 albion oboe reeds and 1 of the reeds was split in half when I got it. They others were really good but they took a WHOLE SUMMER to arrive. Not so great guys. >=(

LOVE,
Maggie XOXOX

12 Jill Cathey { 03.18.07 at 5:15 pm }

I have played for 20+ years, I got two oboe d’amore reeds and found them to be unusable. They were very “whiney” and thin sounding. I personally have not used the oboe reeds, but I had a student order and she tried three different colors of Albion reeds, I believe the only one she liked at all was Silver.

13 Michael { 02.15.07 at 4:32 pm }

Didn’t like the Albion reeds at all. I thought they were horrible. When I was at a more student level years ago, and really got into perfecting my tone and stuff, I used their student reeds, which I think were great for students. So I reccomend those reeds to students.

Anyone else that is at a point that they want a good sounding reed and want to start really focusing on tone, quality, and their individual sound, do not get these reeds, Albion that is, havn’t tried any others.

I just got a Duste English Horn reed from them however because all of mine are dead, and I needed an emergency one for a very important rehearsal tonight. I wont have time to check it out until the rehearsal itself so we will see how the Duste EH reed works out!

14 Anon2 { 06.17.06 at 11:15 am }

It might be good if the site specified the various Forrests reeds by brand. There are something like a good half dozen people making and selling reeds through them.

I usually make my own, but on occasion buy reeds. Of the various, my best luck has been with the Albion Silver Label. They have a distinct V for the blend between the heart and tip. The clear line perhaps helps in making them reasonably symmetrical. I find many reeds with more amorphous borders often are significantly out of kilter in terms of symmetry and this makes them less responsive. The Silver Labels tend to be a better bet in this regard, though not 100%. (What premade reed is?)

15 Anonymous { 06.06.06 at 9:05 am }

Duste reeds are my favorite. I’ve yet to be successful at making my own reeds, unfortunately. Although, the last Duste reed I purchased was in April and for the first time, I was very disappointed in the quality. (Maybe they’ve out-sourced their reed making to another company.) Yes, the reeds are a bit pricie, but to get a crummy reed for that price is disheatrtening. I don’t know what’s going on, but the last reed had the entire heart shaved down and there were some flaws in the cane. Sounded like a duck call! I can make a reed like that at home! Hopefully it’s just a fluke. I’ll buy a Duste reed one more time….but this time I’ll wear my glasses!

16 Laura { 04.22.06 at 8:34 pm }

I don’t care for the albion series myself because I understand they are machine made and hand finished–it shows. They don’t have a very good sound and needed a lot of work from me in order to keep ‘em alive. They needed more initial scraping than I care to do on a store-bought reed.

However, the Duste reeds are handmade start to finish and they tend to be very high quality (depends on your reed preferences on whether you scrape them at all or not) but they are the priciest ones. Price exluded, I love these reeds and recommend keeping a couple around. And ordering from Forrests is wonderful, they are very friendly and are good about contacting you if there are any problems (they even noticed that based on my location I was being overcharged on shipping and called me to tell me about the change).

17 Anonymous { 04.03.06 at 5:03 am }

I have ordered at least 2 of every variety and strength of reed they offer — spending close to $300 total for all my purchases. The only one that worked for me is the Albion Black Label hard. When playing all other varieties and strengths of their reeds, I got a very squawky sound — very thin, beginner-like tone that got very thin in the upper register and on left-hand only notes. Most of their reed varieties seem to be completely machine-made from start to finish, though they do say that someone scrapes on them. It didn’t appear to me that any hand scraping was done on any of the reeds I received, though.