ReedGeekUniversal G4 Plaque and Guage Combo Set

I never knew what a reed played like when it was tuned to fit. Went back to old reeds and reconditioned them, seemed to work fine. Has weight that makes it easy to work, not so light that it cannot give feedback on what is happening at the reed. Seems to be very functional and well thought out.

Amazing reed tool! Very easy to use(instructional videos on YouTube were also very helpful). With this tool, I was able to not only extend the life of older reeds, but also make bad reeds play great! The plaque isn’t very necessary, but was helpful in checking if the back of the reed was flat enough.I would say, it’s worth the few extra bucks to get the plaque bundle.

Great tool for adjusting reeds. It had taken the place of my reed knife. It has several different shaped edges for adjusting different spots. A long flat area for soothing the table and smaller edges for more detailed work. Highly recommended.

If you are in doubt, start working your reeds with a knife or razor blade. Get the backs of your reeds glassy smooth and flat, to marry to the mouthpiece table and facing. Then learn to work the front of the reed, evening out the stiffness on both corners, and learn how to tame the harmonics of your low, mid, and upper registers by shaving the low, mid, and upper edges of the reed. The Reed Geek with the plaque and feeler gauge is a fantastic investment. You can get by with a $40 reed knife, a $20 produce knife, or a $5 machinist's steel lathe tool, but the Reed Geek is more convenient and portable than the knifes, and slightly easier to use than a lathe tool. You can get a set of feeler gauges, too. I wish the price were a bit lower is all.

Expensive for what it is, but a surprisingly useful tool. Being able to adjust reeds definitely makes them play better and last longer, much less subject to having to stumble across a few good ones in a box.

The ReedGeek Tool gets 5-stars, the plaque and feeler gauge gets 3-stars, and the packaging and instructions gets 1-star.Tool: Well designed and easily flattens the reed. I like the radius tip and spline adjuster.Plaque & Feeler Gauge: Works great on my alto sax mouthpiece. Not so good after placing the reed on the mouthpiece to check reed flatness per the instructions—flex and friction of the reed can cause the gauge to stop at any position you desire. I expected better instructions on where to adjust the reed depending on what playability characteristics I recognized.Packaging: Where do I start? I see the plastic storage sleeve is patented but it is next to impossible to twist/pull to open due to the cap’s tight fit and pointy surfaces—why not use a screwed cap? All of these items were shipped in a zip lock bag with the same width dimensions as a plastic coated, heavy card stock instruction sheet. The sheet had to be bent to pull it out—I should have cut the bag! The sheet also had impression damage from the tool sleeve and plaque case during shipping. Lastly, why would they tightly roll up a 3”x17” secondary instruction sheet and caution sheet and place them in to tool sleeve—once again, the packing was very disappointing.

Like most experienced sax players, having good-playing reeds is always a challenge. Had heard about this tool for quite a while but saw a YouTube video from Better Sax that really convinced me to try it. The very first reed I tried was not playing at all and by following the simple instructions it instantly became a very good reed! I was stunned at how well this tool works and I have told my other experienced sax buddies to absolutely be sure and get one....!!

I've been looking for something like this for years. It really adds a new dimension to working with reeds.