Rigotti's secret code for reed strengths

Have you ever gotten a bunch of different strengths of Rigotti reeds mixed up. Maybe you had some 3 lights, 3 mediums and 3 strongs mixed together and no longer had any way to tell them apart since they all looked the same? There is a secret code to tell them apart!! Ok, maybe it's not so secret, but no one has ever written about it before.

Here it is:
  •  Strong reeds have the D  filled in with ink.
  •  Light reeds have the O in the word Gold filled in with ink
  •  Medium reeds have none of the letters shaded in


Susan said...

Thank you! I had already forgotten. This warrants a bookmark while I sort through my disorganized collection of reeds.

joesh said...

Hi David

Is that on the box (I imagine) or is it on the reeds themselves?

It's strange they don't mention it elsewhere as I don't think anyone ever mentioned it in the shop when you buy them, but it does explain some inconsistencies.

I know Francois Louis very well (since I live in the same town) and he uses Rigotti as his base reeds to make his own brand. I should ask him if he has any extra tips on those.

Thanks for the tip off.

David Carlos Valdez said...

The code is on the reeds themselves, on the bottom.

Damienzm said...

You rock so hard.. I'm going to go check now. Still can't figure out why wwbw won't sell strengths over 3.5..