The Best Saxophone Reeds in 2023 - Why Pink Floyd

Top Picks

•  Best Overall:  Vandoren SR613 Alto Sax V.12 Reeds Strength 3 

With ten reeds in a flow pack, you can rest easy knowing that replacements will be available for a very long time. In addition to being crafted from high-quality wood, the thicker heel and longer palette of these reeds help to generate more vibration, giving your saxophone a unique tone and enabling you to play the notes you've always wanted.

• Best Thick Spine: D’Addario Woodwinds Rico Select Jazz Alto 

On our list of the top alto saxophone reeds, you'll find the D'Addario Rico Select Jazz. The D'Addario Rico Select Jazz offers a big, bold sound and strong projection, and it comes in a wide range of sizes and tensions (soft, medium, and hard) and gauges (third strength, 2-4, medium, and large). Both a filed and an unfiled version of the D'Addario Rico Select Jazz is on the market. This particular make and model of saxophone stands out because it has a lengthier vamp and a more conventionally designed heart.

•  Best Design: Legere Alto Sax Reed Signature 3.0 (ASSS3.0) 

The Legere Signature ASSS3.25 is one of the most modern iterations of the signature Series technology for the alto sax, and it comes at a synthetic price and high quality. Legere uses the same technique it has perfected with its clarinet reeds to make a synthetic sax reed that is both strong (rated a 3) and innovative in its design. While the Legere Signature ASSS3.25 synthetic reed has all the same characteristics as a moist cane, it eliminates the need for preconditioning by retaining its shape without water.

•  Best for Darker Tone: Hemke Alto Sax Reeds 

The D'Addario Hemke Alto Sax Reeds are a great option if you're searching for value without sacrificing quality. The D'Addario Hemke Alto Sax Reed, which comes in strengths ranging from 2 to 4, features a darker tone than most on the market and a shorter vamp. As a bonus, it is budget-friendly, as it only costs $5 for a box of 5 reeds despite having a filed cut and the standard ten reeds.

•  Best for Alto Sax: Rico Saxophone Reeds  

The D'Addario RJA1030 is our top pick for beginner saxophonists because it offers everything a good reed needs to succeed. The D'Addario RJA1030 stands out from other reeds on the market for a student's playing level since it is so simple to use. This configuration was created by cutting the vamp thinner for convenience during play. It has the conventional blank's un-filed nature, which helps support the strength of the tone and its clear sound.