Smart Drone reeds

[David Page_dup1]

Does anyone have any experience with the Smart Drone reeds. I received an ad in my inbox today about them. Their URL is www.smartdrone.com.au (http://www.smartdrone.com.au) and they look a lot like the old ross cane tongue with a plastic body reeds. I'm pretty happy with my Ezees but was wondering what others thought of these. :confused:

[Chris Hamilton]

I haven't gotten my mitts on them yet, but I do have some on order. As a fan of the now-scarce (in the USA) Ross reeds, I suspect I'll like these.

Chris

[Spunky]

I also prefer the old Ross plastic reeds. I also know where to........

[Steve MacLeod]

There are two other makers of very similar reeds in that part of the world...

The URL for Ross Reeds, played by Vic Police, is..

http://www.rossbagpipereeds.com/ross_bagpipe_reeds002.htm. (http://www.rossbagpipereeds.com/ross_bagpipe_reeds002.htm)

The URL for the Indian and Cairns Reeds is...

http://members.ozemail.com.au/~riainind/

Anybody remember the white-bodied "Champion" reeds??

[GreenPiper]

I just can't help but to wonder what the retail markup on these puppies will be. Ka-Ching! A piper and his cash are soon parted. :wink:

[AWPIPER]

I am seeing alot of talk about the new drone reeds being made available on the market.

I will address this question to chris,as he probably sees more of them then I will.

What is YOUR recommended drone reed and why??

I have yet to see or hear these rockets anywhere near me.Where are they available from?? and at what cost are we looking at.I have the SM-90's currently in my drones and I am truly disappointed with them.I have had numerous people attempt to rectify the problems with them to no avail.What I am curious about is what reeds are being played actively that everyone agrees are worth the initial cost??....All input is welcome as I am unhappy with what I have now and want to change.

Cheers :D
Mark
AWPIPER@AOL.COM (mailto:AWPIPER@AOL.COM)

[Jeff Wolf]

Mark,

You didn'y mention what brand of pipes you have. I don't know much, but I do know that just like chanters, drones sound better with some makes than others. I have experience only with the plain vanilla Wygent Synthe Drones. I lack the experience to go on about the nuances of tone that can be derived from the various makes, but for all the shaking and rattling that goes on with this topic, I think they sound the way drone reeds are supposed to sound, and are user friendly. I've never heard anyone state catagorically they sound bad in any make of pipes. What does the manufacturer recommend? <experts coming to the rescue any second now...>

[Chris Hamilton]

AWPiper said:

I will address this question to chris,as he probably sees more of them then I will.

What is YOUR recommended drone reed and why??

I have yet to see or hear these rockets anywhere near me.Where are they available from?? and at what cost are we looking at.I have the SM-90's currently in my drones and I am truly disappointed with them.I have had numerous people attempt to rectify the problems with them to no avail.What I am curious about is what reeds are being played actively that everyone agrees are worth the initial cost??....All input is welcome as I am unhappy with what I have now and want to change.[/QUOTE]

Hi Mark,

I find that the Ezeedrone and the Selbie reeds are reliable, consistent, easy to work with, and have very good tone. A great all-around value. Which one sounds better in your drones is a matter of personal preference and perhaps quirks of your instrument.

The Ezeedrones are a little quieter than the Selbies. The Selbies seem to take slightly less air and the Selbie bass is a bit better than the default Ezeedrone bass. However, Ezeedrone makes some custom bass and tenor reeds for out-the-ordinary setups (ie, long bass, short bass, inverted bass, long tenors, etc).

With both of these types of reeds, you buy a set, and presto you've got three good drone reeds with little fiddling required.

The Rockets are great. Whether they're worth the wait or the money is again an individual choice.

I do not have Rocket reeds to sell retail. I can bundle them with Kron pipes, but apart from that, I'm not a retail outlet for them. Best bet is to contact Mark Lee directly. I'm not sure what his current price for them is.

Chris

[Chris Hamilton]

Originally posted by GreenPiper:
I just can't help but to wonder what the retail markup on these puppies will be. Ka-Ching! A piper and his cash are soon parted. :wink:

That's not the way it works. Retail outlets buy products from manufacturers at wholesale prices, then mark them up so that they're similar or identical in price as direct from the manufacturer. Accounting for shipping etc.

No scam out there, sorry.

Chris

[GreenPiper]

Originally posted by Chris Hamilton:


That's not the way it works. Retail outlets buy products from manufacturers at wholesale prices, then mark them up so that they're similar or identical in price as direct from the manufacturer. Accounting for shipping etc.

No scam out there, sorry.

Chris

Currently they are available for $95.00 AUD...so they should be available @ $49.00 USD (+S&H).
Really, though - I'm not implying that there is a scam. I just know that some retailers also provide a service (most times better than the manufacturer) to go along with the items they sell. I have used your service Chris, and your input and time have been worth something. This extra service is usually relected in the price of the product.

To note: I have seen some manufacturers (especially those with web sites) adjust their prices (upwards) to allow for a greater retail markup -and- so that they do not undercut their partners. It's free enterprise at work. Me gotsa no issue wit dat....just wondering how the demand for these new reeds will reflect on the market price.

[Chris Hamilton]

Hi Shawn,

Cool. I haven't received mine yet and haven't even given a thought as to retail price. I do love that reed concept and am anticipating good things :)

Chris

[jase xu]

$95AUD??

I bought a set of Ross reeds for $50AUD two years ago - direct from Geoff Ross. Draw your own conclusions....

Jason

[Chris Hamilton]

Originally posted by jason tsui:
$95AUD??

I bought a set of Ross reeds for $50AUD two years ago - direct from Geoff Ross. Draw your own conclusions....


The Australian Dollar has dropped considerably in value. I guarantee you Geoff is not selling them for $50 AUD anymore.

I'd love to sell Ross reeds, but Geoff is not manufacturing enough reeds for export right now, concentrating on bags instead.

Chris