Reed Shapes

The shapes used to make King Bassoon Reeds are very common to most bassoonists. For the professional bassoon reeds, the Herzberg shape is the best fit. This shape is narrow with a flare in the tube; which results in an easy response without loosing high notes. This is the shape most pro players gravitate around as it helps give that classic Heckel sound.

The student reed is shaped from a Fox 2. No other shape is so universally successful for different makes and models of bassoons. The plastic horns all the way to Heckels respond well to this shape. This is a medium width shape with straight tube, which helps keep the pitch down for low notes and has a rounded sound. A wider reed can also stand up to students that use excessive jaw pressure.

Contrabassoon reeds are made from the Rieger K1 shape, Another good all around shape used by most pros. This shape can end up being a bit large for older Mollenhauer contras but isnt usually a problem once the reed is broken in. And the Contraforte reeds are made from the Rieger C2 shape. There are only two contraforte shapes manufactured so far and this is the most popular.