A Historical Overview of Synthetic Saxophone Reeds
Introduction
I play Légère synthetic American Cut (#3) alto saxophone reeds, and they're the best saxophone reeds that I've ever played. I anticipate that I'll play Légère synthetic saxophone reeds for the rest of my life. I like to know the in-depth details about any product that I use, and the way that I learn about topics is by writing articles discussing them. In this article, I deep dive into the fascinating history of synthetic saxophone reeds, a topic that I knew very little about before I wrote this article.
This article is a follow-up to the previous article that I wrote here.
Credits
I used many research assistants to compile information for this article:
1.) The Mistral large language model running on my local GNU/Linux computer
2.) HuggingChat
3.) Wikipedia
4.) Google
I used HuggingChat to check all of my spelling and grammar in this article, and I also used it to thoroughly fact-check this article for accuracy.
The Early History of Synthetic Saxophone Reeds: 1939 (Idea Conception) and 1940s (Patenting and Initial Manufacturing)
The earliest historical reference I can find to saxophone reeds made with synthetic materials is 1939. The source I found is an article on reedstore.com titled “History: French American Reeds.” According to the article, the first synthetic saxophone reeds were created by Mario Maccaferri. He and his wife Maria were the founders and owners of the French American Reeds (FAR) Manufacturing Company, which was headquartered in Paris, France. The company exported their reeds to the United States.
In 1939, Mario attended the 1939 New York World’s Fair, and his attendance at the event sparked his interest in making saxophone reeds of plastic. In theory, saxophone reeds made of plastic, vice natural cane, might be more resistant to weather effects such as warping due to heat or humidity. Mario and Maria’s interest in developing plastic reeds stemmed from the inability to import French cane to the United States due to World War II in Europe. Mario tried to grow natural cane in Arizona, but he was unsuccessful, and hence Mario came up with the plastic reed.
The idea of plastic saxophone reeds was rejected by virtually everyone, but Mario found a famous musician willing to endorse the idea: Benny Goodman. Though Benny Goodman played clarinet, saxophone and clarinet reeds are very similar, so Goodman’s endorsement of Maccaferri’s new plastic reeds was persuasive to some other musicians, who tried them as well. Even though plastic reeds weren’t popular, the idea of synthetic reeds was now a permanent part of the woodwind instrument reed landscape. [1]
Mario Maccaferri's Patents for Artificial Reeds
The Miracle Plastic Reed: 1940
On January 2, 1940, Mario Maccaferri filed a patent application with the United States Patent Office for artificial reeds for musical wind instruments. The patent number is 2,224,308. In the patent claim, Maccaferri stated that the purpose of his new artificial reeds was to replace the cane normally used with artificial materials. The reasons that he cited for the substitution with synthetic materials were the hygiene problems associated with saliva adhering to the cane reed's surface. His patent application stated that the moisture associated with the saliva impairs the reeds usefulness. Maccaferri conceded that natural cane has excellent tonal and vibratory qualities, but that the hygiene problems called for the development of an improvement.
His claim was that his novel invention was making the plastic reed vibrate better than it inherently would by making the longitudinal margins of the reed much denser or stiffer than the reed's central portion to enhance the reed's ability to vibrate freely.
As I read Maccaferri's patent application, I immediately realized that he gave modern reed manufacturers some of the ideas to make an effective synthetic saxophone reed back in 1940, and I'm sure that all of the major reed manufacturers have read his patent application and are very familiar with it. He was granted the patent on December 10, 1940. [3]
The Futurity Plastic Reed: 1942
Maccaferri's second plastic reed patent application was filed on June 13, 1941, and he received the patent on June 23, 1942 (number 2,287,529). As I read the patent application, I could tell that Maccaferri had given his invention much more thought since his successful 1940 patent. In this application, he actually mentioned plastic in the title, and he also mentioned in the title that his invention was for clarinets, saxophones, and like musical instruments. This gave me a fascinating historical perspective: Maccaferri was far ahead of his time. Today, companies like Légère make synthetic reeds for clarinets, saxophones, and other reed instruments. For example, Légère manufactures synthetic oboe reeds. This patent application had very detailed pictures and descriptions of his plastic reed design. [4]
The Rico "Betcha" Plastic Reeds
I could find almost no information on this plastic reed, but I actually found one for sale on Ebay. From the Ebay listing, it appears that Rico "Betcha" Plastic Reeds were manufactured during the 1950s. It was absolutely fascinating to see the reed in its small paper container: both the reed and the container were in good condition. The seller included several pictures of the paper container from different angles. The plastic reed was designed specifically for Bb clarinet, and it was cosmetically designed to look like real cane, including the dark streaks that often marble the surface of real cane reeds. The front of the container had the following information written on it:
"Betcha"
(REG.)
There's no other Reed like it.
Bb CLARINET.
The back of the container had the following information written on it:
DOES AWAY WITH ORDINARY REED TROUBLE
HELPS IN DEVELOPMENT OF SUPERIOR EMBOUCHURE
IT'S "CONTROLLED FREQUENCY" HOLDS UP THE PITCH
MORE SANITARY - NEVER GETS SOGGY
ALWAYS UNIFORM IN TONE - PRACTICALLY PERMANENT
In other words, the design goals of synthetic reeds during the 1950s were exactly in line with the goals that have been largely achieved by the best synthetic saxophone reeds that are being manufactured today. What I learned from finding this incredible Ebay listing: progress comes from persistence. An idea might not come to fruition right away, but if you don't give up, and if you continue to push the idea forward, over time, unbelievable progress can be made. [2]
Bravo Synthetic Reeds
In 1960, George Koregelos opened the House of Woodwinds in Oakland, California. He was a musician and inventor and I couldn't find a lot of information on him other than on the Bravo Reeds website. However, the resource states that he invented the Bravo synthetic reed later in life, not by himself, but with a collaborator who was a musician and engineer: Shun-Hwa Chang. The resource states that the team tried many different formulas for Bravo synthetic reeds before they found one that met all of their criteria. For example, they wanted to create a product that was non-toxic and recyclable, but that also mimicked the response of natural cane. They also wanted every reed to feel and play exactly the same (maximum consistency). [5]
Fibracell Synthetic Reeds
I played Fibracell Synthetic Reeds for a very long time (about 2 decades), and they are quite excellent, in my opinion. Fibracell Reeds was founded by David Shaffer (June 20, 1928-February 14, 2016), who also invented the Fibracell synthetic reeds. When I first discovered Fibracell reeds around the turn of the millennium (1999 going into 2000), I was completely blown away by how similarly they played to natural cane reeds. To me, they sounded the same, responded the same, played the same, yet each Fibracell reed lasted much longer than a natural cane reed, and every Fibracell reed played exactly the same. The only thing that I didn't like about them is that after a long time, the backing on the reed would start to peel off. It wasn't really a big deal, but it was a little bit annoying. I haven't played Fibracell reeds in a long time, so that might have solved that problem by now.
The resource I used to research Fibracell gave a lot of information that I didn't know before. The development of Fibracell synthetic reeds started in 1971 when Dave Shaffer started doing experiments to figure out how to better emulate the performance of natural cane. But the Fibracell reed experiments built on an early experience he had: doing finishing work on a synthetic oboe reed called Fibercane. He started work finishing Fibercane oboe reeds for Selmer in 1965/1966, when he was finishing his 15th year as a band director in California.
The Selmer Company developed and manufactured the Fibercane synthetic oboe reed, and Selmer hired Dave Shaffer to finish the reeds and prepare them for oboe students. The relationship between Selmer and Shaffer ran from 1966 to 2005 when low sales forced Selmer to discontinue the product.
Now, back to Fibracell synthetic saxophone reeds. Dave started the development and testing of Fibracell synthetic reeds in 1971, but he didn't present them to the world until the NAMM show in 1993. Though Dave passed away in 2016, his relative Joyce Shaffer is currently the President and CEO of the company that oversees the manufacture and sale of Fibracell synthetic reeds. [6]
When I first discovered Fibracell reeds, I was first drawn to their appearance: they look remarkably similar to natural cane reeds: both in color and in texture. They have a quick response, a very "reedy" sound, and they last a very long time. They also have a similar weight and stiffness to natural cane reeds. [7]
Légère Synthetic Saxophone Reeds
This brings us to the final item in this article, the reeds that I currently play: Légère synthetic saxophone reeds. Légère Reeds Ltd. was founded in 1998 by Guy Légère and Dr. Mark Kortschot. Guy is a scientist and amateur clarinetist, and the team developed Légère synthetic reeds after many trials and errors. In 1998, the team took several prototype Légère synthetic reeds to ClarinetFest to have them be tested by professional clarinet players. Apparently, many of the professional clarinet players liked them because Légère is highly successful today, and they make some of the most popular synthetic reeds for both clarinet and saxophone. [8]
Conclusions
This was one of the most fun and informative articles that I've ever written: I learned a lot. Confidence comes not only from practicing, it also comes from knowing a lot about your gear. I recently watched a great podcast where saxophone icon Tom Scott was the guest. He talked about when he played his saxophone, along with several other saxophone stars, for the January 1993 inauguration of President-elect Bill Clinton.
He said that David Sanborn, a good friend of his whom he considered to be like a brother, had the next-door room in the hotel, and they had a door that connected their rooms. He knocked on the door, and David opened. Scott said that he entered Sanborn's hotel room, and Dave's saxophone was in pieces on his bed. Sanborn explained that he was just tinkering with it trying to fix or perfect something about his horn. He said that Dave Sanborn was a saxophone nerd like that: constantly tinkering with his horn to make it play a little bit better. Tom Scott said that he takes music very seriously, but that he never got to that level of saxophone nerdery that David Sanborn did: he just didn't have the patience to get that in-depth with his horn.
I don't remember if Tom Scott told the Sanborn story in Part 1 or Part 2 of the podcast episode, so I've included both parts in the references. I recommend watching both parts in their entirety: Tom Scott drops SO MUCH knowledge, and I learned an incredible amount from the whole thing. [9][10]
That reminds me of Charlie Parker and Earl Bostic, both of whom had encyclopedic knowledge of the technical intricacies of the saxophone. Confidence comes from hard work, and that hard work has to include knowing your instrument very well at the technical level. That doesn't just mean knowing the saxophone generally at a high level. No, you have to develop a very close and intimate connection with your personal saxophone: you have to know every nook and cranny of it, and you have to know all of its strengths and limitations.
In this article, we got to better understand the general history of synthetic saxophone reeds, and we got to better understand the reed that I currently play: synthetic Légère reeds. I sincerely hope that you enjoyed reading this article as much as I enjoyed writing it.
References
[1] History: French American Reeds. Retrieved June 21, 2025 from http://reedstore.com/about
[2] Rico “Betcha” Plastic Reed 1950 Bb Clarinet Reeds Open Box - Made In USA *RARE* (Ebay Listing). Retrieved June 21, 2025 from https://www.ebay.com/itm/405240618744
[3] United States Patent Office: 2,224,308: Reed: Mario Maccaferri, New York, N.Y.: January 2, 1940. Retrieved June 21, 2025 from https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/2f/07/4e/3b991cdf580d1f/US2224308.pdf
[4] United States Patent Office: 2,287,529: Reed of Cane, Plastic, or any other Material for Clarinets, Saxophones, and like musical instruments: Mario Maccaferri, New York, N.Y.: June 13, 1941. Retrieved June 21, 2025 from https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/55/1e/a9/5eb2d35d7dc8b5/US2287529.pdf
[5] People Behind the Reed: George Koregelos. Retrieved June 21, 2025 from https://www.bravoreeds.net/about
[6] The Birth of FIBRACELL. Retrieved June 21, 2025 from https://www.fibracell.info/dave-shaffer/
[7] Features of Fibracell Reeds. Retrieved June 21, 2025 from https://www.fibracell.info/support-contact/
[8] Légère: Our Story. Retrieved June 21, 2025 from https://www.legere.com/our-story/
[9] "TRUTH IN RHYTHM" - Tom Scott, Part 1 of 2. YouTube channel FUNKNSTUFF. Retrieved June 21, 2025 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecOw8ezjsBk
[10] "TRUTH IN RHYTHM" - Tom Scott, Part 2 of 2. YouTube channel FUNKNSTUFF. Retrieved June 21, 2025 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgI_7VQCQMY