Jones JR101AM Artist Oboe Reed; Medium

I have ordered four different reeds from 4 different sellers, and this is my favorite. I love the tone. I also like how it doesn't have the wire around it like so many others I saw when searching for reeds. I was a music major 25 years ago and made my own reeds, but stopped playing the oboe with raising kids and work and everything. Recently, I wanted to get back into playing, so I thought that buying reeds already made instead of trying to make my own would help me get back into it faster. Thank you! I had forgotten how much I enjoyed playing the oboe. I will be buying more.

Jones makes wonderful oboe reeds. However, I think that the Amazon reseller that Amazon chose under the Amazon fulfillment option to send me one of the Jones Artist medium-hard reeds may have damaged it somehow during shipping and handling. It barely played at all upon arrival. EVERY OTHER Jones reed I have purchased, both the Jones standard reeds and the Jones Artist reeds, played well upon arrival, and I highly recommend them. I give Jones Oboe Reeds FIVE STARS, but I give Amazon.com Fulfillment ZERO STARS (which is unusual, since Amazon's fulfillment is usually bulletproof). The other possibility is that the Jones Artist medium-hard reed is truly meant ONLY for artists, which means that any artist would do additional scraping on the reed before playing it. By contrast, the standard Jones reeds (which cost less than the Artist series), including the medium-soft, medium, and medium-hard strength reeds, play extremely well out-of-the-box without the need for any additional shaving. So, in the future, I am going to stick to the Jones standard reeds and leave the Jones Artist series reeds to the pros who know how to shave them as needed.

Have to soak in water for multiple minutes for it to work. Correct embouchure is needed and you need to press the sides down togther since the opening is too wide. Overall, good reed. Not recommended for beginners.

Not a bad reed just personal I don’t like it

This was our first foray into the "Jones JR101AM Artist Oboe Reed; Medium" as opposed to our usual "Jones JR101M Oboe Reed; Medium" purchases. Although the old standby red string JR101M reeds have been perfectly adequate for playing in most situations, they do require quite a bit of scraping and tweaking to get them really playable. This JR101AM reed was already scraped very well. It saved a significant amount of time as it did not require that much touch up to get it where we really like it to be. It is also obvious that it was scraped by someone with significant skill. As improving skills in scraping is critical to progress in our use of the Oboe, we will be buying the occasional JR101M in the hopes that one day our scraping skills approach those at Jones when they produce the Artist series reeds. Needless to say, we have found that the Jones JR101AM are well worth the 30% higher price. Right out of the box these reeds are scraped well enough to be playable in most situations. With minimal tweaking they are ready for on-stage performance. We have found our new reed of choice.

I hate writing negative reviews, but this product was so bad that I felt I had to do it. I bought this Artist Reed thinking that I would use it as a backup reed. The reviews made it seem like an excellent choice. Unfortunately, the reed I received consistently played almost a whole tone out of tune and was like playing on a log (maybe a slight exaggeration). I was very disappointed! My recommendation is that, if you want a good oboe reed, you should look for a reputable reed maker who can supply you with a hand-made reed.

I have used this reed for about a week now. I only had to do very minor scrapping breaking it in. It is responsive and has a nice tone and intonation throughout the range. I hope the next one I order is as good. (We all know that no two reeds are the same.)

Fantastic Reeds. As an intermediate oboe student, I can always rely on these reeds to be excellent. Always come in tune and have great tone. They also have enough meat to shave and adjust to your personal preferences.

Good quality reeds, but be prepared to do some scraping and adjusting yourself. I bought two mediums, one is too resistant for me and the other is slightly leaking from the sides. Nothing that can’t be fixed though.

Although I can get the reed to work and produce full bodied notes, it is only after working with the reeds alignment each time. The reed is glued together at the string so it will not retain any changes for any period of time. Not what I was hoping for.

Good reed. Intonation was good. Played well through range of instrument. Will order again.

Terrible quality. The reed came off the plastic packaging while in the delivery box and it was damaged. To return it, I must pay shipping so it’s totally a rip off. Don’t buy - RUN!!!

J'en commanderai d'autres.