These reeds work great. One can achieve a big, colourful, and flexible sound with an easy emission. However, I find that there is a huge variability in terms of reed strength and so for those looking for particularly stiffer reeds, or weaker reeds, out of a box of 6 you may only get 1 or 2 of what you are looking for, which is a low yield overall. This low yield may be a result of the manufacturing processes not being as refined contrary to other more prominent and longer-term players in the reed market. Furthermore, Selmer uses wild cane to make their reeds, which from a quality control standpoint increases variability because controlled conditions cannot be maintained. This factor may contribute to the low yield that is provided.
Furthermore, the ink in the logo on the reed itself is not very water resistant, and so it actually starts to fade away once exposed to water. This presents a number of problems, such as the inability to determine what strength and brand reed the reed is and also introduces a potential health and safety risk, whereby the ink could be ingested if one is not careful with the handling. The MSDS for the ink is not available publicly and so it is hard to say what the true impacts of this ink are in terms of health and safety, but nevertheless the risk still exists. On top of that, the labeling of the reed does not provide information with respect to the batch and lot number for the reed was produced, presenting obvious security issues as well. These reeds can be easily counterfeited with the right equipment, and obviously Selmer has not caught on as well compared to other competitors who have security measures in place on their reeds.
The reeds are presented in a very nice, plastic reed case, which is good for the consumer if they need a fancy reed case for long term use. The only problem with a durable case for that it presents an obvious end-of-life waste issue, whereby regular consumers would have a bunch of cases that there would be no way they could use them all and end up throwing them out. Selmer touts that the case is made out of reusable plastic, but plastic of the case is black, which happens to be the only colour of plastic that in many parts of the world cannot be recycled because recycling detection software cannot differentiate black plastics from other wastes. The environmental footprint of these reeds actually can accumulate over time, which makes consumers who are environmentally conscious gravitate towards purchasing products from other competitors whose packaging is actually recyclable and better for the environment.
But nevertheless, Selmer has produced a great product, but has many areas that they could improve on.
