Your cart is empty.
Your cart is empty.Product Description
D'Addario Hemke, Alto, #3, 5 Bx (RHKP5ASX300)
From the Manufacturer
The Frederick L. Hemke reeds in strength 3.0 feature a thinner tip and shorter vamp for easy response combined with a medium spine thickness for a warm sound with good resistance.
Frederick L. Hemke reeds, part of the Rico family of reeds, provide the dark tone favored by many classical and traditional jazz saxophonists. The design is especially well-suited to traditional, round-chambered mouthpieces.
Since the acquisition of Rico by D'Addario & Co., Rico has strengthened its position as the global leader in woodwind reeds and accessories. Rico's state-of-the-art reed research center in Southern California employs a collaboration of agronomists, scientists, and musicians to produce top-quality reeds, including Rico Reserve premium reeds for clarinet and saxophone. Rico reeds are designed to benefit all levels of musicians, from the beginner to the seasoned professional. Many of the world's finest woodwind players perform with Rico reeds, such as Mark Nuccio, Jerry Bergonzi, Chris Potter, Benny Golson, Ernie Watts, Bob Sheppard, Henri Bok, Richie Hawley, Eric Alexander, and many more.
dask
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 21, 2025
They seem to work to extend I can judge considering my skill :P
yanet
Reviewed in the United States on September 8, 2024
Estos Reeds son de muy buena calidad recomendados 100% ya que son muy útiles para mi hijo que va en Highschool en 10mo. Grado y necesita reeds más fuertes y que den un sonido claro.
Marilyn
Reviewed in the United States on October 3, 2024
I play much better with these reeds
Ashley
Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2024
Love these for my alto playing! Give a nice clear sound and good tone in all registers!
Angelo
Reviewed in Italy on April 23, 2024
Per me ottime con becco Meyer 7,le ricomprero'
Brian
Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2022
I'm a woodwind professional and have arrived at these reeds as my favorites after trying many different brands and cuts on all my setups AND doing playing tests for other educators/pros.On my classical setup on alto (Selmer Concept, Hemke 3), I was after a reed that didn't get darkness from resistance and fuzziness (ie, most of the Vandoren line-up, v12s were the best in this regard), but instead was just naturally dark and pure of sound. Hemke supplied that tone clarity while still not ever edging over into "brightness". I did multiple play tests for colleagues (vs Vandoren v12 & Gonzalez Classic) and every single one described Hemkes as hands-down "more complex" and a better sound all around: independently of each other too!On the feel side of things, there was a responsiveness at extreme registers and dynamics that no other reed had. Soft articulations on the low end? Easy and clear. Support at full blast on the top end? Got it. Every other reed I tried, other than the Gonzalez, had one or the other. Hemke had it all in both the feel and sound categories.But wait! That's just the classical setups. I did NOT expect all the above qualities to translate to my jazz/pop setups also. On a NY Meyer 8, (Hemke 2.5) the tone just projects forever and is clear without needing to be bright and buzzy to cut through. All the feel components described above are still there too in the low register allowing for very easy subtone and fluffy pitch-bending fun, yet I still have all the support I need in the top register without failing in lead alto situations. I keep pushing and it keeps delivering. The other reeds in this comparison were Boston Sax Shop, D'Addario Reserve, La Voz.This reed even tamed my metal Yanigasawa 9 a bit. It's still a bright mouthpiece, but the darker and more complex sound rounded it off a bit and gave it a bit more depth compared to all others in A/B testing.Box consistency seems typical to me, BUT ONLY THE NEWER BOXES with the new branding. Sometimes I've been shipped old boxes from 2010-2014 and they were obviously not cut even at all; didn't even play them. But in general, I've had one out of 10 that was noticeably "not as good" as the others, but still perfectly fine.I have a very strict reed hygiene and storage system, so they last just as long as all my other reeds.I don't quite notice too big of a different sound-wise right out of the box vs about a week of break-in time (good for emergencies), but I still make sure to break them in slowly anyway over a week to ensure best longevity and not to blow them out early.OH, and the price for 10 is about $4 cheaper than Vandorens :-)~. No brainer to me.
Max Klie
Reviewed in the United States on December 27, 2022
Really good sound quality off of these, a lot better than a lot of other brands of reeds. They’re a little bit more flexible than a Vandoren of the same strength, so they ‘break in’ a little quicker. Only gripe is with the amount of reeds in a box. The price isn’t really the issue (I think it makes sense for what you’re getting), I just wish there was at least an option to get a box of 10 like Vandoren and most other brands sell. Other than that, the sound quality off of these is the main selling point, and I have no issues there.
ABKniazev
Reviewed in Spain on July 1, 2020
La mejor caña que probado para tocar jazz tiene un sonido algo mas bajo o "oscuro" que las vandorem y como decirlo hace que el saxo suene solo, cosa que era muy complicada con una boquilla metálica del 6 usando las otras cañas que tenía, en definitiva muy consistente y dulce el sonido que producen.
jcr
Reviewed in France on March 16, 2020
Pour moi les meilleures anches aujourd'hui !Excellente finition et une bonne constante dans la fabrication.Facile à jouer et un super son !
Cliente
Reviewed in Spain on September 22, 2019
La Calidad deseada
Chen, Sean
Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2016
Classical player, 10 years experience with wind orchestras. I purchased a box of Hemke #3 on my Vandoren AL3. The reeds were very consistent. I found only one reed out of five having noticeable difference (not flexible, producing a buzzy sound). All the rest produced a dark, round sound with fast response. It was easier to start on a soft note than a Vandoren blue box of similar strength (harder 2.5s in the box). I was able to push it pretty hard without getting a splintering sound.There are two slight downsides. I don't think these reeds last as long as Vandoren blue box ones. They are also more expensive per reed. If you play hard on one, the quality of sound may quickly deteriorate. In a louder gig, that means 3 - 4 hours per reed. For normal use, a reed lasts about 10 hours. Rotating them seems to be not a very effective way of getting more life out of them for me. I suggest saving some good reeds for important gigs as backup.I still use them because I can easily use all 5 reeds in a box without taking a knife to them. With Vandoren blue box, I need my knife and some luck.
laurie
Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2015
I bought these for a student. She seems to like them. It has helped her intonation. She is rarely flat anymore which was a problem before. I would have her move her mouthpiece on farther but it didn't make enough of a difference. I'm sure that much of the difference is the stronger, thicker reed but the brand seems to be a good one.
James
Reviewed in the United States on December 27, 2013
I'm a little over 50 years old and decided to take up playing an alto sax about four year ago. As the saying goes, youth is wasted on the young, and it certainly was for me. Every year I take out the sax, play and practice for about two weeks, then the same adult responsibilities once again sweep over me and the horn sits and waits...What has this got to do with my review? I have a set of reeds that I purchased as part of my 'quick start' program. Rico Royals in 3.5 3.0 2.5, and a couple of off brand reeds. The higher numbers are MUCH harder to control, for me, and nearly impossible to generate lower register notes. The 2.5's are about perfect. No honking, quick tones with little 'soak' time. I can get the Royals in 3.0 to work, but I have to work at it. Now to these reeds. They are great right out of the box. Good sound. No goose calls. At some point I may order a box of 3.0's. At this price it is cheap to experiment. If I had a youngster around, I would start them off with these - or some 2.0's. A very, very good value.Perhaps I can get the grand kids to play. Maybe I can force myself to keep up with them.
Recommended Products
$26.84
$ 11 .99 $11.99