ok, my reed plays fairly easy. the issue is this,
1st octive is fine except the e and bottom d. even with the slightest pressure it sounds in the 2nd octive. if the bag is full with no arm pressure it sounds High e and a higher octive bottom d. i have to have the bag half full to get the e to sound normal and then i get the auto cran d.
if i open the reed it helps a wee bit but then no 2nd octive,and it becomes very hard to play, and its still happens but not as much.
i spoke with the maker of the reed and he told me i should see another piper to get the expert opinion but until i can do that i thought i would put it up here. i am at the end of my rope 
and the hammer is out.
Is this a recent thing? I mean, has your reed always felt this way, or is it something that just came on, like the winter blues? The reason I’m asking is that the true nature of a reed, or anyone for that matter, can still be there. Or not. Um…what I mean is… reeds change. Their needs change, just like anyone else’s. And if you really feel sure about their needs, and you know you are the person to fulfill those needs, then you need to allow them to be who they are, and accept them for who they are. And if they can’t be who you need, then you need to leave them for someone else and go and find the one that will give you what want out of life. But then again, sometimes they just need to have their hips hugged in just the right way for them to sing out in delight again, and you are both happy again. For a while, anyway.
First off I would like to say that if your reed is sounding with no arm pressure, you are playing with to much pressure in the bag. With no arm pressure your pipes should not sound. You are over pressuring your reed and have no control over it. Your reed issues will be hard to decipher if you haven’t learned to properly pressure the bag. Your bag should never be really more than 7/8ths full at any given time. It sounds to me more like pressure control issues rather than reed issues.
ahh. i see. ghb leads me down the wrong road again. used to the bag has to be full. thank you.
and uillmann, deep very very deep!
You are most welcome. Glad to be of service. Always happy to help the brave who cross over to the dark side world of UP.
Cheers 
Um, yeah, depth is kind of, you know, deep. Sometimes I think I should have been a shrink, you know, maybe in La Jolla or somewhere.
If you were a shrink in La Jolla I would definitely need you.
A GHB player myself I did not know about this either.. I have had a bit of a problem with the that and also the drones wavering .. I tried what you suggested and oh boy, what a difference.
Thanks for posting that ever so much.
Johnnie
It could also be that the reed lips are too close together.
your idea of what a wee bit might be, could be canyon-like for the reed…!
welcome to the world of fun!
try to figure out how to adjust in smaller increments.
Very true PJ. Micro adjustments to the reed may still be needed, but, I’ve met many a GHB player coming to the dark side whose reed is fine. It’s very common for them to over pressure in the beginning. I’ve also seen reeds collapsed and ruined when over pressured by a beginner. It’s very important that you DO NOT over pressure your reed. It’s difficult to bring a collapsed, over pressured reed back to life. Best to learn proper technique from the git go. Reed adjustment and fine tuning skills are also crucial. They will come with your own research time and familiarity. Don’t rush into tweeking your reed before you get some coaching. Seth Gallagher’s, Patrick Sky’s, Brian Howard’s web sites all have good info. Dave Hagarty’s reed manual is available for free at the NPU site. Start studying and good luck guys. 
ya as far as jumping in to quick to adjust, ya both feet from the get go.how do you diagnose a collapsed reed? like i said its one note thats giving issue, and the auto cran bottom d.
Try opening the reed a bit - as was suggested above, the reed may be a bit too closed. Also, the auto cran can be a temporary symptom resulting from dry conditions.
i will open it more. while discussing this with my reed maker, he suggested it, the reed, was way to hard and i needed to close it. i think maybe i went to far. 
It’s good that you are brave to adjust the reed and learn. You will find that just a breath of an adjustment is all it needs. Is your bridle made of wire or solid copper? If it played well at one time and now only has auto cran, chances are that your reed is probably just fine. If it was collapsed, it wouldn’t cooperate in the slightest. I only brought up over over pressuring and collapsed reed problems to let you know that it can happen. Please let us know how you are making out.
Peace
GB
i adjusted today with some success. but i also found that i may be holding the chanter a wee bit close to my body, maybe causing the over pressure. if i hold the chanter more towards my knee instead of my thigh, i have a better result. if you can follow that.