Hi… To all of you who know best. I hope you can help me put my mind at ease. I have a new set with a new reed(obviously). It’s beautiful with a lovely tone and sweet sound. I have had experienced players play it and they loved it. I have it 3 weeks and am not as confident with in the second octave, find it harder on my bag arm than my last reed and have less control especially in tunes with many notes in second octave. Is it a case of my body adjusting and eventually I will be as accomplished looking with the new set as with my old one? Is it a matter of playing it in etc?
Possibly the reed lips are too open, thus causing you to squeeze harder to keep/hit the 2nd actave… Might try to move the bridle down a hair… Just A Thought 
It could be anything. Is there a good piper near you that can give you some feedback?
PD.
Sounds to me like your set is irreparably broken. I’ll get rid of it for you and it won’t cost you anything 
But seriously, all reeds are tough at the beginning. They need to be broken in. It could take a few months for the reed to find it’s form in your chanter. Don’t get discouraged. Stick with it. As PD says, try get advice from a piper near you - one of those guys who played your set and loved it. Tell them that playing your set isn’t free!!
Often the reeds that are hardest to blow in when new are the ones that last longest and play best.
djm
Bingo.
I wouldn’t go dinking around with a reed that is just 3 weeks old… give it some more time, especially to acclimate to your particular climate/temps/humidity.
Keep playing it in - who knows - you may have reed that turns out to last years and years.
Gold Ring,
If memory serves, you were waiting on a Gallagher set. Is this the one you’re talking about? If so, I suggest you contact Seth Gallagher before doing anything with the reed. He guaranties his chanter reeds for the first couple of months, but the guaranty is withdrawn if you tinker with it too much.
I’d also recommend you go to Patrick Sky’s website and read his new manual on reeds. Understanding the chanter reed is essential.
To be honest I think it’s just me trying to get used to a new set/reed, I played for an hour just now and once it warmed up after about 5 mins it was lovely. Thanks anyway . The damn thing is so good and I’m used to struggling with my old set. Seth is an absolute master. I have to admit that the quality of the set is far superior to what I expected.
Why not post some pictures of it? We’d all love to see it.
Keep at it. You’ll eventually beak it in . If it’s a really hard blow you could close the reed a bit. But if it’s just that you’re not used to it, it could be good for you. Make you work for it’s respect
Will get a few pics next week and put them up if I can…Thanks