I was just wondering if anyone here has had success (or failure) with plastic regulator reeds. I know Bruce Childress makes some and David Daye used to have some plans on his site (and of course there are the one size fits all Pakistanis ones…).
If you have made your own are you willing to share information on what you did? I’m thinking of experimenting but if people have already done some work it would be nice to be warned of which blind alleys not to go down.
Ian Lawther
Best to try and get a chance to hear some first. They don’t sound like cane reeds. I tried some using the plastic from yogurt containers (do a Search on thei sforum for info) and didn’t like the sound at all. John Daly sent me a reed of a much harder plastic and again, I didn’t care for the sound. I have not pursued the subject for a few years.
djm
Jens Güntzel in Germany has experimented with glass fibre reeds which I found very impressing for the regs although I didn’t like them so much in the chanter. I’m not sure if he continued this path, but if you’re interested I will find out for you. Myself I have tried many different kinds of plastic but wasn’t satisfied with any of them for uilleann pipe double reeds.
Plastic’s definitely unsuitable for serious chanter reeds, IMO. Every one I ever heard just didn’t sound right. When it comes to reg reeds, though, this can be another matter. At least two local lads have plastic Childress reg reeds for their D sets and to me they sound just fine. Why this would be, I have no idea.
Chris Bayley’s plastic yoghurt pot regulator reeds work fine. His caveat is that it must be the correct kind of yoghurt pot. Simply going for the organic or free-range yoghurt options is not enough.
I aways use the fat-free 
I’m aware of the “correct yogurt pot” argument. Jon Swayne, the English bagpipe maker, used to make his family consume a set amount of the contents every week to maintain his supply. At one time his pot of choice was Safeway’s Fromage Fraise but they changed the container and after he sampled various other cartons his family had to change its eating habits…
Ian