AlanB, another old timer said he dipped the tails in vinegar before tying on the head. I never knew why. Methanol dries quickly and I have also raised the grain on the gouge side with it as it dries quickly and I can get on with things faster, particularly the tails dry within a day with it, while I wait 3 or 4 days if I use water. I knew another guy who soaked and dried hard cane several cycles, which he said softened it. He also polished the gouge side on a cane tube which impregnated it with the natural wax of the cane. David Daye goes through a lot of gymnastics which he has developed in his own method. Polishing the scrape really seems to slow down moisture absorbtion and seems to give clearer tone. Sean Folsom got that from Finbar Furey over 20 years ago. I have seen heated staples used to control cracking, like heat bending barrel staves. It’s a wonder the damn things work at all with all the torture we inflict upon them while making and adjusting them. I got some cane from a french cabrette player that he harvested in the wild in Var for dry blown reeds which was very good. I have not liked the french commercial cane as it is grown for wet reeds and is hard and requires too thin a scrape for it to be stable. This may be due to artificial fertilizers. Others seem to like it. Many oboe and bassoon players tell me the quality of commercial cane has gone down in recient years. I would love to spend more time in France, Spain and Italy checking out wild cane breaks for the softer cane I like best.
Pat; yes Alain Fromont prefers Calif. cane as does Cillian O’Briain. It was also sent to Leo Rowsome by Dan Sullivan (RIP). No matter what the source, I find about one in 20 reeds to be superb, which is not any fault or credit to the reed maker but to the individual slip of cane itself.
Ted