William Santucci, solo bassoonist, Minnesota Symphony. Store your reeds and reed cane in the refrigerator when at home -- the constant temperature and humidity seems to keep them more stable and long-lasting.
Robert Pfeuffer, bassoon and contra, Philadelphia Orchestra. When scraping in a reed, using an evenly profiled blank (or unfinished reed), test for evenness of resistance at each point from top to bottom blade. Do not merely rely on perfectly matched thicknesses. Balanced vibration, resonance, overall efficiency are the goals in a reed -- not just beauty of appearance.
Gerald Corey, Baltimore. An excellent pair of reed-making pliers, which performs functions of: wire tightening, wire snipping, string cutting and (most importantly) squeezing the tube for adjusting throat size and/or tip opening -- with parallel action (on most pliers, bottom of jaws close first -- not in unison with top of jaws) -- is the "Grip-Snip" plier of Sargent and Co. of New Haven, Conn. Size is 5 5/8" long, with wire-cutter on top. Also called "Fisherman's Plier" or "Barnard-style" plier. Often found in jewelry supply houses or better hardware stores -- around $5.00.