About CF Reeds

Colin Friend. Oboist and bespoke oboe reed maker

I have been very lucky to travel the world as an oboist and on occasion found myself in some very remote places. With little access to good reeds, I learned how to produce my own. This led to the production of bespoke reeds tailored to my students’ specific needs then onto fellow professionals. I would now like to share them with you.

I have a simple philosophy regarding reed making; use good quality material and keep the reed making process as consistent as possible. I only make reeds to order and in small batches. All reeds are made using the finest quality cane and tied onto a staple with an overall length of approx 72mm.

I offer two profiles. My standard is free vibrating and has an even scrape from base to tip. My professional scrape has more cane in the heart of the reed and produces a darker richer tone. Both have a standard German U-scrape and are wired unless specifically requested otherwise. Wider shapes are available upon request.