[Alan Brinton]

Is that you I’ve been hearing over here in Boise, Joe? I’m amazed that a reed would simply break off while being played, unless it has been tuned too many times and/or scraped too deeply — or bent up and down. Yamahas are very reliable. A Suzuki metal tray model (for example the M-37C) is louder, though, and can be played harder without having reed problems. Where the difference usually shows up is with a reed sticking and failing to play on the Yamaha when it is played too vigorously. Several other people besides me have reported having this issue on a Yamaha. The fix is to slightly widen the gap. But the problem will re-appear if you’re playing too forcefully, and the reed will fail and eventually break off if the gap is repeatedly adjusted.

Discoloration is normally caused by moisture. Significant discoloration of a Yamaha reed after a month or two is shocking. If the other nearby reeds are not discolored, then it might be from undue stress on that particular reed producing metal fatigue. Lowboy has mentioned having problems with particular reeds that he had been working especially hard in performing. For example, if you have a routine you’re doing that keeps blasting the high G, its reed will go flat. If you have to keep tuning and/or gapping that reed, it will eventually fail. And it might discolor.