Can you use alto saxophone reeds on a clarinet?

Alto saxophone reeds will work on an alto clarinet. Soprano sax reeds work on soprano clarinets but they’re not ideal. Clarinet reeds are cut to have more wood in the center of the reed, they are intentionally made that way to make them a little more resonant and less thin and bright. They would work a little better for jazz but technically, reeds are designed for the optimum performance for each instrument. A soprano sax reed can work but it’s not the right cut and also clarinet reeds tend to be longer than soprano reeds.

One exception I’ve experienced is that I have used Legere “European Cut” Clarinet synthetic reeds on a soprano sax and actually prefer them to their soprano cut, and I think it’s for the same reason, I like a fat sound on the soprano and the European cut seems to have a fuller, warmer sound and it seemed to resonate more than their standard soprano sax cut.

Also, Plaz Johnson, the saxophone player who played the well known solo on “The Pink Panther” said he used baritone saxophone reeds on his tenor saxophone, so trying different cuts is something you can experiment with. It certainly worked for him!

You can see a live version of him playing Pink Panther on this youtube video. He’s got a big fat and unique sound and that baritone reed was one of the secrets of his sound.