I have a Basic Rovner, Rico h, a Van Doren MO and Optimum as well as as well as a Lubin and a Peter Spriggs. All perform slightly differently on my R13 Buffet. Using the same barrel. mouthpiece and reed, I tested the ligatures. The Rover had a darker sound and a good evenness of playing but less dynamic range. The rico h was a bit thin, The van Doren MO was quite nice but lacked some body. I narrowed it down to the optimum with the vertical ridges ,The Spriggs and the Lubin. I tried different registers and then open g to d. The Optimum was very nice but not as free playing as the Spriggs or Lubin. What really surprised me was the 10$ Lubin which was almost as nice as the 100$ Spriggs. The a and bflat were slightly cleaner with the Lubin but the Spriggs(the second one I've had, is still my preferred for most playing. Both are expressive even when played very softly. You don't review the Spriggs, but it is excellent. The AK looks very interesting, but 250$ is a lot to spend since I believe the Spriggs or a string Lig, (if you wanted to fuss with one) would be excellent. Please review the Spriggs and Lubin , if you wish,and let me know what you think. Thank you for your excellent reviews and I hope you both have a Wonderful New Year, Cheers, Frederick "Rik" Spector
Thank you for this! I'm currently looking for a bass clarinet ligature that has a wider dynamic range. The one I have now is a bit too dark, and it feels like it dampens anything above a ff in the throat tones.
Hi! This is very helpful and I am going to go with a vandoren, the cheaper one. Please do a review on RIDENOUR clarinets! I am looking info a few, especially their 1000 professional clarinet.
While on the German system mouthpieces, they are still using shoelaces … Sometimes I don't know if it's for the better (less headaches for the player, less money spent), or for the worse …
Hi Georgia - We'll see what we can do but it's a matter of stock. We keep hundreds of ligatures in stock (across a range of suppliers). At some point there is a limit - after all they essentially all just have x1 job to do! But, we're checking out some other options so if and when it's possible we'll do a review. Thanks for your feedback :)
Hi - To be honest they'd all work really well so it comes down to if you're looking to add more resistance (Optimum or and centre to the sound or if you feel your set-up on the M15 would benefit from a more free-blowing, lighter feel (probably Vandoren MO or BG Duo)
Hi, Yes we've tried out the BG Traditional. In our opinion, because of the design, it's more of a smothering sound than you will find with the metal ligatures reviewed here. We've done a review on the Rovner Clarinet Fabric Ligatures which you may find useful here: ruclips.net/video/_3Uw22uR63g/видео.html
Looking for a Clarinet Ligature? All the ligs in this video & more are available via: www.dawkes.co.uk/clarinets/accessories/ligatures-and-caps/bb
Rico H 1:14
Vandore M O 2:42
Vandoren Optimum 3:38
BG Duo 5:40
AK 7:31
AK 8:19
AK 11:18
Thanks!
The duo definitely is my favourite
Beautifully presented and played. Thank you and God bless you both. Bill. Uk
Many thanks!
I like the Vandoren M/O too. I have one on my Bass Clarinet
I have a few a few Harrison's that I got from Mr. Harrison himself back in the 80's
I have a Basic Rovner, Rico h, a Van Doren MO and Optimum as well as as well as a Lubin and a Peter Spriggs.
All perform slightly differently on my R13 Buffet.
Using the same barrel. mouthpiece and reed, I tested the ligatures.
The Rover had a darker sound and a good evenness of playing but less dynamic range.
The rico h was a bit thin, The van Doren MO was quite nice but lacked some body.
I narrowed it down to the optimum with the vertical ridges ,The Spriggs and the Lubin.
I tried different registers and then open g to d.
The Optimum was very nice but not as free playing as the Spriggs or Lubin.
What really surprised me was the 10$ Lubin which was almost as nice as the 100$ Spriggs.
The a and bflat were slightly cleaner with the Lubin but the Spriggs(the second one I've had, is still my preferred for most playing. Both are expressive even when played very softly.
You don't review the Spriggs, but it is excellent.
The AK looks very interesting, but 250$ is a lot to spend since I believe the Spriggs or a string Lig, (if you wanted to fuss with one) would be excellent.
Please review the Spriggs and Lubin , if you wish,and let me know what you think.
Thank you for your excellent reviews and I hope you both have a Wonderful New Year,
Cheers,
Frederick "Rik" Spector
Thank you for this! I'm currently looking for a bass clarinet ligature that has a wider dynamic range. The one I have now is a bit too dark, and it feels like it dampens anything above a ff in the throat tones.
Hi! This is very helpful and I am going to go with a vandoren, the cheaper one. Please do a review on RIDENOUR clarinets! I am looking info a few, especially their 1000 professional clarinet.
The BG sounded great!
I wish you could bring back on sale the AK Rhodium plated.
While on the German system mouthpieces, they are still using shoelaces … Sometimes I don't know if it's for the better (less headaches for the player, less money spent), or for the worse …
Also review the Spriggs and Lubin ligatures If you can, as Rik says below in the comments, especially the Spriggs, looks quite interesting to me.
Hi Georgia - We'll see what we can do but it's a matter of stock. We keep hundreds of ligatures in stock (across a range of suppliers). At some point there is a limit - after all they essentially all just have x1 job to do! But, we're checking out some other options so if and when it's possible we'll do a review. Thanks for your feedback :)
You mentioned a separate video about the ak lig, is that on here?
Hi Jordan, apologies, it's due to be released this week :)
Hey, I have a m15 vandoren mouthpiece. Which one of these do you think will pair up nicely?
Hi - To be honest they'd all work really well so it comes down to if you're looking to add more resistance (Optimum or and centre to the sound or if you feel your set-up on the M15 would benefit from a more free-blowing, lighter feel (probably Vandoren MO or BG Duo)
dawkesmusic ok thank you!
Could you tell me if you test the BG Traditional?? What you think about it?
Hi, Yes we've tried out the BG Traditional. In our opinion, because of the design, it's more of a smothering sound than you will find with the metal ligatures reviewed here. We've done a review on the Rovner Clarinet Fabric Ligatures which you may find useful here: ruclips.net/video/_3Uw22uR63g/видео.html
All of this is so subjective!
What clarinet is Liz playing? Thanks 🙏🏻
We believe it is a Buffet Festival :)