 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Ben
Date: 2004-06-29 21:09
Does anyone here have any experience playing on a Bay ligature? How do you like it compared to other brands?
I am considering making a bid on a Gold plated Bay Ligature I saw on Ebay, but I have not tried them before and wanted to know how others liked them. They are certainly more attractive than most ligatures.
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Author: Igloo Bob
Date: 2004-06-29 23:16
Don't pay more than $40 for it. You can get a new one for only a few bucks more.
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Author: CPW
Date: 2004-06-30 01:20
It is OK and pretty but fragile.
But is it worth it?
Law of diminishing returns
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Author: bkmorton
Date: 2004-06-30 02:38
I have a gold bay ligature and it plays great. I have had it for about 3 months and I am starting to notice some tarnishing. I have a teacher that is playing on the silver ligature for at least a year and it looks brand new. The silver one may be the way to go.
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Author: Ed
Date: 2004-06-30 03:04
In my experience, they are very responsive ligatures and work well.
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Author: William
Date: 2004-06-30 05:07
Advice from Charles--"They have a tendancy to break where the scrolling is due to the lightness of the metal used. Don't overtighten them--just "snug" them up so that the reed is secure".
I have both gold and silver, prefer the silver--but use the VD Optimum instead. They are just easier to deal with.
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Author: Brad
Date: 2004-06-30 17:53
I have played on Bay ligatures since 1980 (the time I was studying with Dr. Bay). No matter how I hard I try I cannot find a ligature that works better for me. I have tried Rovner, BG, Vandoren, Luyben, and Bonade, to name a few. The reason I like the Bay is the excellent response and the tone. I am able to achieve a warm dark sound that has a some life to it. With the Rovner and BG fabric ligatures I was getting a dark sound but I felt some of the higher overtones were missing producing kind of a dullness in my sound. With other metal ligatures like the Bonade and Vandoren the higher overtones were emphasized in my sound. This produced a brighter sound with an edge to it that I did not care for. The Luyben is my backup ligature and comes pretty close to the Bay soundwise, however, when switching clarinets the Luyben moves around too much.
The Bay is a bit fragile and as WIlliam stated you don't want to overtighten the screws as the metal around them will break.
My setup is Vandoren M30 13 series, gold Bay lig, Gonzales FOF 3.75, or Vandoren RuelePic Reeds 3.5+ Buffet R13 Festival Clarinets.
I also use a Bay Bass clarinet ligature
****DISCLAIMER****
The above is my own experience with ligatures on my setup. I recommend you see how they work for you with your setup, as I know a lot of people who get amazing results with the ligatures I didn't like.
Brad Cohen
Clarinetist
la_brad@yahoo.com
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Author: DTH
Date: 2004-06-30 18:59
I have been using a silver Bay ligature for years and personally prefer it to anything else I have tried so far. It is more responsive and gives me the sound that I am after. I also have tried a BG super revelation, Rovner dark and Rovner light, Harrison, Luyben, a few others but so far the Bay is still my preference. (By the way, this Bay ligature is from the mid 70's, could use some polishing but otherwise in excellent condition). I also agree with William, don't overtighten the screws, just snug enough to keep the reed from moving. Good luck!
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Author: Igloo Bob
Date: 2004-06-30 20:20
Has anyone singing the praises of the Bay ligature tried the Spriggs Floating Rails or the Ultimate Lig? Just curious, those two are both oddballs in the ligature market, but seem to be getting a lot of positive reviews.
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Author: GBK
Date: 2004-06-30 21:27
Igloo Bob wrote:
> Has anyone singing the praises of the Bay ligature tried the
> Spriggs Floating Rails or the Ultimate Lig? Just curious,
> those two are both oddballs in the ligature market, but seem to
> be getting a lot of positive reviews.
Both the Ultimate and Spriggs ligatures were discussion topics as recently as a month ago.
Did you read the past threads? ...GBK
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Author: Igloo Bob
Date: 2004-06-30 23:48
I read at least a few (I ran a quick search, and found topics about them that I remembered reading) but was just curious here if anyone trying the Bay had played them. For instance, DTH, who said he "preferred it to anything else he had tried so far".
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Author: CPW
Date: 2004-07-01 13:18
I used both
and both play well
Pros and cons:
when trying out new reeds (changing often to work on reeds) neither is quick to take off or on easily ...Bay due to fragility, spriggs due to the small size of its screw.
Playing...spriggs slightly better if you experiement with positioning up or down on the reed and tighten just right. Bay more forgiving in that aspect.
Changes from A to Bb....If you dont grip/tighten Spriggs just so, it will escape from the mouthpiece...takes some getting used to the grip...sorta like the hand position for a fork ball in baseball (sorry to those from Oz who wont get that one)
Bay...easier to grasp but can not tighten down for fear of breakage.
Bay..ordinary cover works
Spriggs...needs special cover or a smart cap from Francois Louis.
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Author: Ben
Date: 2004-07-02 13:57
Thanks for the help and constructive coments!
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Author: theclarinetist
Date: 2004-07-02 14:48
I currently play a silver BG traditional and it works just fine, though I have looked at the Bays in the past, mostly because they are nicely decorated. I even considered buying one, but they come in sizes (S & M) and there doesn't seem to be any information available on the sizes, so I don't know which one to order...
DH
theclarinetist@yahoo.com
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Author: D Dow
Date: 2004-07-02 17:49
The mouthpiece and lig tend to be a component that is most often overlooked...the danger of certain ligatures that are metal is they are prone to coming off during a quick change in orchestra...this alone is one of the reasons I tend to use the Rovner ligature...
As to sound and adjustment the ligatures made of metal can tend to bend and usually play much better than the Rovner with less adjustment pressure. No ligature is perfect, but once will certainly notice they affect response greatly. Add to this the different reed thickness' out there and you really can make matters worse if the metal does not sit well on the reed bark.
David Dow
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Author: ClarinetBoy
Date: 2005-06-09 19:33
I was looking at WWBW, and I found some (Bay Ligatures). I'm just not sure what the right size is, Med vs. Small. What would work on your typical mouthpiece?
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Author: Chetclarinet
Date: 2005-06-10 18:03
The medium size Bay ligature works for most standard mouthpieces. These fine ligatures are actually copied after ligatures made by Frank L. Kaspar. The Bay ligatures are made out of a much lighter material--Kaspar ligatures were made of German silver. The Bay ligatures are among the very best quality ligaturers available on the market in my opinion.
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Author: contragirl
Date: 2005-06-10 23:31
I use a silver Medium Bay, I got it cuz my teacher had it. :P It's all I use now, though.
I like it the most, I guess. I have an inverted Bonade and a BG Revelation. They play alright, but I prefer Bay. It plays well for me. Plus it's pretty lol
But I have had friends try it, and it kills their sound. I don't know if it's because it just doesn't work for them, or if they put it on wrong. I don't know.
My HS band director threatened to squish it when I first got it.
BUT I HATE the Bay for bass clarinet. Didn't work for me at all. :(
--CG
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Author: LFabian
Date: 2021-07-27 19:01
I have 4 Bay ligatures. They are extremely light but they can be easily crushed if not put away correctly by placing on a mouthpiece. I have the gold model from overseas. Another is engraved with a few bars of Mozart’s clarinet concerto. Do not get into a bidding war if you are expecting a bargain.
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Author: donald
Date: 2021-07-28 13:18
After years of using various metal ligatures (including a vintage Harrison) for orchestra, and string for chamber music, on my Eb clarinet, I tried out a Bay metal Eb lig that I got in a trade some years back but had never played. I put it on during a dress rehearsal for the Schoenberg chamber symphony, and ended up using it in the concert. Not going back, it's clearly an excellent ligature.
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