 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: William
Date: 2006-06-22 15:12
As there are a number of offerings currently on eBay which describe Winslow ligatures that "will fit numerous" ebonite and metal mpcs, it shouod be known that John Winslow did not design any "one size fits all" ligatures. He personally owned examples of almost all of the custom made and commercial sax and clarinet mouthpieces available and made a different ligature designed to fit there differing configurations. This was expeically true for his earliest--and perhaps, best--banded models. His revised black band models are more forgiving when it comes to fitting a wider variety of mouthpiece demensions (expecially for the clarinet mpcs), but still he did not design--for example--one ligature that would fit all rubber sax mouthpiecies. So, buyer beware--the ligature you buy may not be the exact right fit for your mouthpiece and it may not play the way John designed it to play no matter how you arrange the pegs.
FYI--as a personal friend of John Winslow, I was "in on" the early ligature designs he tried and continue to use his original (banded) ligatures on all of my saxophone mouthpieces, metal and rubber. However, although I own many of his old and new clarinet ligatures, I do not prefer to use them.
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Author: BobD
Date: 2006-06-22 17:35
Interesting, william. Is the Winslow the one that has one screw at the top and looks like the old style auto heater hose clamps? ....and has four bumps that contact the reed?
Bob Draznik
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Author: William
Date: 2006-06-23 14:45
The Winslow lig is fitted with six individually rubber-buffered metal contact pegs (sounds more complex than it really is) each acting like a shock absorber when in contact with the reed. You may use all six, or only 5, 4, 3, 2 or just one (althought that is not recommended) in a variety of configurations to suit your own playing needs. They do have one rather large screw on the top that a few folks object too and I supose they do remotely resemble "auto heater hose clamps" as you suggest. But beyond all of this, they do let your reed and mouthpiece produce many more overtones in the sound which you either like or dislike. I like the effect for the saxophone sound but not so much for my soprano clarinet tone quality. The biggest complaint people had--according to John Winslow--was that they were "too heavy" and sometimes got in the way of your chin. They are a bit heavier, but--unlike his first original banded models--the newer models do not come in contact with your face if your embouchure is correct. Hope this clarifies things for you a bit.
I really do not intend for this thread to become an advertisement or a personal endorsement for the Winslow ligs, but merely a clarification of issues for those of you ordering used ones over the internet. So, once again, and hopefully for the last time, buyer beware--one size does not necessarily fit all mouthpieces and will not play as John designed it too.
Edit--another problem anyone purchasing a Winslow lig should be aware of is that the rubber bumpers do wear out with use and need to be frequently replaced. For my clarinet--which gets a lot of play time, I needed to replace the bumpers at least twice a year. So if you do not have an adequate supply--John always provided ample spare bumpers with each order--your Winslow lig will become useless as soon as each pegs rubber bumper loses its resilience and becomse "sqwishy". And then, there is the different hardness issue between the grey and the black bumpers John offered that any Winslow user should be aware of. The black bumpers are harder and play with a different sound than the greys and they should not be mixed, unless you are aware of what you are doing. As above--buyer beware!!
Post Edited (2006-06-23 15:00)
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2006-06-23 16:14
I believe and archives Search here will turn up Winslow's patent #, whereby one can make a comparison with the later mfgr'd models. Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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