 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: donald
Date: 2010-05-27 06:20
Kia ora
has anyone used the new ligatures offered by Mike Lomax? I'm particularly interested in the "Classic" one, it looks like an up-market version of the Bonade inverted, but it's hard to tell from the photo on the website...
dn
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Author: Ed
Date: 2010-05-27 12:07
From what it says on the site, the pad touching the reed is cork-neoprene which I would imagine would work differently than the rails on a Bonade or similar ligature.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2010-05-27 12:35
The link is http://www.lomaxclassic.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=71.
I agree with Ed that the design is unlike the Bonade, which has metal rails down either side of the reed's center-line. The Lomax site photos aren't helpful, but the description says that the Classic model has a cork/neoprene pad that "prevents any sympathetic vibration in the heel of the reed," and that the Euro model has a thick cotton pad.
Without playing it, my guess would be that it's similar to the Rovner or Rovner Dark.
Ken Shaw
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2010-05-27 14:12
You could always glue a small pad of cork onto your Rovner where it touches the reed and see if it makes any difference.
I've done just about everything possible with ligatures, and in the end, it doesn't seem to make a huge difference. A great mouthpiece and a good reed will get you 90% of the way there.
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Author: donald
Date: 2010-05-27 20:19
Ed- there are at least two other ligatures available that have some kind of fabric padding... AND the parallel rails of the Bonade.... so it is not inconceivable that this may too have rails.
David- I too have played/owned just about everything possible with ligatures, including many vintage ones (as I am sure you have too). I currently play an old Bonade inverted, with the bands adjusted so they don't touch the reed, that I've had since 1997 but am aware of its shortcomings and am always on the lookout for other options.
My post asked- has anyone USED one of these yet?
dn
- rather than posting "it looks like an upmarket version of the Bonade" i should have written "I'm hoping it's an upmarket version of the Bonade..." dn
Post Edited (2010-05-28 11:50)
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Author: NBeaty
Date: 2010-05-28 00:01
Donald,
Since when does answering the question posted in the top of the thread have any bearing on whether or not someone will reply to the thread?
(Said all in good fun, of course!)
I'm looking forward to hearing about these ligatures and I may just order one myself so I can throw my two cents in!
-Nathan
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Author: trice035
Date: 2010-05-28 00:20
"This unique material prevents any sympathetic vibration in the heel of the reed."
Yeah, I was complaining about all those pesky vibrations in my reed just the other day.
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Author: Ed
Date: 2011-09-13 21:24
I was looking back at this thread. Has anyone had any opportunity to play the Lomax ligatures since this time, perhaps at a fest? There are some changes since this time, but they look interesting and possibly worth a try.
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Author: Iceland clarinet
Date: 2011-09-13 22:50
John McCaw once said in a masterclass that that a bad ligature can make a good mouthpiece play terrible. So I think what he means is that a ligature should complement your reed mouthpiece combo.
So it doesn't make your mouthpiece and reed combo play better but it can make it not work like it should.
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Author: Vubble3
Date: 2014-02-16 07:19
Attachment: image.jpg (1165k)
Attachment: image.jpg (1084k)
I have the lomax classic ligature with kangaroo pads. One thing I must say is that the ligature vibrates a whole lot better when you remove the lomax badge on the back. Though I am a firm believer that ligatures dont really change your sound, but this is an exception. Among all ligatures i tried from nearly all the rovners, vandoren, silverstein, francois louise, and bonade, I have never been able to find a reed friendly ligature that also enables to produce an easy, thick, really smooth, soupy, dark, and focused sound.
Buffet Bb R13 A RC Prestige
buffet chadash and moennig barrels
Lomax classic lig
b40 lyre
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2014-02-17 21:34
When I was a student back in the late 50s early 60s there were only a few ligatures that were easily available. It made life easier. The stores in NY only carried a few so we didn't have to go crazy trying to determine what to use. I tried a few at some point and probably used whatever came with my clarinet. I never liked the Bonade or the Lyben. At some point I used a Gigliotti and a Mitchel Lurie as a pro in my early days. Just the one that came with my bass clarinet though. Then the ligatures hit the fan. Now there's a million. When Rovner came out with his design, I was actually the first symphony player to use it. He lives in my area and came to me to ask my opinion and if I'd help him market it. I loved it at first play and sent one to every symphony player I could think of back in then, I think it was in the 70s. Don't remember exactly. Some players like it but told me it looked too funny so they woudn't play it. Some players told me the design just won't work and a few decided to use it after a while. At first I got many strange comments from my colleagues but after a few years they began to take off. Now it's probably the most widely used and certainly most copied ligature in the world. These days I have boxes full of ligatures I've collected over the years. Good luck.
ESP eddiesclarinet.com
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Author: kilo
Date: 2014-02-17 17:06
The Rovner design is great — because it won't scratch your mouthpiece! It probably helps with your pitch as well, when playing in sub-freezing temperatures — because the fabric has more insulation value than a metal ligature, keeping your mouthpiece and subsequent airstream a few hundredths of a degree warmer! And because so many players use them, Rovners help the whole clarinet section achieve a more uniform appearance!
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Author: kilo
Date: 2014-02-17 18:55
Just trying to say something positive about designer ligatures . . . for a change! 
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Author: donald
Date: 2014-02-17 19:25
I've got to say, when i was growing up and learning about clarinet it was the early 1980s, and EVERY professional player in NZ (most of whom had studied at some point in the UK) played Rovner. There was just no question, once you wanted something other than the stock ligature (that, in those days, cut grooves into your reed) you got a Rovner, full stop.
Ken Wilson was the only player using a metal ligature, but I never heard him play until many years later. It IS/WAS a great design, and works perfectly fine. There are some "arguements" against it depending on which qualities you value- but that's all there is too it. What qualities do you value the most? I use a metal 2 screw ligature, but every time I stick the Rovner on i have to admit, it's got a lot going for it!
dn
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Author: ThatPerfectReed
Date: 2014-02-17 19:34
I've never tried the literature, but I do like what the above referenced website has to say about the need for a ligature to hold the base of the reed tightly.
Many times I've seen people post here about loosening ligature screws so as to maximize vibration.
Yeah--vibration of the non-business end of reed--which i will submit is not an ideal thing.
Now by no means am I suggesting you go out and affix your reed to the mouthpiece with something akin to a vice grip. But the physic does clearly show that the stabler the (flat) base of the reed is against the mouthpiece table, the less than the vibrating tip of the reed can transfer its energy to the base, therefore causing the tip to vibrate at the greatest degree for the air pressure moving against it--unable to easily transfer its energy elsewhere.
Maybe that's not ideal for a weak reed. Maybe loosening the ligature allows some of this energy to transfer to the base so that the reed appears less prone to vibration (i.e. thicker) to the player.
Feel free to offer dissenting opinion, but under similar principles, I defy one of you to take a saw to a piece of wood held in a loose vice grip over a tight one. Only the latter allows the saw to cut at its full potential, and for the same reasons as a strong ligature allows the tip of the reed to vibrate.
Post Edited (2014-02-17 19:36)
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