 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: kdk
Date: 2015-09-28 02:47
I've been using an Optimum ligature mostly consistently for the past few months. I'm interested to know about anyone else's experience with this ligature regarding warped reeds.
When I first began to use it, I preferred the plate with the dots on it. I liked the vibrancy and responsiveness it seemed to allow my reeds. But I began having trouble with warped reeds - a problem I haven't had since my college days (a long time ago). Only, after a little more time I realized that the reeds were not warped when I began playing them for a rehearsal or a practice session. They seemed to be warping as I played them. Checking these reeds after they'd dried, I found that they were once again flat. With a little experimentation I found that of the three supplied plates only the one with the horizontal ridges top and bottom seemed not to cause the reeds to warp.
Over the summer my partner in the clarinet section of one of the orchestras I play in, who also uses an Optimum, mentioned in passing that he'd had a problem identical to mine with the same two plates and had also settled on the plate with the horizontal ridges.
Before my experience and his confirmation I wouldn't have thought this was possible.
Now, at a lesson just the other night, I believe the same thing happened to a student's reed. He also uses an Optimum and had been using the one with vertical ridges. The reed started out vibrant and quite good-sounding. About 15 minutes into the lesson he was struggling to do something, so I tried his clarinet to narrow down the source of the problem. The reed clearly felt warped and, when I tested it for suction, didn't hold at all.
The only explanation I can guess, which is pure conjecture, is that the dots and the vertical ridges are putting pressure on the reed at a point close enough to the reed's center that the outer edges are actually encouraged to bend upward (no, I don't over-tighten the lig).
So I'm curious to know if anyone else has noticed this phenomenon.
Karl
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2015-09-28 03:02
My experience with this ligature is only with the Bonade style plate (two vertical bars running the up an down length of the ligature). In addition the only warpage issues that I found to be within the realm of the ligature was when the center of the thick part of the reed warps up away from the table (like cupping your hands). This sort of warpage is HELPED by this ligature and the plate I used when I clamped it down a firmly.
I cannot say that I've ever experienced a ligature having an affect on the tip of a reed.
..............Paul Aviles
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Author: seabreeze
Date: 2015-09-28 04:58
Something about the Optimum seems to warp the reeds, but it's hard to say exactly what. I played an Optimum with the Bonade style vertical parallel rails, and my reeds did warp more than usual. But when I switched to either a metal Ishimori or a Peter Spriggs ligature--both with parallel vertical metal rails touching the reed--the warpage problem disappeared. So I am reluctant to say it was the choice of the vertical rib plate that warped them. As for the other two plates, I've never been able to play any ligature with the four dot pattern for very long and I get a poor articulation response from horizonal rails, so I never used either of those plates on the Optimum. ,
It is a shame that the Optimum seems to bend reeds out of shape, because it is a refined, centered sounding ligature that grips the mouthpiece pretty well (though maybe not so well as the Ishimoris do).
Post Edited (2015-09-28 05:01)
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Author: kdk
Date: 2015-09-28 06:28
seabreeze wrote:
> But when I switched to either a metal Ishimori or a
> Peter Spriggs ligature--both with parallel vertical metal rails
> touching the reed--the warpage problem disappeared. So I am
> reluctant to say it was the choice of the vertical rib plate
> that warped them.
I've used Bonade and Gigliotti ligatures with vertical rails and never had a problem with them, either. I suspect the most likely, or rather the least unlikely, explanation is the location of the rails. Both the Bonade and the Gigliotti rails sit closer to the outer edges, so there's no tendency to press into the center area. I've never had a warping problem, either, with any of the Rovner ligatures I've used, all of which have vertical rails. So I don't think it's vertical rails, but maybe pressure on the bark too close too the center. <shrug>
But I'm interested to know you've had a problem like this with the Optimum using the vertical rails.
Karl
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Author: seabreeze
Date: 2015-09-28 08:09
The closer position of the vertical rails to the center of the reed could, as you say, have something to do with the warpage delivered by the Optimum when the vertical plate is in place. But I wonder if it might have something also to do with the heavy weight loading of the Optimum that applies pressure (and weight) to the rail plate when the screw is tightened. I never paid much attention to this before, but now I notice if you gently drop the Optimum on a flat surface, it tends very strongly to land on the adjusting screw side because of those two heavy truncated cylindrical weights that the screw passes through. The ligature is clearly "unbalanced" and heavily biased to land on its adjustment screw side.
By contrast, neither my Ishimori nor my Spriggs ligature has any such heavy weight pulling it off balance. Of course, both are inverse ligatures also and therefore apply pressure on the side opposite from the screw. I conjecture that the weight loading of the Optimum might be the culprit. Why doesn't the warping occur when the horizontal ribbed plate is used? Probably because those heavy cylindrical weights can't exert the same amount of weight or pressure vertically up and down the reed as they do with the vertical plate.
Is this plausible or am I barking up the wrong tree?
Post Edited (2015-09-28 16:45)
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Author: tylerleecutts
Date: 2015-09-28 08:45
Get a Versa X or an Ishimori. Both utilize the rail concept but stick far towards the edge of the reed. You won't be sorry. I recommend the flaps OVER the metal for the Versa X.
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Author: BflatNH
Date: 2015-09-28 15:45
I generally use the plate horizontal bars that seems to allow me to 'fine tune' the response in different parts of the clarinet's range by position on reed/mpc. No reed distortion problems in 3+ years on a Grabner K13.
What mouthpiece do you use?
Does anyone notice this on a Bass Clarinet?
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Author: kdk
Date: 2015-09-28 16:04
BflatNH wrote:
> I generally use the plate horizontal bars that seems to allow
> me to 'fine tune' the response in different parts of the
> clarinet's range by position on reed/mpc. No reed distortion
> problems in 3+ years on a Grabner K13.
>
Yes, I've been using the horizontal rails problem-free since early summer. I do prefer it by a small margin to my second choice.
Karl
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Author: 2cekce ★2017
Date: 2015-09-30 04:36
I've been playing on the optimums for several years now, for both my Bb and my eefer. I have tried and played using all three pressure plates on both and found I prefer the vertical bars plate over the dots and horizontal bar plates.
I have not had any warpage issues with any of them. these ligs work well for me although I have others for backups the versa being one of them.
Bb I use a VD M13 profile 88 mp
Eb I use a 5RV mp and VD bluebox #3 reeds for both
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Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2015-09-30 23:17
Be aware that because of the very efficient mechanical design of the Optimum ligature a lot of pressure is easily placed onto the reed.
If your mouthpiece table is not perfectly flat this could cause the reed to distort.
It is only neccessary to tighten the screw very lightly to effectively hold the reed.
Have used one for several years with no problems.
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