Author: Daniel
Date: 1999-08-10 22:15
I've tried the Optimum and don't care for it.... especially for it's price. Atleast the price has gone down.
I didn't like the sound of any of the plates... most of them sounded muffled and my reeds didn't respond well... never felt like my sound had any zing and my articulation didn't have any ping... Also didn't like the way the plate sloped down when the ligature was loose...
A good ligature, thouguh a little pricy, is the Floating Rails Lig, from Peter Spriggs. It's the next best thing i've found to a Kaspar lig. 'round $75 from IMS. Very VERY good response, fantastic projection, focus out the wazoo and lots of ping, zing and pop...
For slightly bulkier mouthpieces, i like the Bay covered gold lig. Nice ring and focus to the sound. Not too dark but not too bright because of the rubber insert around the inside of the lig.
On my old Kaspar Ann Arbor, i used a Rovner Eddie Daniels II. The plate gave the lig alot more projection and depth to the tone than Rovner's plain material ligs. brightened up the sound a little too, instead of being so dark like the standard Rovners. Can't use it on new larger Kaspars or old blanks like the Buffets or Evette's, thick blanks get a lovely gouge out from the screw.
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