 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Katelyn
Date: 2007-06-19 23:39
Hello all.
I've got a Harrison ("H-front") Ligature that belongs to my band director. Because I recently graduated, I have to give it back. Now, I've got two queries:
1) It seems to be silver plated, but when I tried to polish it, more of the silver stuff came off and now it looks like the base metal, yellow-brass colored, is showing, along with a purply residue. Does anyone know what I would approximately have to pay to get it re-plated?
2) I know what the 'best' ligature is varies from player to player, but does anyone have any suggestions for what I should look at to be my replacement?
Thanks!
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Author: hartt
Date: 2007-06-20 02:00
Originally, the Harrison lig's came in gold adn silver plate adn even platinum
Periodically, tehy appear on ebay, the silver or gold .
Replating?........Unless you know a plater or perhaps a jewler who does it in bulk, it's not worth it. First it needs to be stripped and then plated
Does gold sound / resonate better / more than silver, etc etc.
Take for example a BG Revalation vs the Super Revelation. The latter has 2 very narrow metal pieces which are gold plated ![[hot]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/hot.gif) for the additional cost of about $10.
How thick is this gold plate BG alleges to provide better resonation.......you would need a spectron microscope to measure it.
There are oodles of ligs out there.
Personally, I use a Spriggs floating rail. Peter is a BB sponsor and you can visit his web site at <www.pspriggs.com>
Also, if you do a search under Ken shaws name adn Ligatures, he once wrote a thread on various ligatures, sounds and pricing.
regards
dennis
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Author: Bill
Date: 2007-06-20 02:28
I'd recommend the Spriggs over the Harrison as well. It is an excellent investment, while you wait for a Harrison to show up on auction.
Just don't let anyone convince you to buy one of those ... Vandoren contraptions.
Bill.
Bill Fogle
Ellsworth, Maine
(formerly Washington, DC)
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Author: ohsuzan
Date: 2007-06-20 03:40
I am also fond of the Spriggs ligature.
I've never played a Harrison, but the clarinetist in our woodwind quintet swears by them. She was a Harrison student at Heidelberg College quite a few years ago, and participated in the development of the ligature.
When her original Harrison finally gave up the ghost a year ago, she was bereft. But we were able to find her a new, original Harrison (not the copies that are widely available).
Try posting a query in the classified ads on this server, or on the Klarinet List (another of the Woodwind.org "brands"). You may be surprised what you come up with.
Susan
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Author: BobD
Date: 2007-06-20 10:35
I have a "real" Harrison (with the name inscribed) given to me by a generous friend. I also have a few of the gold colored imitations. I don't notice any difference in my sound with one vs the other. Preferences in ligatures vary widely as do fads for them.
Bob Draznik
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2007-06-20 13:08
Another H[arrison] discussion ! , his US patent # is 3,890,873 , and was cited [referred to] in 4,428,271 which may have a "laundry list" of ?famous? ligature names. Perhaps the easiest patent site for searching, viewing, printing is Google/Patents, personally I like USPTO better because of familiarity. A Search here re: "ligs" will bring up many opinions, I re-found H's pat via "Harrison patent" quickly. Personally, I prefer Bonades or M Luries and dont find much diff. among the many, except for the fabric-rubber types, which I dont like. My opinions, Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2007-06-20 14:53
Don,
The amazing thing about the original patents is that we now know Bob Harrison's home address when he was on the music faculty at Heidelberg College over 30 years ago. A neat little bit of historical data.
BTW, I play Harrison ligatures on alto and tenor sax but still prefer the Mitchel Lurie or Gigliotti on clarinet. I do not care for the fabric-rubber at all.
HRL
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Author: Ed
Date: 2007-06-20 15:04
I like the Spriggs a lot. I don't mind those Vandoren optimum ligatures, but they are a bit bulky. I don't particularly care for any of the fabric-style ligatures, as they seem to dampen or dull the vibrations for my taste, although many people do like them and the many configurations.
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Author: William
Date: 2007-06-20 15:15
A few years ago, Harrison sent me 30 of his silver ligs on a trail offer for my middle school band. They did seem to slightly improve the sound of my clarinet section , but at $20 dollars apiece, none of my students chose to purchase and I sent them all back--except the silver and gold models sent along as comps. After just checking with that "other" auction site and seeing what they are selling for, I wish now that I had bought the whole lot myself.
I eventually gave the silver "comp" to a friend who likes them, but still have the gold Harrison lig adorning an old Ithica Bay mpc on a vintage metal clarinet hanging on my wall. For my own playing, I now prefer to use VD Optimums. But really, a lig is a lig, and no matter which one you use, you will eventually return to that tone quality which controlled by your mind's tonal concept (result of lifelong listening experiance) and the configuration of your own oral cavity. Play the ligature that you like best, but rely more on the length of time spent in your practice space than on the specialized equipement you buy.
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Author: Bubalooy
Date: 2007-06-20 20:14
One complaint about the Harrison, the cross piece of the H is prone to break, as mine did, and those of several other players I've talked with. I then tried tying my reed on with a piece of string and it played just as well as the Harrison and much better than the fabric style ligatures with the fabric on the reed. But, wrapping the string is a bit cumbersome. Now I'm using a fabric style but with the screw mechanism on the reed not the fabric ( a Rovner) and I like it. Happy hunting.
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Author: rtmyth
Date: 2007-06-20 20:27
At a TBA, Harrison gave me two gold-plated ones in exchange for my old Chedeville mp. I gave one to a friend and kept the other. However, I use a Luyben or a velcro home-made one, which costs about 25 cents to make.I make them and give them to friends, some of whom now play them exclusively. Very easy to use and adjust, non-breakable, and will not scratch the mp.
richard smith
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