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Re: New, 2nd generation Silverstein ligature

Author: WhitePlainsDave
Date: 2015-02-15 02:45

I haven't tried it

I have biases.

I'm not a ligature guy. My inverted Bonade: that's good for me: even (gasp) on a Vandoren Masters mouthpiece. (For those tuning in late: such a ligature would be contraindicated by Vandoren on a Master's mouthpiece.)

But some of you are ligature guys/gals. And that's cool. Or maybe you'rr just a gadget guy/gal. That would make two of us, when I'm willing to spend the money that is.

And you know what, every so often a product comes along in the field that really is worthy of our taking notice and purchasing. I'd like to think D'Addario reeds is one, and Ridenour's ATG another (no affiliation.)

So maybe the Silverstein really is the "cat's meow" these days. Maybe the differences you see in this ligature are really something, and my biases are causing me to miss out trying it. I'll admit that plausible. I also admit plausible that my skills and acumen might not be up to discerning the difference a Silverstein makes, although I play with professionals, and have played clarinet for 40 years: which I guess neither makes me the first nor last word on anything clarinet.

And maybe this immersion of the ligature's metal components at the extremely cold temperatures Silverstein subjects them to really does add to the ligature's harmonic range across players, mouthpieces, reeds, clarinet brands, and even single reed instruments.

And maybe the added harmonics Silverstein reports really does make for more pleasant and/or projectable sound.

But all this said, I face a reality about players and manufacturers that's hard to ignore. If Silverstein was, among players, universally the breakthrough so claimed, in a field where competition among performers is so crazy intense, wouldn't near every pro not otherwise mandated by endorsement contract by a competing ligature be switching to/playing a Silverstein?

Second, as anyone in marketing and manufacturer of products and services will tell you, you have to always be thinking about version X+1, version X+2, etc., of your product. I don't know when Silverstein discovered this cryogenic connection, or its new cord, or its Fine Tunning bar innovations, but having been on the manufacturing (as opposed to consumer side) of products, its common to not only proritize what features come with a product, but which ones are left out to leave remove for improvement in the next generation of the product, once market saturation has occured on the current version.

Accordingly, I had my doubts with the original Silverstein, and even if it was all the ligature it was advertised to be, I have my doubts with the worth sometimes of new product features of any product.

In fairness and disclosure, of course I could be wrong, and yes, I would try one at a store or trade show, risk free, if time permitted.

Remember, this new and improved Silverstein may very well be tomorrow's old version of the ligature, once the new XYZ feature is introduced a year from now.

Post Edited (2015-02-15 02:46)

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