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Theo Wanne Mouthpieces and their ligatures

21K views 114 replies 34 participants last post by  Spooner 
I'm glad to hear that you've recognized the lig supplied to me and others was faulty. In the light of that it seems that a "recall" is in order so that we can be supplied with a new lig that works. Your mouthpieces are not cheap, and your reputation (in this case) is at stake. I've commented that I will not purchase another mouthpiece from you since I felt cheated in paying for what appears to be an expensive ligature that doesn't do it's basic job of holding the reed if in any way touched/moved (which we all need to do!).

I'm sure that I'd be joined by others who feel let down and would consider your reputation in tact if amends were made via a free replacement.

Your willingness to front up and acknowledge the problem speaks well. Your willingness to do right by us would be an outstanding gesture and greatly appreciated.
I have a bunch of ligatures that can move if I grab the mouthpiece around the ligature. Yes, the enlightened ligature can move but I just use cork grease and move the mouthpiece by grabbing it by the shank of the mouthpiece so I am not touching the ligature at all. I don't really find it that big a deal. The enlightened ligature is the ligature I use most on soprano and alto sax just because I like the way it responds and how "lively" the response is for me on those horns. I would in no way call this ligature defective or faulty, it's just the nature of the ligature. I have some that are solid as a rock when tightened down and some that aren't. Like I said, I have a ton that move:

-A bunch of Oleg ligatures
-my Francois Louis Ligatures
-the new JLV ligature I just reviewed
-the Silverstein Ligatures
-Rovner ligatures
-Marc Jean ligatures
-Theo Wanne Enlightened ligature like your talking about

I could go on and name even more if I go through all my ligatures. The fact is that I don't like my ligature clamped down to death so it kills the freedom of the reed so any ligature I use has a chance of moving in my case. Even a pretty solid Vandoren Optimum ligature moves around on me at times. The only ligatures that don't move seem to be pretty simple metal 2 screw ligatures when they are tightened down a good amount. On tenor I like the Selmer 404 ligature and that is a good example of a ligature that doesn't move. For hard rubber tenor mouthpieces I have a generic metal ligature that fits hard rubber tenor mouthpieces. The BSS ligature also is a 2 screw design and doesn't seem to move so far for me.

These are the pros and cons of using these ligatures. To allow the freedom for the reed to respond in a certain way these makers have had to limit the touch points that are touching the mouthpiece. One of my favorite hard rubber tenor mouthpiece ligatures is an old Francois Louis Ultimate ligature but there is no way I can grab the mouthpiece around the ligature and move it without that ligature moving. I still use it a ton though because the positives of using that ligature far outweigh that one negative and if I never grab the mouthpiece around the ligature it is never an issue. I played a Lamberson J7 with that FL ligature on like 100+ gigs at one point and never remember having one issue with it moving.......... Steve
 
+ 1.

There's a lot more to a ligature than "can I accidentally move it when the mouthpiece is tight on the neck cork?"

Two types of ligatures that are rock solid (in terms of not moving) for me are Rovners and the BG Duos. However, I hate them both (the Rovner for the poor response/reed seal, and the BG Duo for how difficult it makes slight reed adjustments). Like Steve, one of my favorite ligatures is the FL Ultimate (I have at least six of these). It can sometimes move, but I find that it seals the reed well and makes it really easy to make minor positioning adjustments.

This is the one place where I disagree. Unlike Steve, I do like to clamp my ligatures down (nearly) to death. For me "reed freedom" = bad seal = poor response. The heel of your reed should not be able to move while you play.

In any event, I've found that one solution that works pretty well to keep the the FL Ultimates from moving is to to cement a piece of 0.5mm tech cork onto the underside of the pressure plate. For me, this solves two problems:
  1. It provides additional friction (against the reed bark) and thus keeps the ligature from moving
  2. It keeps the reed bark from getting gouged or distorted when I clamp down the ligature "to death".
This solution might also work for @whamptoncourt's issue with the Enlightened lig, since it shares a broadly similar design with the FL Ultimate.
You shouldn't have to clamp it down to death. Have you ever tried experimenting with clamping it down, playing it and then loosening it a little at a time and playing it again. I find there is a sweet spot where the reed is held on and it gets suction but the reed feels more free and responsive. If I tighten it down I feel like it kills some of the richness of the tone or something. It also feels more constrained and less expressive to me........
 
I just bought a Durga 4 metal 8* and had saved up for a year to get it so was super excited for it to arrive not having "clicked with any of my other mouthpieces yet.
It was bit of an adjustment to an 8 from the David Zagar Cool School I'd been playing on but I definitely prefer a smaller mouthpiece after finding the Jody Jazz HR always seeming "flat" and just too big in my mouth. (I have residual effects of Bell's Palsy that affected the use of some of my facial muscles) so I thought I'd see if it worked better moving the ligature forward one notch. Took out the trusty included hex screwdriver and loosened the screws and that's when it all went badly!
the ligature just would not fit back on the mouthpiece at all!! I unscrewed the screws all the way, and tried several times to re-attach the ligature to another position without success. I ended up going back to the middle position it had come in, screwed the screws in but it appears to have somehow stretched the width of the ligature so now it just falls right off!
I am beyond belief disappointed, especially as it cost me way more than I could really justify but I'd heard they were the bees knees. Now, after just one day, I have a ligature that doesn't work and a long dreamed of mouthpiece I can't even play because none of my other ligatures fit on it.
I am beyond disappointed. I've written to them to let them know what happened. I'm going to make a YouTube video to show what happened as I'm sure mine can't be an isolated case. At the price these mouthpieces are, I expect that the included ligature works the way it's supposed to. If they are not meant to be adjusted, then maybe don't include a screwdriver and instructions inside the box telling you the ligature can be moved up or down to change the tone from "more spread" to "more focussed"?
I seriously just cried when it all fell apart in my hands.
Note to self: Don't believe the hype!
I've read this a couple of times and for the life of me can't even figure out how this would happen. The only thing I could figure is that instead of loosening the screws maybe you were tightening the screws more and that act was somehow pushing the metal of the ligature outward and expanding it? I have no idea.........
 
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