[Lorenzo Muan]

OK, I did my research of old threads, but didn't find much info on who is playing what with a Morgan.

What I DID find was someone mentioning that Ralph used to recommend Rovners for his mpcs.

What ligs have you tried and which are you most satisfied with for your Morgan mpc?

I am currently using an EDII Rovner with my tenor 8L, but am curious about anyone who has experimented with Vandorens, F. Louis and others?

Any input on the supposed ;-) nuances would be very welcome!

cheers,
Laurence

 

[Isle of Jazz]

I'm using a stock 2-screw Yamaha in a non-inverted position on my 8M and it's fine; I actually prefer it to the Rovner EVO5 — I really don't notice any difference in sound and it's so much easier to make minute reed adjustments with the Yamaha.

 

[markpoirier]

I use a Vandoren Optimum on a Morgan 7L tenor. It fits and functions well.

Roger Aldridge, who posts informatively on Morgan, has recommended the Vandoren Master.

For my Morgan Excalibur (tenor), the Rovner alto works. The Optimums for ebonite pieces is too big, and the Optimum for metal pieces is too small.

 

[rleitch]

I've tried a Rovner dark and the Vandoren Master lig on my morgan 8L. In my view the Vandoren allows the reed to vibrate more fully and I feel like I get a more responsive attack with my articulation. It does seem to scratch the piece a bit though.
R.

 

[stefank]

I use a Vandoren Optimum (with the #1 plate) on my 3C, and am quite happy with that. I was using a Rovner dark on my 7EL, but it seems to dampen down the sound a little more than I'd like, so am currently using a plain vanilla Selmer 2 screw lig on it, but I'm open to suggestions.....

Later edit: Mind you, I've just discovered that if I put aside my Yani and go back to my Beaugnier stencil Vito, the Rovner dark seems a great combination with the Excalibur.

 

[hornimprovement]

Morgan Lig

I've been using an FL Ultimate on my tenor 9EL for a few years now. It seems to make a lively mouthpiece livelier. I have been experimenting with a sterling Ishimori Woodstone lig (the alto one fits my tenor Excaliber) .The low register starts a bit easier but it has less edge than the FL.

 

[bfoster64]

I've had Morgan 9EL and 8EL pieces for tenor, and both 8M and 7E for alto. After using both FL Ultimate and Rovner EDII ligs on all the pieces (both ligs that I love) I decided the EDII works best with the Excaliburs, and the FL works best with the M. The Excaliburs are very lively and buzzy. The EDII ligs center and focus the sound and make it a little darker. The FL did the opposite. I'm now using EDIIs on my 8EL tenor and 7E alto pieces.

 

[Dave Dolson]

Soprano Morgan Vintage 6 & 7 . . .Selmer metal two-screw or EDII, depending on the reed and the room. My Vandoren Optimum is in the case but I rarely use it - seems for me that the first two ligs I listed work the best. DAVE

 

[senior]

On both of my Tenors I use a Rovner Dark with a Morgan 8M Jazz and on my Alto I have a Rovner Dark and an Vandoren Optimum. The Vandoren with the #2 plate has a slight edge over the Rovner on a Morgan 8M Jazz.

 

[Reedsplinter]

My Excalibur (which is these days my #3 tenor piece, behind my RPC and an early 1960s SS Berg) came with a Rovner, but I just don't like 'em. My lig of preference is a Winslow, but none of my Winslows really fit the Morgan quite right. I have a Bonade that works perfectly on it; it's a straightforward lig, not fussy in any way, and it holds the reed on every time! The one difference between this lig and a vanilla-flavored standard lig is that it has rails on the bottom that keep the main body of the lig off the reed; for this kind of lig, only a minimal amount of metal actually touches the reed. Works well for me.

 

[Scott C]

Ligature for Morgan Jazz HR

I use either a Bonade silver plate alto lig or a Japanese Harrison A2 with a matte silver plate finish. They're both slightly smaller than the standard meyer sized alto ligatures which is good for the Morgan since they are somewhat slim.

Scott

 

[grevsax24]

I've got a rovner drk for my excalibur, because otherwise the sound is just too bright for me. It also really easy to put on quickly, so I can set up quickly.

 

[saxtek]

Try a standard Yamaha 2 screw clarinet ligature on the Morgan Excalibur alto mouthpiece.

My MYSPACE page:

http://www.myspace.com/saxpsychosis

 

[MM]

If you can find one, try a 2-screw Hite lig on the Excalibur. Hite mpcs are more streamlined similar to the Excalibur and are pretty responsive with raised metal bumps to contact the reed.

 

[Roger Aldridge]

When I first started getting to know Ralph Morgan we sometimes talked about Rovner ligatures. If I remember correctly he and Phil Rovner were working on a ligature together, however, I don't think anything came from that. I do remember that Ralph told me the best ligature he ever had was an old Selmer that was pure silver. He said several sax guys tried to get him to write an amount on a blank check but he never sold it.

It's been my feeling that because of the very high quality hard rubber formula used by Ralph one may be able to more readily discern tonal and performance differences with various ligatures than with mouthpieces made from a lesser quality of hard rubber. At least that has been my experience.

I find it ironic that Ralph seemed to recommend Rovner ligatures. Over a period of a year or two I tried ALL of the Rovners. Then, when I tried a FL lig it was 100% clear to me how much Rovners dampened my sound. It was like a night and day difference. My favorite FL lig was the silver version. I found it to have a better level of projection than gold.

I was entirely happy with FL ligs on all of my Morgan mouthpieces for 4-5 years. However, when I made a decision to switch to Legere I sadly discovered that FL ligs do not seal Legere reeds properly. I then had to search for a lig that works well with Legere.

After a long search I settled on the Vandoren Klassik string ligature. I've talked about it on other threads so I won't repeat myself here. But, simply put, it's been better for me (in terms of tonal quality, projection, and response) than ANY metal or fabric ligature I've used in the past. The only problem I have is Vandoren doesn't make one for bass clarinet.

http://1stopclarinet.stores.yahoo.net/vaklalsaxlil.html

The alto sax version of the Klassik expands enough to easily fit my Morgan tenor mouthpiece.

Roger

 

[potiphar]

On my Vintage sop - Consoli Light
On my Excalibur EL Alto - Rovner Light

 

[lhoffman]

When I played on a tenor Excalibur, I found an alto Bay ligature fit well. I'm a fan of Bay ligatures for their ease of use and response; just don't drop them.

 

[Dr G]

I'd recommend seeing how far you can throw a Rovner. Yes, I have several but none have been used in the last 5 years or more and they are all in the bottom of my gig bag. I don't care to lose the range of frequencies that they apparently damp.

I use Francois Louis ligs all my mouthpieces - Morgan, Lamberson tenor and Bari, Barone sop. I also like the Vandoren Ultimate ligs.

 

[patseguin]

I use a Vandoren Optimum lig on both my alto and soprano Morgan pieces.

 

[Peterogping]

On my Tenor 8EL, I use an Olegature 2G which allows for the overtones of the Excalibur. For my 7L, which I keep as back-up, a Vandoren Masters tenor ligature works well.
On alto 7M, I use Vandoren Masters for alto after using a Charles Bay alto ligature (Marked "Large"). I am not totally satisfied because both ligatures allow for some saliva to penetrate into the top of the table, leading to some "saliva-wheeze". I may be trying out an Olegature for clarinet, 1S.
On my Martin soprano, I use a Rovner Light L3 with the 6J with good results.