Ligatures Has anyone tried out the eastern Music Winslow style ligature??

[Strimmed]

I’ve always was curious about the Winslow ligature of yesteryear. And now that they are well into the hundreds of dollars if you can even find them, I see that Eastern music came out with their own version and was curious if anyone has tried one yet. If so, what are your impressions? Is it worth the $40 price tag? I know people will say ligature don’t matter, but let’s try to keep that opinion to ourselves and stick to the topic if that’s OK.

[admin edit: moved part of post to Doorbell intro section]

Thank you and welcome

Sincerely,
Sean Mullins

 

[Jeanette]

Welcome to the café, perhaps an introduce yourself in the doorbell section.

Good to have you here

Jx

 

[Pete Thomas]

I know people will say ligature don’t matter, but let’s try to keep that opinion to ourselves and stick to the topic if that’s OK.

Ligs do matter, in that they have to hold the reed firmly and some are not very good at that. This one, like the Winslow, looks like it will do that and continue to.

perhaps an introduce yourself in the doorbell section.

NB: it mades sense to move the second paragraph over to a new thread in the member introductions section. So I did

 

[jazzdoh]

I maybe wrong, but isn't Winslow still making ligs, seem to remember a thread on SOTW where this was addressed.

 

[Trigger]

To be fair all the eastern music products I’ve had , MB1, a DG Fatboy , a couple of necks , heavy mass neck screws ( I use this on most of my saxophones) have all been good products so my opinion would be that they will probably be a good cheaper alternative to the Winslow lig , I do have several original Winslow ligs and do like them ,

 

[Pete Thomas]

I know people will say ligature don’t matter, but let’s try to keep that opinion to ourselves and stick to the topic if that’s OK.

Oops I was about to respond then remembered this. I know it's soooo temp[ting to do otherwise, but ideally please we should honour Sean's request to stay on topic, ie who's actually tried one?

 

[Strimmed]

Thank you, Pete. It’s OK I don’t mind a little backlash as long as it’s all in good nature. so I would like to recant that statement and hear from those that feel like ligatures are irrelevant in terms of sound or feel.
I guess I was just used to a different community where things can get quite off topic and even resort to child like behavior rather quickly (I’m sure a lot of you may know what I’m talking about haha)


BTW I would like to apologize to everyone here as I completely forgot that I had posted this. It’s been a rough end of the year. And that’s why I had been absent for quite some time. But I will definitely make an effort to be more active and I will take the great advice to introduce myself in the member section that was suggested above.
Thank you for all the warm welcomes 🙏


PS. I really appreciate how kind and welcoming this community seems to be. It’s refreshing to say the least. 😝

 

[Strimmed]

To be fair all the eastern music products I’ve had , MB1, a DG Fatboy , a couple of necks , heavy mass neck screws ( I use this on most of my saxophones) have all been good products so my opinion would be that they will probably be a good cheaper alternative to the Winslow lig , I do have several original Winslow ligs and do like them ,

Although I have zero first-hand accounts to go by, I too have heard the same that Eastern music actually makes some pretty nice quality stuff in comparison to the other overseas Chinese based Brands etc. although I thought a lot of them were basically manufactured under the same plant; perhaps Eastern music produces their own individually 🤷‍♂️

But I’m curious nonetheless, and although I do believe Winslow is still taking orders, I am not ready to go bankrupt trying to purchase one

 

[Reedjazz]

Yes, I recently bought one for both my hard rubber LeBayle 7* jazz chamber tenor mouthpiece and my hand-made Saxscape by Ken Barry, Slant Sig style 102 facing 7, and it is by far the best ligature I have ever played. It is exactly as I recall the WInslow playing, which I loved years ago, but they were in short supply, hard to find and expensive, then for reasons unknown, they stopped making them, despite the fact that most folks loved them. The Eastern music is very well made (I was initially skeptical, given the ridiculously affordable price of $41 on Amazon, but I thought I had nothing to lose with their free return policy). It uses a similar construction of rubber pads that make minimal contact with the reed, allowing it to vibrate fully. It has made reeds that I was about to chuck sound great, it just coaxes the sound out it a wonderful way. Steve

 

[Jimmymack]

Saxxas make a pretty close copy which comes recommended by quite a few players and is sold by some reputable shops, mostly in Europe, unfortunately they cost about the same as the Winslow.

They say they aren't copies and there are some differences between their lig and the Winslow, I wouldn't know as I haven't played any of these and the only options to try one seem to be to pay around £100 for a Saxxas one or get an Eastern Music one from Amazon USA neither of which appeals to me.

Shame really, I wouldn’t mind giving one a go but I think I'll just wait and see if something turns up.

It's difficult to find out about the people who make the Saxxas, their online presence is all lorem ipsum text. They seem to be based in Budapest.

 

[Pete Thomas]

Saxxas make a pretty close copy which comes recommended by quite a few players and is sold by some reputable shops, mostly in Europe, unfortunately they cost about the same as the Winslow.

They say they aren't copies and there are some differences between their lig and the Winslow,

It is advertised here as Saxxas being the same brand as Winslow, note the Winslow name in brackets:

SAXXAS - (Winslow) Saxophone Ligatures

SAXXAS Ligature – Elevate Your Sound The SAXXAS Ligature is a premium accessory designed to bring out the best in your reed and mouthpiece. Featuring innovative rubber cushions on the bottom, it naturally adapts to the uneven surface of the reed—ensuring superior resonance transmission to the...

edinburghmusiccentre.com

 

[Jimmymack]

That's the Edinburgh Music Centre's description not Saxxas's.