New lig for Brilhart Levelaire

[Bobby G]

I have a Brilhart Levelaire for my alto - an ebay lucky-cheapie as it happens - that could do with a new lig. The one that came with it is, I think, the original, it is a metal 2-screw job, but is slightly out of shape so may not be holding the reed as it should. Any suggestions as to what I could use as a replacement? I tend to favour Rovner-style ligs, could I get one for a metal mpc?

 

[Jules]

no problem- there's are sizing charts out the & rovner make loads of different sizes of lig (OK- slighlty tricky in that Levelaire's aren't a current model but they're the same size as a Bari Gold so anything that fits one of them will work ok)....

 

[Jules]

....and another fine lyric referencing sig sir....

 

[rhysonsax]

Just a small point and excuse me if you know this already.

If this is the original Level-Aire model, then the metal lig was inverted and had the screws at the top rather than on the reed. It would look out of shape if you put it on the wrong way round.

The ARB metal model by Beechler http://www.beechler.com/arbmetals.htm was designed by Arnold Brilhart and seems to be almost identical to the original Level-Aire. It could be worth talking to Beechler about getting a replacement ligature to fit yours.

Good luck

Rhys

 

[Bobby G]

Rhys, I think you may have hit on it there - I'd always assumed that the screw side of the lig sat on the reed, even though unlike any other two-screw metal lig this meant the screws were on the 'wrong' side. I tried flipping it round so that the other side of the lig, with the circular cut-out, was against the reed and things are much improved both in terms of the fit and the reduction of intermittent squeaking in the upper register. Even more improvement was had when I replaced what I though was a very stiff screw which was in fact slightly bent, plus the screws are now in the 'right' place.

File under 'screams like a b******'!!

 

[losaavedra]

Don't want to 'crash the party' but I have a related question that doesn't really deserve a new thread:
Q. Apart from firmly holding the reed on the mp ... does a lig have any other function, also does it make any difference at all how it does the 'holding', and for that matter what its made of (tone-wise, or whatever)?

 

[Mikec]

losaavedra wrote:
Don't want to 'crash the party' but I have a related question that doesn't really deserve a new thread:
Q. Apart from firmly holding the reed on the mp ... does a lig have any other function, also does it make any difference at all how it does the 'holding', and for that matter what its made of (tone-wise, or whatever)?

I've tried three different ligatures on the same reed and mouthpiece and couldn't hear any difference either live or in the recordings. Others will no doubt disagree. At the moment I use a BG fabric ligature which I find very easy to set to the correct "firmness", something I find very important for getting maximum "playability" (not tone quality).