Vandoren Optimum Clarinet Ligatures, Bb Clarinet W/ Plastic Cap

This is a popular ligature and for good reason. It does the job it's meant to - it holds the reed to the mouthpiece securely and as long as your mouthpiece table is flat, it creates the perfect seal.I'm a fan of one screw ligatures for the simplicity. Some people like the precision you can get with varying the tightness of two screws, but I like to just get playing!The plates are a nice idea but I don't hear any major tonal differences. The Optimum with any of the plates will naturally feel different to a fabric or leather ligature. Articulation feels cleaner and I find notes in the extreme registers to speak more freely.I've got one for tenor and alto and they fit a wide range of mouthpieces. Yes, some people may not like the bold 'V' cut out and want something boutique and unbranded, but if you don't care about looks and want to get playing, you need this in your musical arsenal!

This made a distict difference to my performance, particularly when I managed to change the base place for number 2 rather than the number 1 that was prefitted. The first plate does reduce any squeaks but it is a bit limiting on the sound. Plate number 2 allows the reed to move more freely. A few squeeks may occur initially but, toning up the ambrasure will deal with that. I have not tried plate 3 yet and that is my first quibble, the plates are a real b*g**r to fit. Perhaps an additional gripe, it was a tad tarnished. Must have been in the shop a while. Wiped clean with a suitable silver cloth, and yes, although this is often described as metal, it is in fact silver plate. My final gripe, the plastic vandoran cap supplied with it is a real piece of rubbish. Fortunately my existing cap still fits.

Having used the original ligatures on both my Symphony 1010s for many years, I thought I would try a change. I chose this one as it appeared to have maximum flexibility. I found the sound quality noticeably improved with a good reed compared to the originals, and markedly better response speed. Higher notes were more reliable. The ligature seems sturdy but it is quite new. Changing the contact plates was fiddly, but did vary the sound produced. The position of the ligature on the mouthpiece was more sensitive than with my original ones: two millimetres lower than the ideal position and it was a quite unstable response. Correctly positioned it was a worthwhile upgrade.

This is the first upgrade for my clarinet. The Vandoren Optimum Ligatures go well with my new Vandoren M15 mouthpiece, it holds the reed firmly with one easy adjustment, and there is a marked improvement in the tone over a wide range as compared with the generic mouthpiece/ligatures I had before. It also comes with 3 interchangeable pressure plates to adjust the sound depending on the musc I play. I would give the ligatures a 5-star. But..One minus is the cap that came with the ligatures - it is the black plastic cap (C01P), not the silver-plated one as shown on the product photo here or on the actual box. It is still a decent quality Vandoren cap and still fits the ligatures, but there is about a £10 difference between the silver-plated cap that was supposedly there and the black one that was included, so I feel a bit cheated. Not sure if it was a change by Vandoren or the seller.

I use this all the time

I have been playing for 5 years, and have previously used a leather ligature, but found this did not always hold the reed in place.This ligature includes 3 plates, and they all hold the reed securely. The plates are not easy to change, as they need a bit of careful brute force to remove them, but they are worth it to alter the ease of playing, and tone.

This works so well with the TL5 mouthpiece and I like the variety of tone shading that comes with the different plates.

Made a difference