Description
For hard rubber tenor saxophone mouthpieces like Otto Link Tone Edge, Otto Link Reso Chamber. All Link Slant tenor copies and reproductions, and almost all modern hard rubber tenor mouthpieces will fit great with this ligature. It has long screws to fit a slim hard modern Vandoren or Selmer Soloist, all the way up to large body vintage tenor piece like a Conn Steelay, or the larger NY Meyers, Woodwind Co NY, or Hard Rubber Brilharts. The all-metal design is more labor intensive to build, with a lot of careful silver soldering going into the production. The brass is high quality and supple. The BB screws tighten easily.
Out of the box, the ligature is adjusted to fit a larger body mouthpiece like an Otto Link Tone Edge. For a slimmer mouthpiece, simply put the ligature on your mouthpiece, tighten the screws, and then press hard to bend the reed plate a little closer to the table.
There’s a reason why the vintage Brilhart 3-Band ligatures have been singled out by the market (players) as by far the most desirable vintage ligatures. They are great ligatures. But there will never be enough vintage Brilhart ligatures to meet the high demand for this style of ligature. Thankfully, the Echobrass company has stepped in to answer this demand.
This Echobrass tenor ligature is a true reproduction: from the alloy of brass shape of the BB screws, it is exactly the same as the vintage Brilhart ligature. Same dimensions, same weight, same feel, same playing response. It’s like going back in time to buy one when they were first made!
So for those of you who have always wanted this time-tested style of ligature, but have found them prohibitively expensive, now perhaps getting one is within reach. This is admittedly still an expensive ligature by modern standards. But honestly, to achieve this level of quality of workmanship in Korea where these are made, it just does cost some money. And really, it would do us no good to have a cheaper version of this ligature that was somehow flawed and not as good as the original. Plus, this is probably the last ligature you need to buy, so it may prevent your amassing a whole drawer of inferior ligatures over the course of your career. (You know what I am talking about!)
How does it play? It just plays well. It is just a high quality ligature with heavy duty brass and nice big screws, and that is easy to tighten firmly and evenly. It frees the reed to vibrate with a rich, balanced tone. Compared to a standard ligature, the Echobrass seems richer, more full, and warmer. And it makes playing more fun by making the reed nice and responsive. Just about everyone who has tried one of these in the shop now plays one, including me. I included several photos below of mouthpieces that this ligature fits. If you have further questions, feel free to contact me through the website. I’d be happy to help you! The images below show the plastic plate version, but I included them because it shows the fit for different kinds of tenor mouthpieces. For those of you wondering, I can’t really tell a tonal difference between the two different reed plate designs. FWIW, some customers tell me the metal plate version feels a bit brighter. To me, it’s an aesthetic choice mostly, or maybe you just like it being all metal.
Clive Astle (verified owner) –
This ligature not only holds the reed as any good ligature should but it is very easy to line the reed up properly and adjust it easily. My old eyes have double vision and this is the only ligature I can quickly and successfully adjust the reed! It is also very versatile adjusting from my narrow Vandoren V16 to all my GetaSax Link copies.
John T Liles (verified owner) –
I generally don’t believe that a ligature can make much of a difference, but this one has really amazed me. Compared to the ligature I was using on my GS Slant tenor piece, playing with the Echo Master is noticeably more free-blowing and effortless. It fits the Slant like a glove, and also works on my other main tenor piece, an RPC. I’m super happy with this ligature! One thing to be aware of — don’t leave the mouthpiece/ligature/reed setup in place for long periods or you’ll have green copper oxide on the ligature and your mouthpiece. Another great product from Getasax.com!