Marc Jean 700 ligature

[Pete Thomas]

Yet another ligature hits the market. This one is good though.







I particularly like the One Screw system, and the way it holds the reed in a wooden "cradle".

[Sigmund451]

Marc makes cool stuff and is a hell of a nice guy too.

[JL]

That is beautiful. It would be worth getting for the looks alone! But I know it would be a very good ligature also, having one of the older 2-screw models.

[boots148]

Hello Pete, How does it compare to the two screw model? I'm enjoying a two screw model for alto and I'm just curious if there is any difference between the two. Thanks!

[Pete Thomas]

Hello Pete, How does it compare to the two screw model? I'm enjoying a two screw model for alto and I'm just curious if there is any difference between the two. Thanks!

Yes. For my own mouthpieces there is a difference in that the two screw (standard HR) didn't actually form so well to a more tapered mouthpiece like mine. Marc made a specific model of ligature for the PPT.

I've notices that this new one screw model does conform better to a wider variety of mouthpiece sizes and tapers, so the standard HR model does fit my my mouthpieces, and also seems to fit other outpaces that fall within the standard HR type category.

[boots148]

Thank you Pete!

[chipcook]

What is the material, is he still using wood? I have his earlier model and its my favorite ligature

[tony1709]

On his website it seems to be Grenadilla (clarinet wood), but a solid block forming a cradle rather than 2 "cocktail sticks" like the last model. It looks nice!

[10mfan]

Marc sent me one of these new 700 model ligatures to try out, as it fits my 10MFAN hard rubber mouthpieces beautifully.
These are excellent ligatures and I highly recommend them.

[High Fly]

Wow, this looks great. It embodies my favorite principles, and in fact I'M SURE he STOLE my idea---JUST KIDDING!! I did make and sell a few ligatures here that used 'vertical contact" ribs that were Bonade-like but longer and narrower and better optimized than the VD Optimum verticals (too close to the centerline of the reed). With vertical contact you don't have to try to match the curve of the reed with point contact like many do, and miss the mark.

And one screw is really great. Solid block sound more durable. I'm not so sure wood is better than metal as a material for the ribs. You can make the argument that you don't want sympathetic response, no?

In either case, if I don't have to sell a sax to but one of these I'm in!

[whaler]

How does he not get sued by Vandoren? It looks like an exact copy.

[Jcam44]

How does he not get sued by Vandoren? It looks like an exact copy.

Didn't know Vandoren made a model with wood as the cradle for the reed! Which model is it?

[High Fly]

How does he not get sued by Vandoren? It looks like an exact copy.

This is very different from the Optimum. No interchangeable plates, and single set of ridgelines.

I will say that if I'm having a healthy dose of "beware the first year of the new model", I am suspect of those two small looking rivets holding the wood piece against the body. There is ALOT going on in that spot; pressures, torque, etc. of two pieces of the assembly. The wood against the metal backing; I would be concerned that it would loosen up at least ever so slightly where rivet end sits against the wood...making it wiggly. just a thougt...I really like the design

BTW why no pictures to speak of on their website of all the various finishes etc.?

[moontom]

Just got one of these....impressive lig! had the 2 screw MJ and this one suits me better....

[Marc Jean Ligatures]

BTW why no pictures to speak of on their website of all the various finishes etc.?

Hello sir, Emmanuel from Musique de Marc here. We are in the process of having more pictures taken for our website, but we're doing it part time and so it's going a bit slowly. For more product pictures you can visit our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/MJLigII . You'll also fin a few comments and testimonials about the product.

So far, we received no report of failure on our new ligatures, but as you said time will tell how lasting our design really is.

Farewell!

[Sigmund451]

I have one of these and it's also beautiful. Marc's products have always in the past been durable for me. I have not had time to fully compare it but it is solid and feels very well made.

[Dr G]

The wood against the metal backing; I would be concerned that it would loosen up at least ever so slightly where rivet end sits against the wood...making it wiggly.

I think that "wiggly" would be a good thing - it would let the plate center itself, and accommodate differences in reed geometry, as the ligature is tightened.

[Marc Jean Ligatures]

I think that "wiggly" would be a good thing - it would let the plate center itself, and accommodate differences in reed geometry, as the ligature is tightened.

Hello and thank you all to take the time. Few things that I would like to add and clarify. The wood piece is well grenadilla. We may have to change that because we fund out yesterday that it is now a protected wood and may become complicated to ship cross borders. Many other wood are on the same list. I made many test with different sizes and shapes of wood piece and the way it is, it respond as much as it can. The 2 lines of contact on the reed are NOT parallel. The use of wood piece(s) and the non parallel rails are MY US patent. These 2 factors are, from what I fund, the most efficient and performing generators of extra harmonics on a single reed mouthpiece. Recently, listening a great saxophone player using a very good mouthpiece and a selected reed, we were able to ear 3 harmonics below AND 3 above the fundamental. Earing 2 below and above is not a special event. Many call this an open sound and it is right... It may seems to be an expensive ligature but considering the CNC tooling required, I am not even recuperating the R & D time involved. It is a high end product and it does deliver... Some says that it generate a dark and clean sound and others says differently. I think that it expend the sounding characteristics of your mouthpiece. To end this, I also like the look of these now ligs. Have fun every one! Marc Jean

[Pete Thomas]

Hi Marc

I commend you on looking for sustainable materials.Just a thought, my R & C tenor has olive wood touch pieces and it is an extremely attractive wood, maybe this is worth looking into.

[Marc Jean Ligatures]

Hello Pete, Emmanuel here.

That's one of the first replacement wood we did consider; I own a few ornaments made of this wood, and they're awesome looking. But some of its properties are not to our liking, so we are considering other essences.