Luyben

Luyben Music was established in 1947 as a place where both professionals and students could share experiences in the arts. Through the years, Luyben emphasis has expanded from primarily a forum for teaching and playing to a retail facility providing print music, accessories and instruments for the musical community.
Robert Luyben, began offering his ligatures in 1965 as a sideline to his thriving music store. Luyben, who died in 1993, had studied with Daniel Bonade and was a clarinetist with the U.S. Navy Band. He turned down several job offers playing in New York to open a small teaching studio and repair shop in his hometown Kansas City.
Even as his business grew, Bob devoted his spare time to building better mouthpieces and ligatures. The Luyben plastic ligature was the clarinetist's first real alternative to traditional metal ligatures.
Introduced in 1965, Luyben's ligature allowed the reed to vibrate more freely, due to its unique "soundpost" design - small circles inside the ligature that distribute even, vertical pressure with as little surface area as possible touching the reed itself. Additionally, its two contoured adjusting screws give the player the ability to regulate the tension on the reed for a custom setup.
The Lutner company catalog contains Luyben ligatures of two most popular colors: classic black and matte white.