Saxophones I sense a Martian coming....
- Thread starter DavidUK
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kernewegor
Bon vivant, raconteur and twit
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Have the Martians landed yet?
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Yes... I'm still here, searching them out.
Martin tenor on the way shortly. My first Martin.
Hope it arrives safely
Jx
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A Medalist from 1960/61 just as the RMC take-over took place. RMC shield on the bell.
This is, I believe, similar to the Indiana/Imperial so a student/intermediate horn. It's been stored a year and has a few dents, one by a palm key hole looks fun (see pic).
I liked Altissiomo's Indiana when I we met up a few months ago, and the Prof loves his Martins, so I thought I'd give this one a go. I'll get the dents removed by Matt at Connollys, plua anything else which needs sorting. I like the finish on this one so won't be attempting any change to the patina. Looks as though it's lived.
A distance buy, so should be with me later this week. Will try it out next to the Grassi 2000 Pro when it's up to scratch.
This is, I believe, similar to the Indiana/Imperial so a student/intermediate horn. It's been stored a year and has a few dents, one by a palm key hole looks fun (see pic).
I liked Altissiomo's Indiana when I we met up a few months ago, and the Prof loves his Martins, so I thought I'd give this one a go. I'll get the dents removed by Matt at Connollys, plua anything else which needs sorting. I like the finish on this one so won't be attempting any change to the patina. Looks as though it's lived.
A distance buy, so should be with me later this week. Will try it out next to the Grassi 2000 Pro when it's up to scratch.
altissimo
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the only real difference between the Indiana alto and the Medallist alto is that the crook is longer and narrower on the Medallist, the bodies are the same as far as I can tell - not sure if this is the case with the tenors...
The Medallist is supposed to be a bit brighter sounding than an Indiana, but there's not much to tell them apart with my altos and a 'brighter' Martin is still a lot darker than many saxes.
In my experience these later student Martins are nice saxes
The Medallist is supposed to be a bit brighter sounding than an Indiana, but there's not much to tell them apart with my altos and a 'brighter' Martin is still a lot darker than many saxes.
In my experience these later student Martins are nice saxes
Last edited:
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I found this post on the Woodwindforum: http://www.woodwindforum.com/forums/showthread.php?751-Martin-Makes-Models&p=27610#post27610
So I emailed the author, Lance, about the possible mods and he replied:
"Hi David,
Congratulations on purchasing a great vintage tenor. Despite what the
experts on SOTW say, this is a great playing horn - every bit as good as any
other Martin...and one of my favorite. Here are the things to do to get
everything out of your new horn, in order of importance:
1. Insure that the mouthpiece is a good match for the horn/you. This is the
most important thing. Send me a clip of you playing in 2 octaves and I'll
tell you if you need to be concerned about this.
2. Get the tone holes deburred - the tone hole chimeny/body tube joint and
the inner/outer pad seating surface should be just slightly rounded - not a
sharp, rough edge. Once over with 600 wet/dry sandpaper.
3. Replace the undersized cylindrical tenon/receiver, with a matched conical
bore tenon/oversized receiver.
4. Replace the protruding register pips (neck and body) with non-protruding
pips.
5. Oversized resonators on upper half, small resonators on lower half of the
horn.
Let me know if you have any more questions.
Lance"
I'm OK with what he's saying apart from 3 and 4. I went back to him on 4 for more explanation. He replied:
"The original tenon is too small, and cylindrical. The bore is conical."
Still not sure what the mod is, so I've asked for a photo or diagram.
I see this sort of post and wonder if I'll be missing out on some revelation! Of course, I must play the horn first and see what it's like, but even so....
Any techs care to comment and clarify?
So I emailed the author, Lance, about the possible mods and he replied:
"Hi David,
Congratulations on purchasing a great vintage tenor. Despite what the
experts on SOTW say, this is a great playing horn - every bit as good as any
other Martin...and one of my favorite. Here are the things to do to get
everything out of your new horn, in order of importance:
1. Insure that the mouthpiece is a good match for the horn/you. This is the
most important thing. Send me a clip of you playing in 2 octaves and I'll
tell you if you need to be concerned about this.
2. Get the tone holes deburred - the tone hole chimeny/body tube joint and
the inner/outer pad seating surface should be just slightly rounded - not a
sharp, rough edge. Once over with 600 wet/dry sandpaper.
3. Replace the undersized cylindrical tenon/receiver, with a matched conical
bore tenon/oversized receiver.
4. Replace the protruding register pips (neck and body) with non-protruding
pips.
5. Oversized resonators on upper half, small resonators on lower half of the
horn.
Let me know if you have any more questions.
Lance"
I'm OK with what he's saying apart from 3 and 4. I went back to him on 4 for more explanation. He replied:
"The original tenon is too small, and cylindrical. The bore is conical."
Still not sure what the mod is, so I've asked for a photo or diagram.
I see this sort of post and wonder if I'll be missing out on some revelation! Of course, I must play the horn first and see what it's like, but even so....
Any techs care to comment and clarify?
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Oh... this just in from Lance:
"Yeah. It should be an exact match where it meets the neck tube and then expand at the same taper to match the body tube perfectly, as if the neck had never been cut off and that 1" section replaced with a cylinder. The cylinder results in normally a 1.5mm diameter bore error where the tenon meets the body."
I had asked: ...still not sure about upgrading the tenon? Do you mean it should follow the shape of the body tube bore, so it is wider at the body opening and narrower at the neck side?
I think I have it now. He's saying that as the original tenon is cylindrical, it's narrower than the body receiver whereas it should taper outwards into the body socket, matching the body tube, and also the neck side, diameter.
"Yeah. It should be an exact match where it meets the neck tube and then expand at the same taper to match the body tube perfectly, as if the neck had never been cut off and that 1" section replaced with a cylinder. The cylinder results in normally a 1.5mm diameter bore error where the tenon meets the body."
I had asked: ...still not sure about upgrading the tenon? Do you mean it should follow the shape of the body tube bore, so it is wider at the body opening and narrower at the neck side?
I think I have it now. He's saying that as the original tenon is cylindrical, it's narrower than the body receiver whereas it should taper outwards into the body socket, matching the body tube, and also the neck side, diameter.
ProfJames
Elementary member
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The question is David are you going to keep the horn? My suggestion is get it serviced and cleaned up, check out some mouthpieces with her and see what you think. I have yet to hear anyone complain about the sound from a well looked after, regulated and serviced Martin tenor.
altissimo
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I think all this stuff about tenons is a bit OCD, see what your tech thinks. Get it serviced and see how it compares to your beautiful Grassi.... man, you should've seen the state of my Italian friend's Grassi - I wanted to take a detour via Paul Carrington's, alas the tour schedule was too tight... but I digress..
I've not had much problem with mouthpieces on my Martins, but I'm used to their little foibles, getting the right mouthpiece will help intonation
I've not had much problem with mouthpieces on my Martins, but I'm used to their little foibles, getting the right mouthpiece will help intonation
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I might pop it over to you and see what you think, and what MP suits, if you're available sometime?
I agree about the OCD-ness, but once you hear that go-faster stripes might work.....
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altissimo
Well-Known Member
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would love to see your Medalist tenor and compare it to my alto, but I'd wait a bit before you pop round, I've got a cold and my chest and throat feel like hell, so I'm in self imposed quarantine...
I'd rather have brought a stick of rock home from Brighton.. ah, the delights of going on tour..
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