The Martin
Since 1968 I've been playing a 1945 Conn 6M alto. It belonged to my father, and it still looks and sounds gorgeous after all these years. About 7 years ago, a friend of mine was working on a The Martin Alto which had been badly banged up, and he was literally bringing it back from the dead. Most of the lacquer was worn off and the bell key guards were badly bent. Someone wasn't good to this horn. However, my friend did a fantastic job of bringing it back to life. He was also offering it for an indecently cheap price, so I bought it. I didn't even care if it played that well. However, it played and sounded great, and so I decided to use it as a back up horn whenever my horn needs to be in the shop a while.
Lately, I've been spending a greaty deal of time playing this horn and getting to know it, and what I have discovered is that these have to be among the best horns ever built. In fact, I can say that it surpasses my Conn in everything but looks, and that is only because of its past abuse.
This horn seems to be able to play anything you can put into it. You can really extract a great deal of tonal colors and dynamics that I can't quite get on my Conn. It also has better ergonomics than the Conn. The Conn is at its best when you're pushing it, making it explode, and it's great when you're playing soaring ballads, or lightning fast bebop runs. Having worked with The Martin, I find it can do all that and a lot more. When I stack this horn up against the best horns, it is absolutely their equal. However, I find that with The Martin, I can achieve all of the characteristics that I found in different models, from my 6M, to a King Super 20, a Buescher Aristocrat or 400 or a Mark VI. In my mind, it is all of these horns and also uniquely itself.
I think I might start taking this horn to gigs and not just keep it as a back up anymore, despite its looks. After all, it's about the sound.
I'm interested in other The Martin owners and your impression of the horns.
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