{"id":42455,"date":"2014-08-09T10:39:37","date_gmt":"2014-08-09T17:39:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/?p=42455"},"modified":"2024-06-15T09:38:51","modified_gmt":"2024-06-15T16:38:51","slug":"martin-handcraft-sax-brochure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/2014\/martin-handcraft-sax-brochure\/","title":{"rendered":"Martin Handcraft Sax Brochure"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Martin<\/a>
Martin Handcraft tenor, Serial #: 68XXX Photo by: M. Margison Copyright 2008<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you’re a person who has been reading my Bassic Sax Blog for a while, or has even read more than a handful of articles that I have written, you’ll likely have noticed that I love vintage saxophones. That’s of course why I have a studio full of them, and why I use them exclusively when I perform.<\/p>\n

My newest acquisition in the vintage saxophone realm came earlier this year when I picked up a lovely, silver plated Martin Committee III baritone<\/a>. This is not the first Martin in my stable… In fact it is the third.<\/p>\n

I have two Martin Handcrafts. While one is a C mel that acts as art on my studio wall<\/a>, the other is the amazing tenor<\/a> that my former tech from Halifax, Layne Francis, reclaimed from the dead for me.<\/p>\n

After Layne did the restoration work in 2000, I used that Handcraft tenor for years as a main and backup horn in blues and rock work<\/a>. It was this tenor that showed me exactly what kind of rich, lush sound these Martin saxophones were capable of.<\/p>\n

In my 15 years of Martin saxophone ownership, combined with the research that I have done for my website, I don’t recall ever coming across a listing of the Martin finish options. That is until this morning, when I happened across an eBay auction<\/a> for an old Martin brochure circa 1920s.<\/p>\n

The brochure is for the Handcraft saxophones, and provides us with a rich snapshot of the time…<\/p>\n

\"Martin<\/a><\/p>\n

Source: metrotraf on eBay.com<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Martin<\/a><\/p>\n

Source: metrotraf on eBay.com<\/span><\/p>\n

Two things immediately jumped out at me in this Martin Handcraft brochure:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. In the second photo on the left side, featuring Bill Hamilton and Harry Fink from the Vincent Lopez Hotel Pennsylvania Orchestra, the sax on the far right appears to be a bass. To my knowledge Martin didn’t make a bass, so this is likely either a Conn or a Buescher, possibly stencilled with the Martin name.<\/li>\n
  2. Under finish options, Martin also had what they called an “Artists’ Special”. The description read: “Quadruple gold plated over quadruple silver plate, hand burnished all over, artistically hand engraved.” However unlike Conn’s version<\/a>, Martin don’t mention any mother of pearl on the key touches or rollers.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    If you’re a collector of vintage saxophone advertisements, then you might want to check out this Martin Handcraft saxophone brochure for yourself. The eBay auction<\/a> runs until August 15. Bids are to start at 99\u00a2. So far no one has placed a bid yet.<\/p>\n

    \n
    …this is just my blog<\/em>. <\/span> My \u201creal\u201d <\/b> website is<\/span> www.bassic-sax.info.<\/a> If you\u2019re looking for <\/span> sax info<\/strong>,<\/span> you should check it out too.<\/span>There\u2019s lots<\/em> there! <\/span><\/div>\n
     <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    If you’re a person who has been reading my Bassic Sax Blog for a while, or has even read more than a handful of articles …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[78],"tags":[150,660,692,639,644,643,31,136,573],"class_list":["post-42455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-vintage-horns","tag-american-saxophones","tag-ebay","tag-handcraft","tag-martin","tag-photos","tag-vintage-horns","tag-vintage-sax","tag-vintage-sax-resources","tag-vintageantique-catalogues"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t