{"id":42591,"date":"2014-08-26T10:19:13","date_gmt":"2014-08-26T17:19:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/?p=42591"},"modified":"2024-06-15T08:12:35","modified_gmt":"2024-06-15T15:12:35","slug":"ever-heard-of-the-martin-margin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/2014\/ever-heard-of-the-martin-margin\/","title":{"rendered":"Ever Heard Of The Martin Margin?"},"content":{"rendered":"

What the heck is the Martin Margin?<\/h2>\n

This morning I was browsing eBay and I happened across a very interesting vintage print ad from Martin<\/a>. According to the seller, the ad is from 1954, and it very clearly shows a Committee III, AKA The Martin, saxophone… Or at least I thought so.<\/p>\n

The ad however, makes reference of the martin margin<\/em>, and I quickly went through my memory banks trying to remember if I had ever heard of a Martin Margin. Of course I hadn’t, so then I carefully read the ad’s text, and it all became clear to me…<\/p>\n

\"1954<\/a><\/p>\n

Source: Vintage Ad Service on eBay.com<\/span><\/p>\n

… An extra margin<\/em><\/span> of control and performance… Now I get it. It was a clever marketing strategy by the ad execs heading up the advertising campaign for The Martin Band Instrument Company… But how true was it?<\/p>\n

I love my two Martins. I have both a Committee III baritone, as well as a Handcraft tenor. The are both kick-ass horns whose tone will vibrate the glasses in a china cabinet. But what of the claim that “the ‘Martin Margin’ of performance helps you play with complete ease and freedom”? \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

[perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]The saxophone that gives you an extra margin of control is\u2014Martin! Here’s flexibility that helps you play with greater sureness, more solid tone…in all registers. [\/perfectpullquote]<\/p>\n

Note the year that this ad is from. Is it just coincidence that it came out the same year that Selmer introduced its Mark VI?<\/p>\n

As the owner of quite a few\u2014approx. 30 at last count\u2014vintage saxophones, I can tell you that while my Martins have an incredible sound, they are not necessarily the easiest to play.<\/p>\n

Yes, they rank among my favourite horns tone-wise, but some of my other vintage horns are indeed easier to play. Most notably, my Conn 10M and Selmer Mark VI come to mind.<\/p>\n

That said, of all my vintage saxophones, my Martins do have the greatest and most solid tone in all registers. So in that sense, the ad execs got it right, and the Martin Margin was no hyperbole.<\/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":"

What the heck is the Martin Margin? This morning I was browsing eBay and I happened across a very interesting vintage print ad from Martin. …<\/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":[589,660,639,633,590,38,643,31],"class_list":["post-42591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-vintage-horns","tag-committee-iii","tag-ebay","tag-martin","tag-musings","tag-the-martin","tag-vintage-ads","tag-vintage-horns","tag-vintage-sax"],"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