Martin Magna Low A: Too Much?

[tekman]

I've come upon a mid '70's Magna low A. It is a true closet horn. Was used for 6 months and then stored since. It's in pristine condition. The original owner wants $2000 for it.

I've been wanting a bari for a while now, but all I see are ragged out, beat-up horns. Is 2 grand too much to pay for a '70's Magna?

Regards,
Mark in MS

[max]

If you don't want it, I'll take it!

(seriously - max987456@yahoo.com)

[Hornlip]

I would go for it. As far as I've seen, Martin didn't slowly degrade their horns in quality like most of the other American makers did before they folded. They just plowed along making pro horns at pretty much the same quality level until they stopped altogether. And I don't think you have much trouble getting your $2000 out of it if you decided to sell it.

[Alan G]

Umm - I don't think that there is anything Martin put out in the '70's would be called a Magna - as Martin was, by that point, a different animal entirely!

If it has the silver cross on the bell - with the bell keys on the left side - then this is an early '60's horn.

If it is in good condition - this is a steal at $2000. Buy it NOW.

Don't wait - get yer cash NOW - go over and pick the #$%& thing up - NOW.

If you don't want it - you could post it here and sell it for a nice profit.





Oh - did I mention? BUY IT NOW!!

This is THE holy grail of vintage bari's.

[tekman]

Well,

I bought the Magna. It's not really pristine. It has a small ding on the bell lip, another on the neck, and a small spot under the neck receiver. Other than that, the horn looks NEW!!!

Although this horn was purchased new in 1975, the music store in Pittsburgh must have had it for a while. The serial number is 311xxx. That would put the date of manufacture somewhere around 1968, I suppose.

If the Martin Magna Low A is truly the Holy Grail of Vintage Baritones, then might this horn be the Holy Grail of Holy Grails? It was played by a college student for 6 months, and then kept in a closet for 23 years!

I don't think I'm going to keep it; I'm too nervous about damaging it. Any ideas how I should go about marketing this horn and get the maximum return on my investment? Ebay just doesn't seem right for a Closet Queen!

Here are some pics:
http://www.megagate.com/~mrayborn/mm32.jpg
http://www.megagate.com/~mrayborn/mm29.jpg
http://www.megagate.com/~mrayborn/mm33.jpg
http://www.megagate.com/~mrayborn/mm17.jpg
http://www.megagate.com/~mrayborn/mm25.jpg

[exec]

Beautiful Bari

I have one in the same serial range.
The laquer is darker on mine and the engraving appears to be deeper on mine. The cross on my bell have sharper edges and look more pointy at the tips of the cross.

Looks like a flake of laquer, the first top pearl, especially.
If by chance it is a relaquer, a great one at that.

[Jerry K.]

WOW! I would think that eBay would be a good place to sell this beauty "if" you take lots of excellent and well lit photos for the listing. I would think you could make a quick $1000 and possibly more with the right buyer if you have a reasonable amount of positive feedback.

Engraving looks sharp and original to me. Lacquer does look light in color but probably due to age (late production) and the fact that the horn didn't see the light of day for 20+ years. Very nice horn!

[tekman]

No. I'm positive it's all original.

Let me tell y'all the story.

A man walks into a small-town music store in Mississippi. He has an old baritone that he would like to trade in. He wants to get his son a really nice acoustic guitar for Christmas. The music store salesman doesn't know anything about old saxophones, and he doesn't want to trade. He's all about the green stuff! He sends him to see the band repair guy. Maybe the band repair guy knows somebody who might buy the horn.

The band repair guy doesn't know a lot about old saxophones. His thing is electric guitars. He does repairs for school saxophones, though, and sees that this is a mighty nice example of a Martin Magna Low A Bari. He asks the guy the details about the horn.

The man says that he played alto when he was in high school in Pittsburgh. He even took lessons at Carnegie Melon. When he got to college, in 1975, someone talked him into playing bari in a "stage band". He didn't have a bari, so his parents went out and bought him a new Martin Magna Low A.

He played in the band for 6 months, but his grades began to fall. He was in college to study engineering, not music, so he quit. He didn't like to play bari anyway. He much preferred his Selmer alto. So, he put the Magna in it's case, and never took it out again, until now.

He asked the band repair guy if he shouldn't get the Magna repadded and the tiny ding in the bell lip repaired. The band repair guy says "This horn is new!! The pads are new! There's no play in the rods! It's almost perfect! LEAVE IT ALONE!"

The band repair guy remembers a WEIRD guy that came to see him over a year ago. The guy wanted to pay him to watch him replace pads in a saxophone. WEIRD!! Although this quy couldn't play worth a d--n, he loved saxophones. He had about 20 at the time. He couldn't remember the guy's name, but he did remember where the guy worked. He offered to call around and see if someone was interested in the Magna.

So, he called my job and left a message for me. When he called me and told me about the mid '70s Magna in pristine condition, I wasn't interested. I told him that I didn't buy any horn made later than the '50's. He told me that I should come look, anyway.

A couple of days later, I dropped by and saw the horn. I immediately realized that this Martin Magna was special. I just didn't know how special. I have about 30 saxophones now, various brands and all conditions, and I am pretty good at judging a horn's condition, especially when I'm looking at it, and not some pics.

Anyway, I noted the serial number, and later posted my original inquiry here on the forum. I had already decided to buy the horn. I just didn't have the money. I asked my girlfriend, who also thinks I'm WEIRD, for a loan, HOW EMBARASSING!, and called the owner of the Magna. I met him the next day and paid him for the horn. There's absolutely no doubt in my mind that he was telling the truth.

This is truly an original Martin Magna Low A in near new condition! I'll stake my WEIRDNESS on it!!!

Regards,
Mark in MS

[Perfect Pitch]

I am very happy for you.Congratulations on a bargain find!


:mrgreen: :Rant2: :Rant2: :Rant2: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

:Rant2: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :Rant2: :Rant2:

[Alan G]

Oh my.....

breath taking.

With out a doubt - a most remarkable find.

Why can't I find stuff like that? Jealousy rears its ugly head!

I agree that if you post it on ebay - to take lots of good pictures (the ones you've posted are a great start).

An alternative is to contact some reputable dealers. World Wide Sax, SaxQuest, Junkdude (hey guys, any others?), may be able to help finding a qualified buyer. I've dealt with with SaxQuest - and they have reasonable consignment selling fees.

I'll stick my neck out - and state that this horn should bring in excess of $4000. Heck - thats a conservative number!


Oh - since yer so lucky - might I suggest investing in the lottery? :D

[max]

Like I said, if you don't want (and you don't seem to), I'll take it.

Of course, I'd still like to pay $2000 for it... :wink:

Congrats on your find! (and I'm afraid I can't actually afford what this baby is worth...)

[joshuski]

Just checked ebay; 2 magna martin bari's :shock:

I take it that one of them is tekman's ax. If I only had the money....

[Jerry K.]

Tekman, I'm guessing your girlfriend will be very happy real soon if you get anything close to your Buy it Now price on eBay. She probably won't think you're so wierd then. Beautiful horn and good luck getting a good price for it. I just bought a Magna alto yesterday on eBay that I can't wait to get my hands on. After an ovehaul it should be a killer.

[tekman]

Ha! Do you think I'd actually tell her if I sold it? Not a chance! I still don't own a "The Martin", Buffet Super Dynaction, SML, Selmer Balanced Action.... the list goes on and on. Boy, I could spend some money on tenors quick!

Seriously though, if this Magna doesn't sell for at least 4 grand, I'll just keep it for 10 years, and try again! It will still be a Closet Queen.

[shmuelyosef]

You mean you could keep it for 10 years and not play it constantly???

[tekman]

shmuelyosef,

I'M NOT WORTHY!!!!!!!!!!

Besides, I have a Zephyr and a Big B on the couch. A JK New King on a stand beside me. A Committee II, Dolnet and Chu in the bedroom. All tenors.

I'VE GOT PLENTY TO DO!

[Perfect Pitch]

Hey Tekman whatever happened to this beauty?