[Humbardi]

Hi All :
There is a Martin recently restored ( new pads, new cork, new needles..) made in 1930 serial # 101421 that is been sold in more or less $800. But a new one Selmer Prelude can be found here at my country at more or less the same Price. I have not yet tested the Martin or the Prelude, but in case that the Martin be in good condition , which one do you think is best Sax for the money ? I have not heard any Martin before, and I was looking in youtube, and looks like the Martins have a good sound.
I appreciate your opinions.
Humbardi

 

[ptung]

The Martin will have a deeper tone (more bottom end partials) and more guts when you push it, but of course the Prelude will have modern keywork. That's basically the tradeoff. The scale balance will be different as well, with the Martin having more "oomph" toward the bottom of the horn. Which one is more appropriate for you depends on how much you prefer the one's advantages over the other. For some, vintage keywork, esp the left hand pinky cluster, makes the modern choice more sensible; for others, the more complex overall tone would make the Martin the choice. It depends on you, not so much the horns.

 

[GT]

Personally I would rather have the Martin, but I'm used to vintage keywork. Is that you playing alto in your avatar? If so, what is that? A VI maybe? I don't see all that well.

 

[Bubba06]

Alto/Tenor?

For what it's worth, my 1008xx Martin alto is a little sketchy with tuning. I might need to find a different mouthpiece for it.

-Bubba-

 

[spike421]

I've owned 2 Martins (tenors) and found them to be excellent, well built, with a beautiful complex tone. A professional horn from that era. If this is the model with the spotlight and airplane engraving, they have a great sound, IMO (and I'm not implying that the engraving has anything to do with the sound, please). The keywork from that era, however, I not crazy about. I've never owned or played a Prelude, but my guess it's an Asian entry level horn, which you'll want to replace down the road. If you like the Martin ergos, you may want to keep it forever.

 

[paulwl]

If this is the model with the spotlight and airplane engraving, they have a great sound, IMO ... The keywork from that era, however, I not crazy about.

The serial on the Martin puts it in the Master ("Typewriter") period. This is the sax with no rollers or spatulas, only round pearl buttons on every key.

These are not to everyone's liking, but great sounding saxes and surprisingly playable (just watch yourself on low C# to B and maybe low Eb to C, too).

 

[JayeLID]

I would have said the Martin, hands-down...especially considering there aren't many in VZ.

But Paul makes a great point...if it is a typwriter model....those are actually functionally difficult to move around and are really more of a collector's horn than a player's horn. They are cool and unique, but I've found those round pearl touches where the spats 'should' be are an ergonomic detriment....

 

[paulwl]

But! The only real difficulties - YMMV of course - are where you would expect roller keys. Otherwise it doesn't take much time to get used to and doesn't affect my feel on conventional keywork.

 

[JayeLID]

Indeedy...which reinforces what I usually say when someone brings up the 'modern' vs. vintage keywork ~ play a horn for a while and you can get any horn under your fingers quite comfortably.

I have tried a few typewriters and the non-spat keys felt odd to me, as one cannot roll over from one to the other. But I do believe you...probably just a matter of getting used to....

 

[Humbardi]

Sorry for the lack of info... it is a tenor and according to the pictures I have seen it has the round pearl buttons , it looks like it is a typewriter model. I am going to arrange a meeting with the seller and using my mouthpiece make a test of it and check the left hand keywork, and the sound.
P.S. GT , my avatar is playing an alto made in China ( San Carlo, in Shanghai ) but I prefer the tenor sound to the alto.
Happy New year
Humbardi

 

[Grumps]

I have a Martin stencil tenor given to me about ten years ago that was made in the 30's and it had me rethinking my horn preferences. I went from there to rediscovering my true preference for vintage horns.