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After skimming through this hefty thread from the very beginning, the two advantages of Martin horns that were repeated over and over again were: 1) Their low price (numerous "bargains were cited), and 2) their big, beautiful sound. As far as I could see, only one member cited good intonation as a plus. Is it possible that their reputation as having poor intonation is in fact the main drawback of these horns after all, and the reason why the A-List pros stayed clear of them?
And they do have somewhat of a reputation for this, as I have read numerous accounts on this forum and other sources of pros who criticized the old Martins in this department. Now please notice that I stressed the word reputation, for maybe in this case the reputation is far worse than the reality. However, in this life I have found that most reputations (and most stereotypes for that matter) usually have some basis in reality (i.e., they were not invented out of whole cloth).
So as most of you have yet to address this aspect of your horns in this thread, it would be interesting to hear your reviews in this department. And please don't give me that line about "any vintage horn can play in tune if it's set-up properly." I can't tell you how many times I've read that on this forum--especially in relation to Martin's. Again, I think it's one of those things that just gets repeated over and over again, and at some point the "experts" don't even know what they're talking about.
Let me just say that I have played Buescher Aristocrats that have been sitting the case for decades with the original snap-in pads and multiple leaks that still played (albeit with some effort) with pitch-perfect intonation.
So I think a great horn will play with great intonation without having to throw the kitchen sink at it (constantly bash key heights, etc.), so to speak. Your thoughts, Martin faithful?
And they do have somewhat of a reputation for this, as I have read numerous accounts on this forum and other sources of pros who criticized the old Martins in this department. Now please notice that I stressed the word reputation, for maybe in this case the reputation is far worse than the reality. However, in this life I have found that most reputations (and most stereotypes for that matter) usually have some basis in reality (i.e., they were not invented out of whole cloth).
So as most of you have yet to address this aspect of your horns in this thread, it would be interesting to hear your reviews in this department. And please don't give me that line about "any vintage horn can play in tune if it's set-up properly." I can't tell you how many times I've read that on this forum--especially in relation to Martin's. Again, I think it's one of those things that just gets repeated over and over again, and at some point the "experts" don't even know what they're talking about.
Let me just say that I have played Buescher Aristocrats that have been sitting the case for decades with the original snap-in pads and multiple leaks that still played (albeit with some effort) with pitch-perfect intonation.
So I think a great horn will play with great intonation without having to throw the kitchen sink at it (constantly bash key heights, etc.), so to speak. Your thoughts, Martin faithful?