[Mister Lee]

I recently purchased a 1926-27 Martin Handcraft serial 76xxx, I am waiting for it to arrive. I fully expect to have to do a repad at the least. I was considering having Gale Frendenbergh from vintagesax.com do the rework. I have heard good things about her, she has quoted a price of $600.00 for a tear down chemical wash, hand buff repad, felts and corks and adjustment. Has anyone had any work done by her ? Gale said that she uses Ferree's DeJour thin pads, has anyone heard of these or have a better suggestion for pads ?

Also would an SKB contoured case with the outside pocket hold this horn. I use one for my Couf Superba Tenor however I have heard the split bell keys on the Martin might not work (fit) this case.

Any suggestions, alternatives or opinions would be most appreciated.
Lee

 

[betelsax]

Gayle knows her stuff. My tech (Frank DeVito of New England Instrument Repair) used the same pads on my '28 Martin Handcraft Tenor. Also, you should have no trouble with the case.

 

[Mister Lee]

Here is a photo of the horn, $340.00 on E-Bay, serial 76xxx
Did I pay to much? I have heard so many good things about the Martin tone.
Thought I wanted a Chu or Tranny, maybe later, folks tell me you cant beat the lush tone of an old Martin.

Couf Superba 1 Tenor
Selmer Soprano
Martin Handcraft
http://mrleeonline.com

 

[betelsax]

You got it at a very good price. Around $400 should make it play like new. That's $740 for a great sax; how can you beat that?
I have one in bare brass, same vintage. The sound is focused and solid. I don't think you'll regret this purchase.

 

[Saxdaddy]

Nice

I have one just like it. Nice tone, look for a large chamber mouthpiece though for good intonation. 600.00 is a good price for a quality rebuild, I would start at 700.00 (if it was me doing the job), too much time involved in getting these horns tight. These horns project like crazy, after you get use to the LH pinky cluster you will love it.

 

[Saxdaddy]

P.S. those pads are fine, Martins like thin pads, and those are good pads.

 

[saxandstrings86]

I have one just like it. Nice tone, look for a large chamber mouthpiece though for good intonation. 600.00 is a good price for a quality rebuild, I would start at 700.00 (if it was me doing the job), too much time involved in getting these horns tight. These horns project like crazy, after you get use to the LH pinky cluster you will love it.

Agreed on the pinky cluster...only thing i had to get over, cause the tone was worth the adjustment.

P.S. those pads are fine, Martins like thin pads, and those are good pads.

I'm sure Gale knows what she's doing and will look for this herself, but I've seen Martin's that were repadded with regular thickness pads and had the keys adjusted to still close (only seen this done by techs who didn't know that whole thing about Martin's liking the thin pads). If it's been worked on like that in the past, she may want to work on it to put it back into shape to use the thin pads, which could cost more, but i'm not sure how she works.

 

[bruce bailey]

Thin pads are a MUST! One thing that is not on this model is the high C# adjuster. This closes the small pad above the B key when the octave is pressed and will make the high C# in tune. Without it, the intonation is really sharp up there. She can make one fairly easily by putting a small rod about 2" long under the LH stack system. If it is silver plated first, it should look fairly good. If you need a photo of one, let me know as I have a pile of Martins.
Looking at the photos, the horn looks really nice and you may just get by having a few pads replaced and put off the overhaul for a while.

 

[Mister Lee]

C# adjuster

Thin pads are a MUST! One thing that is not on this model is the high C# adjuster. This closes the small pad above the B key when the octave is pressed and will make the high C# in tune. Without it, the intonation is really sharp up there. She can make one fairly easily by putting a small rod about 2" long under the LH stack system. If it is silver plated first, it should look fairly good. If you need a photo of one, let me know as I have a pile of Martins.
Looking at the photos, the horn looks really nice and you may just get by having a few pads replaced and put off the overhaul for a while.

Could you post or send a photo of the C# adjuster ? , I will send to Gale if she has not seen it.
Thanks everyone for your valuable assistance

[email protected]

Thanks
Lee

 

[bruce bailey]

It is a small rod that comes off the half-round bar of the LH stack. It touchs the octave key lever. You can see it in this photo:
https://flic.kr/p/1347582164

 

[hgrail]

Nice horn! I have a Martin of similar vintage in gp. It's my favorite alto.

Don't think the contoured case will work though because of the split bell keys.

The Protec case fits very well however and has lots of pockets!