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One rather large Martin Mammoth BBb just fell from the sky and landed in my yard. Luckily, it didn't land on me, because it is HEAVY. It's a later (RMC shield-badge engraved, which puts it into the late 50s/60s) 3 piston with a 24" detachable recording bell. Yes, it's humongous.

My question: did these come with a mpc receiver with a screw clamp to accommodate a bit? This one has such a clamp and a silver (wrong color) bit, but some ham-fisted person with a torch soldered it all together into one piece (screw-clamp receiver and bit). I could have lived with that, but I hear air hissing out of the bad solder, and it is an UGLY looking job.

Did these Mammoths come with a bit (s) and a clamping reciever? My repairman and I are wondering what to do. Not certain yet if the reciever is sized to take an American mouthpiece, or some odd bit size, until he takes it apart.

Thanks for any and all info.

PS, I did a Tubenet search on the subject but found nothing pertinent, except for Mammoth owners saying they LOVE their BATS.

Perhaps the bits were original. According to one of those pictures, although it was a Mammoth from the Handcraft era, and mine is from the RMC era, there were two bits and a screw clamp receiver. I noticed that without any bits, your face would be right against the bell stack!

For a while, you can view it here. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Martin-BBb-Mamm ... true&rt=nc" target="_blank

Yes, the horn is designed to use bits. Paul Scott can give you a much more complete answer, but it sounds to me like you are very lucky to have the correct bits for the horn, even if they are soldered together!

that vintage probably did not come with that bit as original equipment. Conn bits should work if you have problems with that set.

RMC? whazzat?

Here are some pictures of my martins... Hope this helps you construct new ones. I've heard Selmer Sousa bits work, however, I have not tried it myself.

RMC does indeed stand for Roundtable of Musical Craftsmen, in this case Martin, Blessing and Reynolds. This 1961 merger resulted in the Richards Music Corporation, (so your horn is from '61 or later). Incidentally, King was not happy about the crown logo used in the RMC emblem, (it did look VERY similar to theirs....).

A photo would be most helpful but yes, there should be a pair of bits completing the leadpipe. I think that in the last days of the Martin tubas they may have simply used sousaphone style bits with no screw tensioners. I have a 1960 tuba that seems to fall into that category. But if you have a screw tensioner at the end of the leadpipe you will need to de-solder the whole mess and buy some nice reproduction Martin bits, (or "articulated leadpipe", if you will). And yes, Martin Wilk is the man for the job when it comes to making those bits.

Just to give an idea of what tuba we are talking about... you can only get a glimpse of the lead pipe situation, facing the wrong way. There may have been 2 bits, but I only have 1. When my tech has it apart, I will post a detailed pic, and I have emailed Martin Wilk.
Thanks, all.

Martin Wilk makes beautiful replacement bits for Martin Mammoths. He offers them in both American and Euro shank and even has a model with a Venturi in it. I am very happy with mine.