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I've got one 3-valve recording bell model. I really like it--plays easier than a 2XJ and puts out a big fat sound. Lo

They're lots of fun.

I've got a 3 valve, but with top action rather than the front action of these. I find it a better player than the Conn 2XJs that I have owned. It is a little more open and has better intonation.

These are being sold by the owner of Badger State repair, one of the better known brass repair facilities in the country. He has done a complete overhaul on each of these. I wonder what kind of condition they were in when he acquired them, but he doesn't mention any patches so it couldn't have been that bad.

Am I incorrect, but don't the old Martins require tuning bits to be played?

Kevin Miller wrote:Am I incorrect, but don't the old Martins require tuning bits to be played?

Yes they do. If you look at the photos of the ones for sale that precipitated this thread you can see that the leadpipes are very short. They originally came with a pair of bits that had screw clamps to hold them together. Mine was missing the original bits, but came with a set of Conn bits that seem to work fine. The Conn 2XJ's were also supposed to be played with a single bit, which was exactly like their sousaphone bits.

The engraving on mine is like that on the ones currently for sale. I have seen Martin instruments labeled "Handcraft" and some that weren't. I think that the Handcraft designation was used on their early instruments, but I haven't seen it on their later instruments. Mine was made in the 1950s, so it could just be that it's a later manufacturing date. I don't know if they had different grades made at the same time or if they just stopped using the designation at some point.