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https://www.dillonmusic.com/used-martin-bbb-tuba.html

Nice looking tuba!

Yummy!

Wow!

Wyatt, I can hear your heavy breathing from 120 miles north.

Beautiful example, great player, (played it today). Needs a set of bits.

Awegner2 wrote:Wyatt, I can hear your heavy breathing from 120 miles north.

I'll try not to cause a flood with my salivating. Never before have I had a worse case of "want but can't afford"...what do kidneys go for these days?

The West Point Band had five of there when I was there in 72-73. I tried them all being under the spell of Arnold Jacob's sound at the time and I thought they weren't anywhere near as good as the 5 King .750 bore piston horns that they also had. I may not have used the bits though and having a Martin Mammoth in my stable for the last 15 years has taught me that you need the bits. They were getting ready to scrap out the Kings when I got out but I never heard anything about the Martins. And the King Jumbo sousaphones that we played on are supposedly still there as well as a silver 186 Miraphone.If this horn is from that batch they were hardly ever played and well maintained by the band's repair guys.This horn could be a real gem. I suspect that it won't spend very long at Steve's store. Ed

I wish I wanted this tuba. It's beautiful in every way.

But it probably weighs 35 pounds, and is the polar opposite of my sound concept.

Someone is going to walk away very happy though!

I never knew King made a piston valve tuba in .750 bore - that's something I'd love to see/try someday....

If I were looking for (another) 6/4 horn, that Martin would be gone by now

Maybe I'll buy and cut to CC?

bort wrote:Maybe I'll buy and cut to CC?

Split the difference and put it in B - - -

Mark Jones posted a picture of the five that West Point bought, maybe he'll favor us with another post. They all (supposedly) went to the crusher. There is a .750 bore C here in town though, with piston valves. If you want to try it I can give you the contact stuff in a PM. I would buy a Bb .750 in a heartbeat if one came up for sale. Ed

EdFirth wrote:Mark Jones posted a picture of the five that West Point bought, maybe he'll favor us with another post. They all (supposedly) went to the crusher. There is a .750 bore C here in town though, with piston valves. If you want to try it I can give you the contact stuff in a PM. I would buy a Bb .750 in a heartbeat if one came up for sale. Ed

Ed I remember you giving praises to how well the King 2341's play, in your opinion how would this Martin play in comparison (ease of blowing, response, etc)? I know there's a huge size difference..

They must be as rare as hen's teeth - I've been playing tuba for 40 years and have never seen one. It must play like a York, but maybe with a little more "punch".....?

Hey Groth, To compare any Martin to a 2341 would in large part depend on whether or not the Martin has had a valve job in the not too distant past. I've played top as well as front action Martins, mine is a three banger top action and did have a valve job fairly recently. It and my King blow and sound very similar. The big difference is the breadth of sound. The Martin is much broader and the tone is more "flowery". That being said, I've not played a front action Martin yet that played as easily or sounded as good as any top banger I've played. But again, it could have been that the valves were worse off on the front actions. The DC Army band had front and top action so they could have two guys on a stand and those who I talked to liked the top action ones better. But Matt @ Dillon's knows the 2341's better than most and the Martin is in his store so talking to him would shed a lot of light on it. And those Martins need the right bits to function.FWIW, Ed

The front actions did vary as they didn't make as many as the top actions. This one's a keeper. The valves seemed tight although I didn't make a visual inspection. I own three of these, two pre-war, one post. This stands up with the best of them. The fact that it played well even without the bits leads me to believe that it would be quite something with a set. Martin Wilk can provide them.
I agree with Ed's comparison with the King. I've always preferred the mid and high register on the Martin although the Kings are impressive.

roweenie wrote:They must be as rare as hen's teeth - I've been playing tuba for 40 years and have never seen one. It must play like a York, but maybe with a little more "punch".....?

It plays nothing like a York. Martin's are fine horns but were designed with a different approach than York.

Alex C wrote:

roweenie wrote:They must be as rare as hen's teeth - I've been playing tuba for 40 years and have never seen one. It must play like a York, but maybe with a little more "punch".....?

It plays nothing like a York. Martin's are fine horns but were designed with a different approach than York.

I've seen and played several Martin tubas in my life (and even more Yorks) - I was talking about the .750 piston-bore King.

Sorry for not being more clear

roweenie "the quote button is your friend"