Early Martin Tuba looking for information

[dlmason]

I have an Eb Martin tuba silver plate finish (tarnishes easily) serial number 13678, from other posts this seems to be a lower number than it should be. Any Information would be great.

[bisontuba]

Contact Paul Scott re. early Martins.
Mark


Paul Scott
wputuba@aol.com" target="_blank

[windshieldbug]

Assuming your tuba says "Martin Band Instrument Co." and not "The Martin"...

I made a note concerning Eb tuba 13671 which was offered in a craigslist ad in Dec, 2011

"I have all of the papers… it was was shipped from The Martin Company in Elkhart, IN, to the original owner, Mr. Clayton E. Soule, Stillwater, OK, on November 16, 1916"

So yours must be fairly close to that.

[dlmason]

It does say Martin Band Instrument Co. Then above is engraved U S A M C. I think it would have been sold to the Marine Corps. It is in great shape and was given to me along with a 4 valve conn USAMC Euphonium.

[windshieldbug]

It does say Martin Band Instrument Co. Then above is engraved U S A M C. I think it would have been sold to the Marine Corps. It is in great shape and was given to me along with a 4 valve conn USAMC Euphonium.

I think that you'll find that the "A" is actually a "Q" and the engraving reads "U.S.Q.M.C.", which stands for United States Quarter Master Corps, the supply arm of the military at the time.

[dlmason]

You are right it is a Q

image.jpg

[dlmason]

Also all slides and pistons work well.

[Paul Scott]

Martin apparently made quite a few of these for the military at that time in both 3 and 4 valve versions. Lots of them around-I have a 4 valver-and I've never seen them in anything but silver plate. The model is often called the "Medium" (as it is in a catalogue from this period in my collection). Generally good playing horns, sometimes a bit low in pitch.

[humBell]

[quote="windshieldbug"]Assuming your tuba says "Martin Band Instrument Co." and not "The Martin"...

I made a note concerning Eb tuba [b]13671[/b] which was offered in a craigslist ad in Dec, 2011

"I have all of the papers… it was was shipped from The Martin Company in Elkhart, IN, to the original owner, Mr. Clayton E. Soule, Stillwater, OK, on November 16, 1916"

So yours must be fairly close to that.[/quote]

What is the distinction or significance of "The Martin..." vs "Martin..."?

I also recently got an old Eb also with serial number in the 13600s. But the engraving has the definite article and abbreviates the long words...

Will throw picture(s) up if i can get round to it...

[windshieldbug]

What is the distinction or significance of "The Martin..." vs "Martin..."?
I also recently got an old Eb also with serial number in the 13600s. But the engraving has the definite article and abbreviates the long words...
Will throw picture(s) up if i can get round to it...

Abbreviations don't matter, it just seems that around 1919 (17200+) they just started cutting everything off so that the engraving ONLY said "The Martin", which was later followed by "Handcraft", "Imperial", etc.

I just wanted to be sure that the bell matched the valve block.

[Paul Scott]

Martin engraving went through a few cycles. Early examples used "The Martin" surrounded by a floral design. "The" was dropped in the teens. In the '20s they used a badge or shield emblem, adding "Handcraft" in the spring of 1924. At about 1930 Martin began using the "searchlight" engraving with the name inscribed simply "Martin". Oddly, at some point after WWII they went BACK to "The Martin" with the floral design with no "Handcraft". So "The Martin" can mean either pre ca.1914 or post WWII. There's no reason to doubt the date of 1916 for this horn. (Just did a little editing after having a look at my horns).

[tubazach07]

Nice Martin!!
I can tell you that your Martin was built before 1934. My 1934 Martin Handcraft has the same ferrules as your Martin and other Martin's that were built as far back as 1910. Martin's that were made in 1935 and on had a different ferrule design. I know this because I met up with a friend that has Martins made in 1910 and 1935 to 1950s.
Your and mine Martin's ferrule are similar to York and Conn Ferrules made at that time. Martin tubas are very finicky unless the valves are aligned perfectly. Get those valves aligned and I am sure you will notice a huge playing difference. If you ever want to sell the horn let me know. I would love to put your Martin back to work. Martin tubas were the best made tuba you could buy back then and they are amazingly built tubas. Cool fact, Martin bent all their bows using lead making it eaiser to take dents out after the tuba was built unlike other tuba makers that froze their bows to bend them causing the metal to become stiff and difficult to take dents out in the future. My 82 year old Martin's original valves still work and have great compression. It's intonation is just as good or better than tubas made today. Martin was building tubas far ahead of their time.Please don't let your Martin sit in a corner at your house, it's a beautiful peice of American tuba manufacturing history.

[opus37]

I have a Martin Eb with a serial number 8305 which dates to 1912. At that time this horn had the engraving "the Martin band instrument co." The model was the renowned monster Eb. Mine looks just like yours. It plays beautifully after I had Lee Stofer replate the valves and do some other restoration.

[alfredr]

I have my mother's Martin Handcraft (I believe) trumpet she had in high school, pre- or during WWII. Does all the information about engravings, names, etc., including serial numbers apply to other instruments also, or would they have numbered different types of instruments with separate serial number ranges?

Thanks and excuse the side-tracking of the thread.

[bort]

Assuming your tuba says "Martin Band Instrument Co." and not "The Martin"...

I made a note concerning Eb tuba 13671 which was offered in a craigslist ad in Dec, 2011

"I have all of the papers… it was was shipped from The Martin Company in Elkhart, IN, to the original owner, Mr. Clayton E. Soule, Stillwater, OK, on November 16, 1916"

So yours must be fairly close to that.

Neat... Clayton Soule was one of the founding members of KKPsi.

[opus37]

Martin engraving went through a few cycles. Early examples used "The Martin" surrounded by a floral design. "The" was dropped in the teens. In the '20s they used a badge or shield emblem, adding "Handcraft" in the spring of 1924. At about 1930 Martin began using the "searchlight" engraving with the name inscribed simply "Martin". Oddly, at some point after WWII they went BACK to "The Martin" with the floral design with no "Handcraft". So "The Martin" can mean either pre ca.1914 or post WWII. There's no reason to doubt the date of 1916 for this horn. (Just did a little editing after having a look at my horns).

My 1912 Martin has the shield design logo.

[dlmason]

This one has The Martin with the shield, backed by an unfurled scroll and surrounded with the floral design with all the evidence I am thinking late 1916 is the best bet.

[Dustytuba]

If it is any help, I have a "The Martin Band Inst. Co. Elkhart Ind. " In the shield on a Eb, 17 inch dia. bell, 3 +1., serial number 16210

and a Euphonium 11.5 inch did bell, 3 +1 serial number 15966.

Both are engraved "USN"

They were reported to be US Navy horns, found in a barn in NJ. I purchased then as a set from eBay.

Both horns play much better than modern horns, in tune, and have a mellow tone that only a Martin seems to be able to produce.

Again, if anyone in the Navy, or in the service, can find any history, or information about the horns I would appreciate it. The Eb is currently used every week in church services.

Blessings,

[tubazach07]

If it is any help, I have a "The Martin Band Inst. Co. Elkhart Ind. " In the shield on a Eb, 17 inch dia. bell, 3 +1., serial number 16210

and a Euphonium 11.5 inch did bell, 3 +1 serial number 15966.

Both are engraved "USN"

They were reported to be US Navy horns, found in a barn in NJ. I purchased then as a set from eBay.

Both horns play much better than modern horns, in tune, and have a mellow tone that only a Martin seems to be able to produce.

Again, if anyone in the Navy, or in the service, can find any history, or information about the horns I would appreciate it. The Eb is currently used every week in church services.

Blessings,

I am in the Navy and can tell you any documentation on your Naval horns are deystroyed. Miltary bands got rid of horns a couple ways back then. 1)The service member who the horn was bought for took it home. 2) it was set to be deystroyed and someone falsified documents and took it home. 3) It was deystroyed 4) it was put up for auction.

Due to all current Navy horns being kept in a computer database they are now auctioned off.
Back in the 60's there were around 50 Navy Bands. There is no telling what band that horn belonged to. The Navy bought Martin tubas from the 1900s up until they went out of buisness. I belive the last USN Martins that were bought were bought by the D.C. band in the 50's with a one peice upright bell and a kicker for the main running slide. Below is a photo of the prototype tuba designed and bought by the Navy.Hope this helps,
Zach