In this case the horn is a ‘clapper’, with the low B on the left and the low Bb on the right from the player’s point of view. John Henry Martin had worked for Conn in Elkhart, Ill., USA and others before he set up the Martin Band Instrument Company in 1905. I have a few of their horns and find them all to be expertly made, if a bit light on the weight of brass.
According to Dr Rick the serial number would make the year of manufacture 1920, which seems appropriate for its features. I have no doubt that my sax was made by Martin from the bevelled tone holes and the font of the ‘PAT APPLD FOR’ stamp above the serial number.
According to Wikipedia it boasted making 100,000 instruments a year in its 1892 catalog, making it an interesting precursor of the major companies like Conn, Selmer, Martin and Buescher who would manufacture these kinds of numbers for saxophones alone in the late 1920s and Yamaha, who would do so again in the 1960s.Īlthough they manufactured a few of their own horns (see the excellent article at saxpics) – it looks as if the majority of their instruments were made (albeit to their own designs) by other companies. The company, still based in Chicago, Ill., USA was formed in 1864 and began making brass instruments in around 1890. Lyon and Healy were a US-based department store, opening for business in the 19th century. He has a lot of different instruments for sale, although I believe violins are perhaps his main thing. What a grand tribute to capitalism it is – to be buying ancient saxophones on a Sunday morning from the back of Tony’s estate car.
This was one of a couple I bought at the time. Over the years I have acquired a number of fine instruments from Tony, who is a keen on sailing, so we sometimes meet in the car park of a local reservoir when something interesting comes up. I bought this alto from Magginisupplies, who are based in the West Country.