Saxophone Forum


by Yeoman
(6 posts)
17 years ago

White Pads for a Vintage Martin

Hi all, Any info about this horn will be greatly appreciated. Beautiful silver plate, the bell is ingraved 'The Martin Elkhart IND'. Serial #23458 low pitch. 1920's we think. I purchased this 'found in the attic' horn on ebay last year. A gift for my high school band member. The seller didn't know any more than I about saxes. We thought from the photo (curved neck piece) that it was a tenor, but it's smaller than that. And the tenor reed is a bit big for the mouth piece. It's bigger than the Aristocrat alto we have.... so is it a low pitch alto?....a C-mel?..... someother option I'm ignorant of? I can e-mail photos to help. Anyway, to the main point of my post....we'll be sending it in for what ever work it needs which will prob'ly include new pads. Where do we find the WHITE replacement pads. They look very nice against the silver plate, and most importantly we want to maintain originality. Not that I've seen many saxes, but I had never seen one with white pads, so this may be somewhat of a rarity. Thx for your time to read my ramblings, and any info you can post. MerryChristmas!!!

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  1. by AE
    (11 posts)

    17 years ago

    Re: White Pads for a Vintage Martin

    Just from the info you've given Iwould say that it is a C-melody, but I'm not going to lead you down the wrong path and tell you something I'm not sure of so I will not attempt the year, but good luck. AE

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  2. by connman2
    (4 posts)

    17 years ago

    Re: White Pads for a Vintage Martin

    I agree with your preference for white pads on the silver horns. Did you have any luck finding a source?

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    1. by Yeoman
      (6 posts)

      17 years ago

      Re: White Pads for a Vintage Martin

      Well, I haven't really begun to search. This thread was the first cast. I did notice connsaxman jim's reference to white kangaroo pads in the adults only/resonator thread though...I'm going to follow up on that lead. I'll let you know how it pans out.=]

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      1. by Linky
        (26 posts)

        17 years ago

        Re: White Pads for a Vintage Martin

        The White pads aren't original, 'Roo pads' are a relatively knew invention compared to the saxophone. It sounds like it could well be a C-mel as someone has already said. If it is the prices are significantly lower, but you can be sure it's a great horn. Martin's in my opinion are the most underrated saxophone brand. I have never found a Martin that didn't impress which can't be said about any other brands from Selmer to these new ones like Cannonball. Though you have to watch out for their tone holes. They are soldered on which means they corrode very easily. This is expensive to repair if the corrosion gets bad and normally not worth it on a C-mel, but if they haven't corroded yet, they won't as it only corrodes due to moisture between the sax and the tone hole. Though if they get leaks and you don't wipe out the sax and let it air through you'll start it corroding. You can always get a repair man to re-solder them on with silver solder before they corrode to prevent this happening, though that can also be expensive as they need to be seated, and the sax must be stripped etc, and regulated again. If it's in good condition, you've got yourself a lot of horn for the buck, if it's in bad condition you've got yourself a fair deal really.

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        1. by STEVE GOODSON
          (291 posts)

          17 years ago

          Re: White Pads for a Vintage Martin

          Actually, some Martin's (and other brands) did come with ORIGINAL white pads. Kangaroo pads are also NOT a new phenomenon. They were first used in the 1940's, possibly earlier, although I can't find a reference to earlier usage.

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