Martin Committee Club
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Now you can continue your discussion!
I have never owned a Committee but I played one once and almost got it. It was super slippery in its slots.Selmer Radial 1970
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Slippery is why it was favored by jazz guys and loathed by legit players. I have 2 and like them both.
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Wow! Two Committees? You must be a super good jazz musician!
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@Vulgano-Brother I do all right!
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@LaTrompeta (sadly?) my only test blow of a Committee left me cold. I know that it's not a good idea to judge a horn by a short blow of one example, but my favourite horns all had something to like from the first tootle. Unfortunately the prices of even "renovator's delight" Committees now makes it unlikely that I'll get to live with one for long enough to try again.
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@tjcombo said in Martin Committee Club:
@LaTrompeta (sadly?) my only test blow of a Committee left me cold. I know that it's not a good idea to judge a horn by a short blow of one example, but my favourite horns all had something to like from the first tootle. Unfortunately the prices of even "renovator's delight" Committees now makes it unlikely that I'll get to live with one for long enough to try again.
That's too bad.
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It just feels weird to have a Committee thread without a picture - so here you go
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Beautiful! I'm making that the cover photo of the group, if you don't mind!
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@administrator Sure, no problem. I'll have some others to chose from later.
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If anyone is looking to add to their collection - I know a seller with multiple examples of Handcraft Committees/Committees looking to sell. (Not me, I tend to hoard most of mine
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I have three Committee Cornets..much cheaper than trumpets. I gave one to my granddaughter, but she has already put a dent in it and does not oil the valves properly.
I think she would rather play trumpet anyhow..so I bought her a used conn on ebay for $ 175 and taking the Committee back :).
There is a girl in 11th grade in a nearby school who is in County,District, State, and eastern U.S. band. She wants to borrow one for a solo "Fantaisis Brillante" next month. (Obviously its intended for Cornet). If it turns out that she really loves the horn, my wife decided at the end of the day we will give her the horn. Hopefully it will help take her places.
More Cornets than I can name
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@adc That is an incredible offer! I would hope that she does extremely well and recognizes (realizes) the wonderful opportunity that she has ahead. You are doing your part, the rest is up to her! Best wishes for a fruitful future with an instrument that deserves to be played well!
Mike
'71 LA Benge 5X Bb Trumpet
'76 & '98 Getzen 895S Flugelhorns
'76 Bach Strad CL 229/25A C Trumpet
'84 Yamaha 6335S Bb Trumpet
2016 Bach Strad New York 7 Bb Trumpet
Reeves 41 Rimmed Mouthpieces -
@Three-Sevens said in Martin Committee Club: Best wishes for a fruitful future with an instrument that deserves to be played well!
Mike
Thats the way I looked at it Mike. -
Had one, liked it but not a love affair. It moved on!! So not a Club Member, and not wanting to join again. Rather have some other horns.
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@LaTrompeta said in Martin Committee Club:
...I played one once and almost got it. It was super slippery in its slots.
AND THAT is what I love about the Martin Committee:
My 1946 baby:
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While known as producing a dark sound, it can light up a room as well (as evidenced in Dizzy Gillespie's playing). Here is that 1946 Committee pictured above lighting up an original song, Aliyah, written by our Sax Player, Jack Novotny:
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For several TM Martin Committee Club members, they found the Owner's Manual I received with my 1946 Martin Committee helpful, especially for maintaining piston (valve) performance. So I thought I would post it on TrumpetBoards as it may be of interest to people reading this thread.
Allora Pocket Trumpet 2014
Harrelson Summit 2017
Kanstul 1526 2012
Getzen Power Bore 1961
Getzen Eterna 4-Valve Fulgelhorn 1974
Martin Committee 1946
Olds Super Recording 1940
Olds Recording (LA) 1953
Olds Recording (Fullerton) 1967
Olds Ambassador 1965 -
I didn't see this until after I posted about my recent acquisition. Here's mine!
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@Dr-GO said in Martin Committee Club:
For several TM Martin Committee Club members, they found the Owner's Manual I received with my 1946 Martin Committee helpful, especially for maintaining piston (valve) performance. So I thought I would post it on TrumpetBoards as it may be of interest to people reading this thread.
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Apologies for the repost. I'd hoped to get the thread I started here but in lieu of that here's what I posted.
This is "TJ," aka "the chief gearhead" on Trumpet Master.
A few days after TrumpetMaster bit the wax termite, my Martin Committee arrived. Like many, I hoped it would return, thinking perhaps it was just another brief outage.
Like you, I'm also a member of TH, but for some reason TM was where I posted the most. I just happened upon some topics others were interested in, and discussions ensued.
Since trumpet pedagogy is complex even when discussed in person, the discussions I found most interesting where equipment focused, specifically threads about vintage horns. I loved the vintage horns "eye candy" thread, and also the Martin Committee "Club."
So first things first, I'm not trying to recreate another MCC, but I would like to solicit the opinions and knowledge of those who either play or have experience with these horns, because quite candidly, I'm absolutely smitten with my recent acquisition, and even the story of how I found her is a good one. If ever there was a horn which lived up to its hype, at least from my perspective, the Martin Committee does so swimmingly.
I'd been wanting to play one for years, starting back when I was a young lad. Then, after my return to playing, and my love of vintage horns (I have a 53 Olds Recording which I bought from the daughter of the original owner) I began searching for a Committee, specifically one from the "preferred era." I played a couple Medium Bore horns, and found them similar enough to my Olds that I didn't see a reason to pursue them.
After searching the usual online marketplaces I found one in, of all places, Facebook Marketplace. Had the seller not been a music professor, author of trumpet methodology books, and mutual friends of a couple people whom I hold in the highest esteem, I'd likely have moved on. But he is all those things, and after a couple FB messages I committed to buy the horn. He was in fact not the seller, but was representing the seller, who was a 70 year old woman, who had owned the horn since 1965 when her mother bought it for her at a used music store in Texas. The previous owner was, according to her, a local musician who played in jazz clubs in the area. She played it in high school honor band, and then apparently put it away and didn't do anything with it for.....50 years.
It is a large bore "Deluxe" model, SN 194587, which puts its build date sometime in 1956 as far as I can tell.
During the week that it took for it to arrive, I completely geeked out on the horn, reading and re-reading what little has been written about them. At this point TM was gone, so I could not read about it there, although occasionally I'd read it through Google archives.
When the horn arrived, I heard the UPS truck at our gate, and then saw my wife walking up the driveway with the box in her hands. She too had been looking forward to its arrival, because she loves me and because, well, she was probably tired of me saying "you know what happens in 2 days?"
I opened the box, opened the sadly non-original case, put my mouthpiece in the receiver, and blew air in to it. After quickly slightly modifying my approach to the kind of air the horn wants, I immediately realized that this horn is unlike any other horn I've ever played, and I was in love. I can't really put in to words how it feels, but the way it resonates and the feeling in my embouchure are large, round, sonorous, without edge, dark, and rich.
The horn is in very good condition mechanically. The valves are fast and not badly worn, and there are only a couple small signs of repair. The only disappointing aspect of it is that someone buffed and re-lacquered the bell, making the beautiful engraving hard to see. There's still enough left for an experienced artist to touch up, and that's what I intend to do, as soon as I am willing to go without having it for a couple weeks. I sent it to my local brass tech to have the bent lead pipe straightened and the horn cleaned, and I washed it in hot water which removed the old cellulose lacquer.
I bought a set of Harrelson's mouthpiece gap shim kit and have been trying different gaps. With my Monette Classic Resonance MP the gap was .226", which by all accounts is way too large, and which strangely made the horn very sharp. With the gap reduced to <.100" it's much better, although still slippery and still produces the known flat 2/3 valve combo sound.
Here are some photos...I'll update the thread when I have more to share. Oh, by the way, I found a woman who can do the engraving through Robb Stewart, and I spoke with her.
-tj in the Cruz Mtns
