Martin Handcraft Committee saxophones

Made 1935 - 1938, Ser# 114### - 130###) Classification: Professional

There is a lot of confusion about naming Martin saxes.
Their pro-model from the mid 40s untill the mid 60s is called The Martin ...... (In stead of the ....... you could add the type of sax. So a alto would have "The Martin Alto" engraved on the bell) often is referred to as Martin Committee. From the late 50s on some horn have that name engraved. I believe this is done to use the same names on their whole pallet of instrument (Trumpets, Tuba etc.)

I call this horn Handcraft Committee because it's the predecessor op the Comm-II, also called Committee 2. In combination with the fact that the name Handcraft still is engraved on the horn, that would make it a Handcraft Committee.

The HC committee has the low B and Bb keys on one side.
Note the city-skyline and searchlights (also called "Mars takes over the earth") engraving. That's the normal engraving to be found on this horns. It give them the nicknames "Martin Skyline" or "Martin Searchlight".

Some people actually prefer these horns in stead of the later Comm-II or The Martin horns.

Early models have a fixed right thumbrest, later models feature a adjustable one (change somewhere around 118K)