Martin Centennial

1942

This is the model Martin made to honour the birth of the saxophone, a century earlier. They didn’t build a lot of them, only a few alto’s, from 1941 to 1943. Most of them were lacquered. Martin silverplated a few, exclusively for the army. This is one of them. You can see the U.S. engravure on the bow/bell. All army instruments had that engravure. The model is a preview of the ‘The Martin’, released after the war. The serial number on the neck is slightly higher then the number on the body. But it is also a silverplated Centennial neck, so I suspect an exchange of necks, based on sound. This is an extremely free blowing instrument, lots of volume and power and for a Martin a big and relatively clear sound. A super instrument, full of beautifull details.