TrumpetMaster - View Single Post

Larry Gianni · 07-16-2004, 01:39 PM

Hi Eric,

Sorry for the delay in answering , but I wanted to get ahold of Bill to confirm the answer. Last time I saw him, he was playing a pre-war Martin large bore with a Holton custom made 6" bell which he still plays.

The bell is installed by Dick Akright at Union Music in Oakland...he's also the maker of the Bel Canto line... and he was the one who first introduced the "6 bell for Mic Gillette and Bill Lamb of Tower of Power fame, back in the 70's.

He choose the Holton bell because of Holton making the Martin line and he could get a LB Holton/Martin bell flair. It's fairly easy to make a larger flaired bell if the bell mandrel is at least 6 1/2 or 7" round at the large end which leaves roughly 3/8" of an inch to fold over the bell bead: the bell is cut to the end of the mandrel edge instead of the usual point and a large bell flair ( choke ) make a 6" bell play and sound better... a better extension of the flair. I asked Zig Kanstul if he could make a 6" bell and he said he could with both the Wild Thing and WB1600 bell mandrel and of course Calicchio can also make 6" bells... I would suggest the #3 bell if you want one because of the natural extension of the flair.

Back to the Pre-War Martin #3...

The pre-war Martin #3 is similar to the post-war but for a few details. The pre-war does not have a poly bore design with a reversed leadpipe, the water keys are mounted in-line with the crooks instead of on the side, and the third finger ring is mounted on the top of the slide instead of on the side, but the large bell flair is evident on both models. The tuning slide has no brace between the upper and lower slide.

Chris Botti also uses a pre-war Martin #3 LB. In fact , I had Zig restore slightly and then gold-plate my pre-war Martin #3 and Chris happened to be in town to do a video for Sting and went down to the Kanstul plant. He happen to see the finished product , played it and called to see if I wanted to sell it . Chris also mentioned he wanted to use it for the video shoot because gold plate job.

I told him I didn't want to sell, but he could use if for the video if he wanted, which he took me up on. ( no mutes, please )

So I figure if I won't be famous at least one of trumpets can.

Take care Eric and I really like you website... all of you out there should visit this site and enjoy Eric's playing skills.

Larry

PS - Bill told me he also played on Beyonce's last released album... nice to see trumpets being used on " pop " recordings again.

07-16-2004, 01:39 PM	#2 (permalink)
Larry Gianni Piano User Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 266	Hi Eric, Sorry for the delay in answering , but I wanted to get ahold of Bill to confirm the answer. Last time I saw him, he was playing a pre-war Martin large bore with a Holton custom made 6" bell which he still plays. The bell is installed by Dick Akright at Union Music in Oakland...he's also the maker of the Bel Canto line... and he was the one who first introduced the "6 bell for Mic Gillette and Bill Lamb of Tower of Power fame, back in the 70's. He choose the Holton bell because of Holton making the Martin line and he could get a LB Holton/Martin bell flair. It's fairly easy to make a larger flaired bell if the bell mandrel is at least 6 1/2 or 7" round at the large end which leaves roughly 3/8" of an inch to fold over the bell bead: the bell is cut to the end of the mandrel edge instead of the usual point and a large bell flair ( choke ) make a 6" bell play and sound better... a better extension of the flair. I asked Zig Kanstul if he could make a 6" bell and he said he could with both the Wild Thing and WB1600 bell mandrel and of course Calicchio can also make 6" bells... I would suggest the #3 bell if you want one because of the natural extension of the flair. Back to the Pre-War Martin #3... The pre-war Martin #3 is similar to the post-war but for a few details. The pre-war does not have a poly bore design with a reversed leadpipe, the water keys are mounted in-line with the crooks instead of on the side, and the third finger ring is mounted on the top of the slide instead of on the side, but the large bell flair is evident on both models. The tuning slide has no brace between the upper and lower slide. Chris Botti also uses a pre-war Martin #3 LB. In fact , I had Zig restore slightly and then gold-plate my pre-war Martin #3 and Chris happened to be in town to do a video for Sting and went down to the Kanstul plant. He happen to see the finished product , played it and called to see if I wanted to sell it . Chris also mentioned he wanted to use it for the video shoot because gold plate job. I told him I didn't want to sell, but he could use if for the video if he wanted, which he took me up on. ( no mutes, please ) So I figure if I won't be famous at least one of trumpets can. Take care Eric and I really like you website... all of you out there should visit this site and enjoy Eric's playing skills. Larry PS - Bill told me he also played on Beyonce's last released album... nice to see trumpets being used on " pop " recordings again.