It is fascinating and curious. Johnny Martin, Gus Buescher and Charlie Conn were all buddies for a time, but who can truly say what drove them to form separate companies. I partially jest at Conn's lack of non-compete agreements, but I believe he wanted the other two to succeed, though I can only speculate as to why. They were essentially partners, even if only Conn's name was on the factory. Without Buescher, who knows if Conn would have ever launched a saxophone line. Martin, having had extensive tutelage in Germany from Hammig, decided to immigrate and try his skills out in the US, in Chicago, initially. (Holton also initially set up shop in Chicago, btw, but more on Holton later).
All were of German descent, but Buescher and Conn were both born in the States. Only Johann Martin emigrated from Germany. All worked together launching Charlie Conn's business off the ground in 1876.
Johann Martin had 4 sons. At least one of them (his eldest, Henry) also went to work for Charlie Conn in 1890. He then went to work for Buescher some time later. I bring this up because:
Without Buescher, Conn wouldn't have had a sax maker. If you place a Martin and a Buescher next to one another without looking at the em"bell"ishments, you could easily confuse the early split bell models, as they appear nearly identical. Coincidence? Certainly not. They shared ideas and designs, and must have liked each other a lot. Directories were irrefutably interlocking, and it would not surprise me to learn they shared employees, or had a lot of flip-flop between factories. Certainly their engravings, while based upon different motifs, implement almost identical techniques during the 1920s and 30s. Very curious.
Now, as promised, here is a fun fact about Frank Holton. Although he got his start in Chicago, he made the decision to move operations to Elkhorn, WI. I guess it really is true that if you wanted a successful band instrument company in America, your city had better start with "Elk". While Holton never achieved the same level of fame the other three received, his later horns are considered fantastic, and saught after as of late.
Finally back to Harry Pedler. In 1905, Pedler was essentially recruited by Charlie Conn to come to the states and work for him, due to his extensive experience building some of the most (non-French) precision clarinets the world had seen. He accepted Conn's offer, and the rest is history. Curious how the only two soprano clarinets I have seen with a locking top and bottom alignment catch are Pedler and Conn...but--oh, that's right! They worked together. Extensively.
