Flat metal resonators is my Martin choice.
Either flat metal resos or rivets for me. Martins play
very well with either of those choices.
What is more important is they MUST be THIN pads. If too fat, they will hit the back of the tone hole with time and be an adjustment problem.
Absolutely. Even if you bend the keys to match thick pads, it just doesn't feel right. "Thin" pads, for those who are unfamiliar, are usually around .160"-ish in thickness from the various vendors.
A differing opinion . . . I don't think it matters what style of resonators one installs - as long as there are resonators installed. And, I don't think tonal differences can be proven to result from different styles of resonators. I'd go into lengthy detail to back that up, but it has all been said on SOTW many times. DAVE
I think on a lot of vintage horns you do need to be careful with resonators. On some of these horns, you'll run into setups that work best with lower key heights (and sometimes the openings are limited by the geometry of the key feet and what they're resting against), in which case, a protruding resonator
could affect the overall venting of the key.
But the bigger concern in my mind is the weight of the resonator itself. On a sax with lighter springs, such as a Martin, a heavier resonator will require stiffer spring action.
I remember a YAS-61 where the owner specifically requested oversized solid brass domed hunks (he even supplied a set he bought from a gentleman in New Orleans) and the springs had to be tightened significantly to accommodate the extra weight. Key heights also needed to be increased because these resonators were extremely thick. None of this seemed to bother him but some players would object...and the horn
did sound like Phil Woods on steroids
If your Martin plays too loud or brash, learn to play soft (which does require a well set up horn). But resonators causing a horn to be too loud? That's like saying "WHEN I WEAR THESE SHOES, I TALK TOO LOUD." I don't think the problem is the shoes.
Sax players in my area are cursed with insanely loud bands, questionable sound technicians, and year-round outdoor gigs, so I get a lot of requests to create louder, brighter setups. So one of the things I do is use oversized resonators for these folks. And this depends largely on the player, his mouthpiece/reed setup, and the type of work he's doing.
Honestly, IMHO, the fact that the horn is tight and not leaking is a bigger deal, and I think there is definitely some placebo effect with some of these players, but if they're happy with bigger resonators, so am I...my only caveats tend to be along the lines of venting and additional weight - mechanical concerns - as I mentioned earlier. But many saxes, especially the more modern ones, seem to cooperate just fine with all of this.
But, again, a sax properly set up is going to have a bigger effect on the end result. Usually by the time I get a sax from a working pro it's pretty much unplayable, so a good setup, with just about any kind of resonator, is going to be a huge step forward for them.
Nobody in my area is asking for a quieter, darker, more polite horn, even among the guys who are fortunate enough to play that way and get away with it. But that could be achieved on a loud/bright setup quite easily through mouthpiece and reed choice, as well as whatever the player is bringing to the table in terms of embouchure, airstream, and voicing...so I tend to set up my personal instruments to be loud and bright and use those other variables to moderate it when needed...