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Check out the recording bass in the big band.

Back during the early '60's when Bonanza was one of the most popular shows on prime time TV (#2), my Dad et al were in the newish added on part of our house watching Bonanza on his newish 19 inch black and white portable TV, but I was by myself in the old part of the house with the old blonde maple worn out black and white 25 in TV (having to constantly fool with the tuner and the antenna) watching the (lasted about a year) Judy Garland Show.

Somehow - at that very young age (7 years old in the 2nd grade), I realized it was a higher level of entertainment.

Is anyone able to zoom in enough and freeze the picture enough to figure out what type of 6/4 recording bass that is?

I’ll have a closer look on the computer screen but my preliminary thought is front action (duh) Martin.

Reasoning: Martins had the valve block higher up the horn vertically and the top of the upper slides of Martins are all about lined up (ie you could draw a horizontal line across the top of the crooks).

A more detailed look later.

I would agree. When I got a little bit better look later I was thinking the same thing. Thanks for your input.

I also thought Martin.

Great minds think alike.

Side note: if you ever cross through Grand Rapids, MN, the Judy Garland museum is worth a visit. She had such a sad, short life...!

Side note #2 -- reminds me of when I was 7 or 8 years old and I bought my first cassette tape, The Canadian Brass - Greatest Hits. I certainly wasn't interested in whatever my brother was listening to (early rap?) or what my parents were listening to (late 80s albums from 60s/70s rock stars who went solo... shudder...)

And I distinctly remember originally wanting to buy "The Canadian Brass plays George Gershwin", but I had no idea who Gershwin was or what his music sounded like. My mom swiftly rejected the idea and said "you wouldn't like Gershwin."

Somehow in my personal young boy record collection I ended up with an LP that was some sort of classical music sampler.

I don't know if it was something that came free in the mail whereby some company like Columbia Records - or some company like that - was trying to sell a bunch of classical records or what it was, but it was donated to me either by my parents or by an older sibling. I found myself listening to that more than anything.

I think when I was in about the 6th grade (and I was regularly checking the trash behind stores to see what treasures there were (whether repairable stuff, stuff that I could use to make stuff with, or redeemable pop bottles... and this is before dumpsters were standardized, and trash bins were often individually constructed and sometimes even featured a walk-in door)... something I found behind a HiFi store was an LP of Zarathustra with Zubin conducting LA. Of course, Roger Bobo was playing tuba. If I was already playing the sousaphone myself, I didn't know about any tuba players. My more critical ears today tell me that that was a very sloppy performance of Zarathustra, but - once I had that LP - I listened to it more than anything else I had.

Pre-1977 my most listened to albums were Rossini Overtures and Glenn Miller (Two album collection)

1977+ it was Talking Heads, Elvis Costello and English Beat.

1992 to Present, the year I turned 30 and Rock and Roll died, Hit Parade and American Songbook.

This image of a 3v Martin body has a similar layout to the one in the screenshot. Link here.

There's probably a better shot of one out there, this is just the first one I found.

EDIT: Better pic here.

Three Valves wrote: Wed Jan 28, 2026 11:45 am Pre-1977 my most listened to albums were Rossini Overtures and Glenn Miller (Two album collection)

1977+ it was Talking Heads, Elvis Costello and English Beat.

1992 to Present, the year I turned 30 and Rock and Roll died, Hit Parade and American Songbook.

Before I started discovering classical stuff, I bought some Beatles, one Monkees album (after they actually began playing their own music), a few Stax 45s, a little bit of Amboy Dukes (with you-know-who on lead guitar), and a couple of Guess Who albums...
(Adjusted backwards for inflation, buying 45s and LPs was damned expensive back then.)
Just about the time that rock and even Beatles music began to become more sophisticated (well, with some of the artists), I quit buying rock and pop records.
... and the age of cassettes began, and most anything could be recorded off the radio... Including classical music, obviously, but I dumped a ton of money into classical LPs (and HiFi equipment) in my early 20s.

My sister played the French horn. I borrowed her Art of Dennis Brain record and never gave it back!

I had a set if Reader Digest classical records that I would play on my little hifi that sat under the head of my bed. I would turn the stack over each night as I went to bed. The radio was set to C&W by my mom. Today as I am trying to play with other people, I haft to learn a lot of new to me music in the jazz and blues Catalog. All though I now play with a lot of different toys, my knowledge of music is very limited.

But playing music. even if it is just my own, keeps me sane,
CCC