Doc - You're right about those Comoy Traditions. They'll smoke as well as a Blue Riband or Specimen Straight Grain any day of the week. The Tradition, which can usually be had as an estate for well under a hundred is Comoy's well kept little secret. The Comoy seconds, which come under a dozen different names, are even cheaper on the estate market, but I haven't had as much luck with those on account of the fills and occasional sand pit. The Grand Slam is on par with the Tradition, qualitywise, but as mentioned above, the large mortise and plenum bore, without the stinger, tends to get dirty and needs attention more. The grain on both, in the earlier pre-merger models tends to be real nice too. And that diffetetial staining, I call it Tiger Staining, that so often characterizes the Blue Riband line, can often be found on the Tradition and Grand Slam lines as well. (But not for some reason on the London Pride line). I have a hunch that many differentially stained Traditions were intended to become Blue Ribands, but were stamped otherwise on account of not making the mark with the straight grain of the Blue Riband line.
