Recently bought a sousaphone body off someone on facebook market place. They found it in a storage unit auction win, so they had zero info on it. It looks like a Conn 14k, however the serial number doesnt seem to line up with the product dates of the 14k. Additionally, I found a 14k bell, and dimensionally it doesnt seem to match up to what I have. Here are some pictures, any thoughts?
Can you measure the valve bore - inside diameter of the second valve slide? It is hard to tell if this is a Conn or a Pan Am, and the serial number could be either. If it is a Conn, it is early '20's. If it is a Pan Am, it is from the late '40's. Some of the Pan Am's had a .687 bore instead of the conventional Conn .734 bore.
Thank you, I will measure that as soon as I can free up a slide. They are all locked up solid.
Any thoughts where I could get a bell? Seems like there's an Indian vendor online selling something that'll fit, but I am a little concerned about buying an Indian product
Actually, the slides came out quite easily with some oil and heat. The second valve tuning slide is close to 0.75in, can't find my calipers to get a good measurement.
I am pretty sure that is a Conn from the "naked lady" era. (The bore looks to be too large to be a Pan Am.) Finding a bell will be a challenge, but a modern bell might be something you can find on eBay if you can discover a model that will fit it correctly. I can't help with that… too ignorant of Conn stuff. Sorry!
the elephant wrote: ↑Sun Jun 22, 2025 5:26 pm
I am pretty sure that is a Conn from the "naked lady" era. (The bore looks to be too large to be a Pan Am.) Finding a bell will be a challenge, but a modern bell might be something you can find on eBay if you can discover a model that will fit it correctly. I can't help with that… too ignorant of Conn stuff. Sorry!
Best of luck.
Elephant, ah, you beat me to it. I've been out of town over the weekend. Please allow me to add: for a bell, just about anything will work because Conn only had one template for their "smaller" sousaphones, including one machine size for a tenon, whether 14K, 32K, Pan-Am, Cavalier, etc.
Thanks! I think I actually found a Buescher bell that will be a good fit. Was a little concerned there was something weird about this horn and the difficulties associated with finding parts, but so far so good!
