Ever wonder what happened to all the 20J's?

twoconnguy · Post by **twoconnguy** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 7:01 pm

I'm from Minnesota and have two of the four valve beasts, but I don't do polkas. Unfortunately, my sectionmate who has a 20J, does do polkas, and brings his "polka tone", as our exasperated director calls it, to band with him all too often!!! The big Conns can lead to BAT addiction if one is willing to work with their qwirks. I'd love to have a Martin or a Holton, but as a rank amateur, I have way too much discressionary income tied up in tubas as it is, so a Conn is good enough for me. Gotta run...concert tonight...Yeah!!

Chuck(G) · Post by **Chuck(G)** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 7:09 pm

the elephant wrote:This is a helluva great photo . . .

Oh, my achin' back!

windshieldbug · Post by **windshieldbug** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 7:33 pm

Chuck(G) wrote:
the elephant wrote:This is a helluva great photo . . .

Oh, my achin' bat!

iiipopes · Post by **iiipopes** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 9:21 pm

The bells on those 20J's are so big, it kind of makes you turn the old joke around: how many lightbulbs does it take to screw on a 20J bell?!!

GC · Post by GC » Thu Jun 29, 2006 9:43 pm

People tend to exaggerate the weight of these horns. I play a 25J, which is just like a 24J but has an upright bell. It weighs 30.7 pounds, not over fifty. Since it has a fourth valve and tubing, it weighs more than a 20J. Of course, throw in the weight of a Bayamo . . .

In high school, I weighed a 20J, and it weighed 28-1/2 pounds. It's heavy, but not nearly as heavy as the 52 pounds cited in the web site in the first post of the thread.

Also, Conn quit making the 2XJ series in the 1970's, not the 1950's, contrary to what was stated on the site. One of their last attempts was to make a lightweight 2XJ with a fiberglass body and bell. It sounded horrible and was terribly out of tune. It was, unfortunately, the death knell to the 2XJ series.