Sousa Repair

[sousaphone68]

I agree with Ian's post I regularly use my Eb Sousa for concert band rehearsals and performances sometimes at my own whim sometimes by request of the musical director your ear and musicality should dictate how you use what ever instrument you are using. My only difficulty with my Sousa in these concerts is the limit that 3 valves impose on the lower register.
Sousaphones do not have to be loud all the time and can played in various ways and styles.

[J.c. Sherman]

Yamaha manufactures expensive sousaphones that resonate like bricks...

bloke "...which wouldn't keep me from selling some, if someone was interested in buying them."

random weird factoid: Those goofy Yamaha upper mouthpipes will actually work with the 1920's (real) Buescher sousaphones.

Cool, thanks for the tip, Bloke; never would've guessed that

J.c.S.

[Bob Kolada]

I like how those Yamaha sousas play. They have a clarity not really found in the 20K I usually play.

[Dutchtown Sousa]

Why don't you just use the sousaphones as they are and back off a bit? No reason to have custom bells built at the price of a new tuba, when you could easily just use the sousa and play softer.

I do this in the concert band all the time, and we have three player. Even wheb I'm the only tuba there I still have to back off.

I seriously didn't even think about that but think is when there is a loud section I have to tendency to play it as marked, not to back off. Maybe that should be what I work on. Otherwise if our section is still allowed to borrow tubas then we can do that