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I don't know if I posted this before, but I was thinking about getting the pulse of all of you sousa players as to what you think is the best sousaphone brand. So take some time to vote in this poll and then offer any comments if you wish. This would apply to either metal or fiberglass sousas

Hank74

The original "raincatcher"! J W Pepper

Well I have only played on a few Sousaphones. The First was a fiberglass unknown name and well I would never want a fiberglass one for me or anyone I knew. The other two I have marched a few seasons in High school and College, one being the Yamaha and the other being the Conn 20k. I think the conn is a lot better and much easier to maintain and it sounds better and is more in tune. The Yamaha is more consistantly made from what I have seen. No matter what you go with don't get the cheap case, get the nice one with wheels, it protects the horn so much better and will last so much longer. The Conn's are also much more comnfortable in my opinion, at least for bigger people.

Ben

York if you can find one.

[quote="Hank74"]I don't know if I posted this before, but I was thinking about getting the pulse of all of you sousa players as to what you think is the best sousaphone brand. So take some time to vote in this poll and then offer any comments if you wish. This would apply to either metal or fiberglass sousas

Martin Handcraft Big Bore with a 24" Bell Less bell ring with the smaller bell. I have a friend in Fl. (JOSE) that has one for sale I think $1700.00 a nice Silver Horn for the money. The reason its for sale just to heavy for long PARADES. Thats why Harvey at 54 uses a Conn36K with a Metal Bell
If you Play the Matin Handcraft, well without a edge It will sound like a fine Tuba.But if you bring out that edge It will bark like a Conn 20K .I think the Conns 14K & 20K are made of thicker brass then the Martin.
The last Martin handcraft I rebuilt I put a Conn short action valve set in it. Because it came with valves Wow a fast player.It was sold to a Baptist Church band the guy Loves it.

I'll "second" Harvey's comments in praise of the Martin Handcrafts, especially the pre-WWII instruments.

Two sizes were made.....the "Medium", which was what most people today would consider a regular sized sousa, and the "Mammoth" which has a 7 7/8-inch bell collar. A Martin Mammoth is considerably larger overall than a Conn 20K (similar in size to the EXTERIOR dimensions of a 20K case). Mammoths came with a variety of bell diameters from 24-30 inches. Some folks think the 24-inch bells project the best.

My 3-V Mammoth is an especially fine player, with pedal tones that are more in tune and more easily forthcoming than some 4-V BBb tubas.

A really fine-sounding instrument.

Check the archives for details on the differences between pre- and post-WWII Martins.

I find that the older (pre-1960s) King sousaphones play as in tune as any I have tried. I had a Conn 20K that had a great sound, but had that flat third partial to deal with and a bit too much bell ringing. I had a huge York sousaphone, with a 30" bell, but it took way too much air for me to play comfortably. I liked the sound of both the King and Conn better than the York, but that may be due to the valves being a little more worn.

I haven't tried a Martin, but if they play anything like the Martin tuba I had I expect they would be great playing sousaphones. Still my favorite is the Conn 40K, which is a 4 valve version of the 38K, which is the same as a 20K, but with long stroke valves. The 40K's I have seen have a 23" bell, which seems small for this large a horn, but give it less woofiness to the sound and no ring to the bell. I tried one and decided that it was the horn for me, which is why I bought one and it's currently with Lee Stofer for a play condition.

I don't think that any sousaphone made today compare to older horns. The only decent model available new is the Conn 20K, and that still has the flat third partial issue and a little too broad a sound for me.

MellowSmokeMan wrote:York if you can find one.

I'm thinking that Yorks branded from the 1950's were school grade horns.

I voted for the Conn.... however, I must concur with another poster regarding the Martin sousas. I currently have a Conn 36K, a Conn 14K, a Martin 'mammoth', and a Martin Eb 'medium'. I've also owned King 4V Eb and Conn 28K Eb sousas... an Eb Buescher, a York 4V Eb, and a couple of assorted others I can't remember well. I like the Martin 'mammoth' the best.

I absolutely agree with Bloke: Conn 14k. I play a Cavalier which was made @ 1935 before it was called the 14k. Same horn, down to the smallest detail. Absolutely the best sousaphone I have played since I started playing as a freshman in my high school band in the fall of 1976 - almost 30 years of wearing instead of carrying a horn. It has tuba tone with just enough grit in the gizzard to remind you it is a sousaphone suitable for outdoors. The 24 inch bell is much, much more manageable than the 26 inch, especially in navigating doorways and small bandstands. With the wonderful false pedal tones which hit exactly on pitch starting on sub EEb and down to at least CC, and with the top of the 1st valve loop made into a slide workable by my left hand, I have absolutely no need of a 4th valve. Since I play outside, I use a Kelly 18 mouthpiece with a piece of golfer's lead tape around the shank at the base of the cup to center my tone, and there is nothing better for pure sousaphone tone.

If you must do fiberglass, do a pre-UMI King. With the .687 bore it keeps focus and projection better than the larger bore fiberglass ones.

I played the "short throw" valves on a horn in grad school, it just didn't do it for me.

I've played large bore fiberglass horns built on the "more is better" theory, and lost all centering in the upper mid range so bad I thought it was me, not the horn.

The 20k with the offset valves, large throat and 26 inch bell gets all the glamour and such, but the 14k is much more versatile, much more managable, lighter weight (really not much heavier than some of the older fiberglass horns), suitable for indoors, and can blend both ways: either with tubas or fiberglass horns, depending on what mouthpiece you want to use: Helleberg style to get a smoother tone, or Bach style to get more overtone and projection.

I've never played a 14k, but I've heard one at a distance being played in another marching band and it has an amazing sound. It sounds fairly bright up close, but the bass really carries and from 100 feet away the tone is just right. Up close, a King sounds best, or in a section of 50 the 20k sounds best. My favorite sousa to play is an old .655 bore York, which has a nice tuba sound when you play soft, but when you step on the gas it gets unimaginably loud. There's a subtle semantic difference between an instrument and a weapon, and the York is definitely a weapon!

-Eric

My favorite sousaphone is the one I have now. My eBay special find... 1927 Conn 38K with a satin gold finish. Really nice response, intonation and dynamic range. And sweet to look at too!



The smaller 1960 Olds silver that I had before that played pretty darn good too, but not quite as well in tune. But better than all the Kings I have ever tried. When I still had my youth marching band going, the tuba players used to fight over it because it out played all the other horns we had.