Hello again,
I have some more questions about Sousa's:
How is the bore defined and where can it be mesured ?
How can one determine wheter a specific horn is a large bore or not ?
About the bell: are the connections between bell and body harmonized (at least within a brand) ? Would it be possible to mount a 26" bell on a instrument that came with a 24" bell an vis versa ?
Do you know anything about influence of the finish (laquer or silver plating) ?
kind regards
Michael
questions about Sousaphones
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tubamike
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Lee Stofer
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Mike,
The bore size of a brass instrument is the measured inside diameter of the valve section tubing. Probably the easiest way to do this is to remove the 2nd valve slide and measure its inside diameter. This is the inside diameter of the tubing of the slide itself, not of the tubes attached to the body of the instrument.
The standard sousaphone bell diameter is 26" now, but in years past there were manufacturers that would make the bell sizes to order. The smallest sousaphone bell diameter I've heard of was 20", and the largest one was about 36" in diameter (impressive, but not much for player visibility ;^)
I would consider the Conn 14K, Olds, and the King 2350 BBb sousaphones to be the standard as far as size is concerned. The Conn had a larger bore size(.730") than the King and Olds(upper .600's), but the instrument bodies were very comparable in size. The Conn 2XK, 3XK, or 4XK model sousaphones and the Martin jumbo sousaphones all had a larger body, and bore sizes varying from .730" to .770" on the Conn jumbo, and would all be considered large-bore instruments. Buescher also made some .730" bore sousaphones, and King made a few large-bore instruments. The current Yamaha sousaphones seem to be a modernized copy of the large-bore Martin Handcraft sousaphones.
The few Besson and Amati sousaphones I've encountered would all be considered small-bore instruments.
There are many opinions about instrument finishes, but I can tell you this much. The metal surface of a silver-plated instrument will tarnish or oxidize in a matter of days. This can be remedied by silver polish, and the better ones with tarnish-preventatives will keep it looking good for several months. Where the instrument is held and frequently handled will lose the silver in 3 to 12 years, depending upon the player's acidity. Spot-plating is a possibility, but I have not had good success with it.
An instrument that is lacquered brass will tarnish under the lacquer in 40 to 50 years. Lacquer polish or automotive waxes for clearcoat finishes will keep the finish in better condition, but where the instrument is held will lose its finish in 3 to 10 years, normally. Polishing and spot-lacquering is relatively easy, and though it is very difficult to exactly match the older finish, it is not hard to get reasonably good results that are not noticeable to the audience. On a daily basis, I think a lacquered finish is easier to take care of.
When chemically-cleaning an instrument, I have to charge more for silver-plated instruments. Lacquer is not affected by the chemicals I use, but it does discolor silver, requiring the entire instrument to be laboriously hand-ragged. And, I've found that not all silver-plating is the same. Think twice before you buy a lower-line instrument in silver plate. If you buy a Hirsbrunner, Rudolf Meinl, Meinl-Weston, Gronitz, Besson or Mirafone in silver, then you can be assured of what you have.
Although I do not have the graphs to prove it, the lacquer finish, which is many times thicker than silver-plate, will have a dampening effect on the instrument's vibrations, and my limited study of physics would tell me that the primary effect would be on higher frequencies, so with all other factors being the same, a lacquered horn should sound a little darker. Silver, being a harder metal than brass, applied in just microns of thickness, could actually boost certain frequencies and should give a slightly more brilliant sound. However, I think there are other factors that make much more difference in the sound than the finish would.
The bore size of a brass instrument is the measured inside diameter of the valve section tubing. Probably the easiest way to do this is to remove the 2nd valve slide and measure its inside diameter. This is the inside diameter of the tubing of the slide itself, not of the tubes attached to the body of the instrument.
The standard sousaphone bell diameter is 26" now, but in years past there were manufacturers that would make the bell sizes to order. The smallest sousaphone bell diameter I've heard of was 20", and the largest one was about 36" in diameter (impressive, but not much for player visibility ;^)
I would consider the Conn 14K, Olds, and the King 2350 BBb sousaphones to be the standard as far as size is concerned. The Conn had a larger bore size(.730") than the King and Olds(upper .600's), but the instrument bodies were very comparable in size. The Conn 2XK, 3XK, or 4XK model sousaphones and the Martin jumbo sousaphones all had a larger body, and bore sizes varying from .730" to .770" on the Conn jumbo, and would all be considered large-bore instruments. Buescher also made some .730" bore sousaphones, and King made a few large-bore instruments. The current Yamaha sousaphones seem to be a modernized copy of the large-bore Martin Handcraft sousaphones.
The few Besson and Amati sousaphones I've encountered would all be considered small-bore instruments.
There are many opinions about instrument finishes, but I can tell you this much. The metal surface of a silver-plated instrument will tarnish or oxidize in a matter of days. This can be remedied by silver polish, and the better ones with tarnish-preventatives will keep it looking good for several months. Where the instrument is held and frequently handled will lose the silver in 3 to 12 years, depending upon the player's acidity. Spot-plating is a possibility, but I have not had good success with it.
An instrument that is lacquered brass will tarnish under the lacquer in 40 to 50 years. Lacquer polish or automotive waxes for clearcoat finishes will keep the finish in better condition, but where the instrument is held will lose its finish in 3 to 10 years, normally. Polishing and spot-lacquering is relatively easy, and though it is very difficult to exactly match the older finish, it is not hard to get reasonably good results that are not noticeable to the audience. On a daily basis, I think a lacquered finish is easier to take care of.
When chemically-cleaning an instrument, I have to charge more for silver-plated instruments. Lacquer is not affected by the chemicals I use, but it does discolor silver, requiring the entire instrument to be laboriously hand-ragged. And, I've found that not all silver-plating is the same. Think twice before you buy a lower-line instrument in silver plate. If you buy a Hirsbrunner, Rudolf Meinl, Meinl-Weston, Gronitz, Besson or Mirafone in silver, then you can be assured of what you have.
Although I do not have the graphs to prove it, the lacquer finish, which is many times thicker than silver-plate, will have a dampening effect on the instrument's vibrations, and my limited study of physics would tell me that the primary effect would be on higher frequencies, so with all other factors being the same, a lacquered horn should sound a little darker. Silver, being a harder metal than brass, applied in just microns of thickness, could actually boost certain frequencies and should give a slightly more brilliant sound. However, I think there are other factors that make much more difference in the sound than the finish would.
Lee A. Stofer, Jr.