TubeNet

Recently I saw in the yahoo-group archives the pictures of a 'monster 4 valve Bb King' Sousaphone.
I can't find anything else about it on the internet. I assume they wheren't build for long time and are very rare aren't they ?

regards

Michael

The Monsters seen by Tubamike were these:

Thumbnails of a 1920 King Monster BBb sousaphone 4P:

http://photos.groups.yahoo.com/group/yo ... usa+4P.jpg

Thumbnail of a King Monster 4 valve Sousaphone:

http://photos.groups.yahoo.com/group/yo ... +sousa.jpg

Especially the older one illustrates the concept of sousaphones preferably being just "differently wrapped" tubas mentioned in a recent posting of mine.

Klaus

Hello, Michael.......

Of the "plus-sized" production-model BBb sousaphones,

King dubbed theirs the "Giant",

Conn's was the "Jumbo" (bell collar measures 9.5-inches diameter....29 7/8-inch circumference!),

Martin's "Mammoth" sousa bell collar diameter measures 7 7/8-inches (same as their Mammoth tubas).

Martin called their large Eb sousaphone the "Monster", but it was smaller than the Martin Mammoth.

AndyL

I just went and checked the Martin "Mammoth" here. It does indeed have a 7 7/8" bell collar, but it was not the largest made. I also just pulled the bell off the Conn Jumbo, and the inside measurement of the bell socket is 9 1/2". This Conn jumbo is also the only sousaphone I've encountered that has 4 bell retaining screws.

Just measured the bell collar of the Conn 40K, which is large, but not a Monster model: 186mm which would equal 7 5/16".

Klaus

tubamike wrote:Recently I saw in the yahoo-group archives the pictures of a 'monster 4 valve Bb King' Sousaphone.
I can't find anything else about it on the internet.

Some alternate sites:

You can see one pic (same as the first link in Klaus' post) after registering for the TubaEuph forum:
http://www.smartgroups.com/pictures/ope ... um&Dir=ASC

Also, another 3-valve giant King Sousa is at Dale Hale's site:
http://dalehale.com/CoolTubas/GiantKing.htm

Dale's other pics are available starting here:
http://dalehale.com/CoolTubas/CoolTubas.htm

My shoulder hurts just looking at those photos.

The Monster King and Martin Mammoth sousaphones are great and manly instruments. But nothing should strike fear into a tuba player's heart like the thought of being handed a Conn Jumbo at the beginning of even a short parade! Something to bring a player to his or her knees, literally. A Conn 4 valve Jumbo from the late 20's weighs 54 pounds. It makes quite an impression when you put it on the first time. But it is a huge and amazing sound once you get used to it.

BTW King made at least one sousaphone with a 9 1/4" bell collar (receiving section). None of the King catalogs I have picture anything like it. For the size of the bell joint, it has a relatively modest bell size of 25", giving it comparatively little bell flare. It's not nearly as heavy as the Conn Jumbo mentioned above, though no lightweight either.