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I just received 3 new Conn 36K sousaphones.

I am so disappointed. They're totally different from the old 36K I have and they sound terrible compared to the old ones. F to Bb is so stuffy and the upper A is a scratch if you're not careful. The low register is more open but that doesn't compensate for the rest of the register.

Why is Conn calling their new sousaphones "the 36K" if it's a totally different horn? I wish I would have known before ordering these. And they were not cheap.

I'm really not impressed.

SG

bloke wrote:Those "new" instruments that you received are King fiberglass sousaphones stenciled as "Conn"...... The original Conn 36K are NOT as "durable" as the King sousaphones (and, by now, the fiberglass bodies of the original/"real" Conn 36K sousaphones are beginning to become brittle)

funny... the more 'brittle' that fiberglass gets, the more responsive the horn seems to get.... to me, anyway. I've had some of them that were so hard that I could have sworn that the fiberglass was brass!

It doesn't appear to be fair for a company to sell a certain model when in fact, it's a different one.

What would trumpet players think or do if they'd buy a Bach 180S-37 open the case and find a Jupiter or King trumpet instead?

Anyboby plays a Yamaha sousa?
Also from a picture, the Holton fiberglass sousa looks like the original 36K. Am I right?

Or the Bach 1529?