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Looking at the pictures of the pictures of the JW Peppers original Sousaphone, I began to wonder if there's a simple way to make a modern raincatcher. Does anyone know if a Conn 21J or 25J upright tuba bell will fit a Conn (or other) sousaphone?

The throat end of the 25J bell measures 7-1/2", and the business end is 24".

Yes, the Conn upright bell fits the conn short-action sousaphone to make a perfectly acceptable raincatcher.
You also see Conn sousa bells on 20J tubas, although it's pretty hard to see a conductor or a sheet of music from behind one.

When I bought my 40K, about 20 years ago, from a local gentleman who trafficked in tubas and things of that nature, he had an "up" bell for it, along with the original forward bell. He had it made, by a local flute maker, from sheet brass and the flare of some large tuba bell. I don't expect any of this to make sense, but I am not making it up. The result looked a lot like a brass wastebasket. When I bought the sousaphone, I refused to take the up bell, and I don't know what became of it.

Beware the issue of pitch caused by incorrect length of the pipe, after putting a bell for a different type of tuba. They just ain't the same length, frankly.

A possible problem: the bells cannot be adjusted to straight up like the originals were. You are stuck with the horn having the angle used in the final right angle bend of the horn body. On my raincatcher, and every one I've seen, that angle is part of the bell, so that the main horn ends like an abbreviated helicon.

Somewhere I have a Conn catalog from the 50s or 60s that lists an upright bell as an option for the model 20K sousaphone. From the photo it looks like they just used the upright bell from a 2XJ tuba and stuck it on a 20K. At one point I owned both a 21J tuba and a 20K sousaphone and can confirm that the upright tuba bell will fit on the 20K sousaphone body.

Also, the older style King 2341 upright bells fit right onto the King sousaphones and vise versa.

When you put the sousa bell on the tuba it is a bit more forward facing than the normal bell-front-style bell but it still works. I don't recall any pitch problems, but that was a while back when I did this. I actually used the forward sousa bell on a 2341 for an outdoor concert.

ken k

demonstrating the awkward bell angle of a conn 2Xj tuba bell on a 22k sousaphone is my lovely assistant marcos.



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Any chance of your trying it with an upright bell?

If I had one to try