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I had to come out in front of the band with my 25J for "Them Basses" at our concert tonight. I've managed to rig a strap to some braces for times when I've needed to carry the horn, and to make sure it doesn't slip off my lap when I'm digging through my folder for music. I'm thinking of having some real strap rings put on it, but I was wondering if they ever came on a 2XJ from the factory, and if so, where we they positioned, and what was the shape of the reinforcement plates; round, oval or contoured like the ends of the bow plates? I did a bit of searching for photos of them, but didn't have much luck. It seemed like the horns with rings didn't have a good picture from the back, and ones with good pictures didn't have rings. Thanks for any insight you might have to share.

I've had lots of 2XJ's and never paid any attention to whether they had strap rings or not. I just went down to the shop to have a look at the three that I have here and none of them have strap rings. I know that the Jacksonville State University 'Marching Southerners 20J's' straps the behemoths onto kids who march with 20 of 'em. Try emailing someone here:

http://www.marchingsoutherners.org/

Mine does not have rings. I dont think i've ever seen a 2xJ with strap rings. I dont even think JSU has strap rings on their "marching" 20J's. I could be wrong though. heres some horn dorn!!

Dan: If you look close at the photo you posted of that 22J, you can see the rings on that one. I've also got a photo somewhere of a 34J that Lee Stofer had for sale a few years ago and it had some rings on it.
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I went back and took a good look at the images on the Marching Southerners 20J's web page and didn't see any images of the backside of their horns. But.... in at least one of the pictures, several of the players have a lanyard around their neck with a large snap-ring like mountain-climbers use. Apparently there is a custom-made single attachment point on the backside of the tubas.

The 20Js that I played in the late '60s and early '70s had two rings. Lee Stofer told me that he had removed the rings from the 25J that I now own.

Hi , my 26 J and 36J both have them , both are from 4 front valve Conn`s , the 26J is 4 short action front valves , and the 36J is 4 front action reg. long stroke valves . I have used a strap on both of them fromt time to time , for different types of gig`s . I should think anykind would work if you can get hold of of them .
good luck , Steven.

Hey guys, I finally found that photo of a 34J, that I "borrowed" from Lee's for sale listings a while back. You can see the rings on this one, but if I try to zoom in I can't really make out the size and shape of the reinforcement plates. Since the link to that 22J picture didn't fly for some reason, I loaded that from the bucket too. I'll probably make them myself since I can bend up the rings just fine, but I want to be sure that the size and shape of the reinforcement plates are strong enough to hang on and also look like they belong on the horn.
Thanks for all your input, so far.

Just because someone at the factory once installed strap rings on a tuba does not necessarily mean that anybody ever experimented to see if they were really placed at the best location. Strap rings, thumb rings, leadpipes and even pistons are usually placed in rather awkward positions by designers who are clearly not tuba players. On one of my FrankenTubas I spent a lot of time tying a strap on with clothesline in various places until I found the right places to install the rings. Of course what's right for me will not be right for the next person.

Your concerned about the strength of the reinforcing plate is well-founded. The 20J is a heavy tuba and it will need very strong strap rings. Try to mount them so that the strap tension pulls in the plane of the ring; they will last a lot longer if they don't get yanked sideways. (As far as I know, no manufacturer has ever given that obvious point any consideration.)

Is the 'Blue Note Strap' still out there? I don't have any experience with them myself, but I understand it attaches to just about any place on a horn with adjustable straps. Might be an alternative to all the trial and error of putting the strap rings in the right locations.

TubaTinker wrote:Is the 'Blue Note Strap' still out there?

Got mine at Hickey's: http://www.hickeys.com/cgi/display.cgi? ... =tuacc.htm

I mostly use mine for helping stabilize a horn when I'm sitting and to free up a hand for dealing with turning pages, etc. I don't know how effective it would be completely supporting one of the 2XJ monsters.

I've always found Them Basses to be kind of disappointing sinces it is really a low voices soli kind of thing instead of a true tuba section feature. Musically, I'd rather play a really good march with a great "dogfight" section and just stay in the back.

Eric

A gentleman who reads the TubeNet but never posts called me this afternoon with an excellent suggestion for adding strap rings to a 2XJ tuba. He has a 24J and put Mirafone strap loops on his because they are 'really sturdy' and quite capable of holding up the big Conns. And... since the Mirafone loops are retangular, they work very well with a large leather strap... like a rifle sling.

This tip is complements of Brown Clodfelter. Thanks!

BTW.... does anyone know what the threads are on the top caps of a Mahillion (sp) Eb hellicon? Even better... is there a top cap out there that will interchange?

I love the look of those fat bows, almost an Art Deco look to those horns. Unmistakably American.

Eric "who would like to toot on a 2XJ in good repair someday" L.