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Easy to do with a fiberglass horn - there are usually just a few mounting nuts and a threaded collar to take apart. My guess is it would sound something like a Mell, but what key it is in would depend on the length of the attaching bow.

Try it and see!

It depends on what you mean by "bell". You could plug a sousa machine into almost any bugle that will fit. What you need to consider is in what key this horn will play. You can't put a BBb sousa machine into an Eb tuba and call it a day. You'll need to match the machine to the bugle or the bugle to the machine.

If you plan to cut a trumpet bell and solder it to the exit of the machine then who knows. I doubt you'll get much of anything.

Good luck!

Hmmm ... if you used a trombone or bass trombone bell, and enough copper tubing to bring the overall open length back up to 18', you might end up with something similar to a "Verdi tuba":

http://www.orsi-wind-instruments.it/tuba.htm

(or not ... )

kilimangnome wrote:Say you take a sousaphone valve cluster, put the goose neck, bits, all that jazz on, and fixed a bell to the other end, the end where it connects to the horn, what would that sound like? Horrible intonation problems? Just wondered. If this is confusing ill try to explain it more, might try to find a picture, or something.

It's called a helicon, the predecessor to the souzy:

Seems to me this is the monster kilimangnome was conceptualizing:

Don't forget though, if you make it shorter, than the valve slides will also need to be shorter to work right.

Same length, and you've got a helicon, as iiipopes suggests.

But as we know, helicons rock!

David Richoux wrote:Seems to me this is the monster kilimangnome was conceptualizing:

mellosousa.jpg

That doesn't stand a chance of working past the open bugle unless the tuning circuits are shortened by about 80%. Then... I think perhaps you would probably have to add a very narrow venturi in the neck... something like is done to add some restriction to a trombone.

Of course I know you already have a sousaphone to use for this. But if you plan to shorten the bugle that much you might want to graft the sousa parts on to a front action baritone or eup machine. That should be easier than trying to hack off over 3/4 from each slide.

kilimangnome wrote:That picture, actually is exactly what i was thinking. But no doubt it would be a lot of work, if figure I'll post it for sale on the boards soon.

kilimangnome wrote: I'll post it for sale on the boards soon.

You couldn't really be thinking of this as a commercial enterprise, could you?