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"Exotic" Indian Helicons and Sousaphones
Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 1:33 am
by David Richoux
The Backpain thread has jumped to the topic of "modern production" helicons and Sousaphones from China and India. A quick web search lead me to this site:
sousaphone-with-22-inches-bell which shows a picture that looks like it could be a +100 year old design! (or something from 1930s Soviet Russia

)
Assuming the horns are probably craptastic, is there anybody on the list who have actually played any of these modern antiques?
I have not seen anything like this in the US market (and I doubt there is an importer who will take a risk on them...)
Re: "Exotic" Indian Helicons and Sousaphones
Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 2:19 am
by Ace
Interesting site---------the 22" bell sousaphone is an odd-looking beast. I chuckled when I saw the trumpet with the moving third valve slide system. Wow---can you imagine that? What will they come up with next?
Re: "Exotic" Indian Helicons and Sousaphones
Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 2:39 am
by Donn
David Richoux wrote:
I have not seen anything like this in the US market (and I doubt there is an importer who will take a risk on them...)
In a older thread about more or less the same stuff, one of the repair experts commented that he wouldn't like to work on one, chrome apparently doesn't take solder well. So you'd want to be reasonably confident it would come from the factory in flawless working order.
Someone else thought it looked like there might be no tuning slides. My eyes aren't that keen.
Re: "Exotic" Indian Helicons and Sousaphones
Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 3:13 am
by David Richoux
Donn wrote:David Richoux wrote:
I have not seen anything like this in the US market (and I doubt there is an importer who will take a risk on them...)
Someone else thought it looked like there might be no tuning slides. My eyes aren't that keen.
I sure don't see any on these views -
tenor helicon or
tenor sousaphone- nor any way to adjust the mouthpiece position, nor any water keys! It looks more like something made to be a wall display instead of a functioning horn...
Re: "Exotic" Indian Helicons and Sousaphones
Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 9:12 am
by Mike-ICR
Did anybody else notice that the brand new single circle 3 piston sousaphone with 22" bell is actually an antique Cerveny 4 rotor?
Re: "Exotic" Indian Helicons and Sousaphones
Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 9:25 am
by imperialbari
Mike-ICR wrote:Did anybody else notice that the brand new single circle 3 piston sousaphone with 22" bell is actually an antique Cerveny 4 rotor?
Interesting observation!
This pre-WWI Cerveny Eb sousaphone was sold out of Colorado in 2003. Some higfhger resolution photos (2 postings):
Re: "Exotic" Indian Helicons and Sousaphones
Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 9:27 am
by imperialbari
3 more: