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I have a sousaphone that I'm looking to aquire, Eb King by HN White, that the valves are not in the greates plating condition. Aside from being a little loose, is there any harm to the valves or the horn in holding off on replating them?

The horn is in silver with a gold wash bell. As I go through to clean/polish what do I polish the bell with so as not to harm the gold wash? Other than tarnish from years of sitting, and considering this was a school owned instrument this thing really isn't in too bad of shape and plays with a pretty decent scale. It does have a ringing from the bell on some notes but that is a minor problem in my mind.

I have more questions about this particular horn and will post pictures after I get home and get them uploaded.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/fbx/? ... f8666d5166

Here are some pictures of the King sousaphone. Can any of you tell me anything more about this model? Thanks.

Bump to see if anybody can tell me anything about this model.

H N White sousys are some of the best. Period. If I ever play souzy again, the only two genres I will consider are either a pre-UMI King souzy or a pre-Cyborg Conn. Even banged around, rebuilt, taped together, etc., they are still better than new ones of any brand or model.

I've played several souzys over the years with worn valves, which is what you expect with the dust of a marching field getting into them. You can put off a replate/rebuild by taking a standard 1-ounce bottle (not synthetic) of any good valve oil (I prefer Roche-Thomas, over 35 years), and add a drop at a time of pharmaceutical grade mineral oil until it gets to the compromise of being thick enough to make the "seal" between the valve and the casing, but not so thick it starts slowing down the valves.

Thanks for the information. I'm thinking about picking this one up for the few sousaphone gigs I get and then selling the 28K but not completely sure yet. Would any of you have a guess on the value of this horn?

As I said above, it does play pretty well, probably a little better overall than my 28K and it is certainly a lighter beast.

As always, thanks much.

bloke wrote:Several of these King Eb sousaphones have passed through my shop over the years, including some 4-valve versions.

Reynolds made one very similar with a different tuning slide configuration. The (less common) Reynolds version is - in my experience - somewhat better in-tune - still with a few quirks.

Many people view the Conn 26/28K Eb sousaphones as the "best ever Eb sousaphone". I'm partial to the Reynolds. It's a non-issue.

Have 1942 Reynolds 4 valve Souz made into Helicon(ConnJ15 bell) and its good blowing horn-----projects well, opentones,good pedal notes, and no fluky notes. Tight wrap which makes for good size. Built by Mike Teague in NC.I use the horn for everything but esp good for walking gigs.

Don’t sell the 28K until you are convinced from actual performances that you can live with these three features of the actual King:

The smaller inner space in a full circle Eb circlophone.

The lacking 4th valve.

The lack in oomph compared to a Conn

Klaus

What Klaus said. Both the King & the Conn are great souzys, but they do have different personalities. To me, all Reynolds low brass have always sounded a bit "thin," albeit with great intonation.

I repaired a Martin Eb Sousa about 8 months ago that was a tremendous player. Huge sound.

I worked out the deal to mutual satisfaction so I'm going to go ahead and take the King home. For the price I'm going to keep the 28K and the King, at least for a couple of months, and see if one speaks to me more than the other and then most likely sell one of them. Thanks for the information and advice.