TubeNet

I bought a Conn 26k awhile ago and enjoy it alot I have one problem and that is the Bb below the staves is very stuffy and hard to establish with any comfort or clarity.
Does any body know is this a trait of the model is there any thing that can be done to improve it?
I use a Besson 24 moutpiece with two tunning bits and a kelly 25 when its cold.

Plus I have a request the shippers damaged the second valve slide in transit and the 3rd valve slide also anybody have slides suitable for sale?

hmmm...that note should jump out of that horn ...assuming valve alignment is good , you might want to try another MP - thats a strange one...
Does it vary from one mouthpiece to the other ?

Check the horn for leaks, valve alignment, and make sure the pistons are correct.

The notes strangeness does not vary from my two current mouthpieces I use those two because they are what I had that fitted the bore I am willing to change mouthpieces if anybody can recommend one. The Sousa had been relisted on eBay as the bass trombone player who bought it first did not like the note. Other google searches lead me to believe it was a characteristic of the model I went ahead and bought it as it was a good example just refurbished and most importantly was an Eb I kind of wish now I had waited as the next week a Beuscher came up with 4 valves in Eb but there you go.
I still would love to hear from anyone that can supply the 2 slides the Sousa plays but I hate playing dented instruments. You can hear in action with St James band and the Mullingar town band on YouTube
Thanks

TubaTinker wrote:Check the horn for leaks, valve alignment, and make sure the pistons are correct.

Yeah, what Dan said. Chances are, you either have a leak somewhere or your valves aren't aligned.

Thank you for the advice. When you mention valve alignment is it the vertical alignment as controlled by pads and springs or it's rotational alignment of the ports in the piston with tubes in the cluster. Are there any previous threads or photos that deal with valve alignments just realised how lazy that question is I will try the search function

It could be left or right alignment if the valve guide is worn down.

26K & 28K both are Eb long stroke sousaphones, 3 &4 pistons respectively.

Klaus, owning one of each

imperialbari wrote:26K & 28K both are Eb long stroke sousaphones, 3 &4 pistons respectively.

Klaus, owning one of each

Did not know there was a 4 valve model is it much heavier than the 26K?
Do you find the Bb I mentioned above to be an easy note to strike mine sounds a little muffled but the f at the bottom of the stave is fine same fingering but it's in tune and nice sounding.
Where did you find the 28k?

This is a bit of a long shot but it happened to me so here goes.If there is a replacement valve it can fit in the casing fine and have the ports in the right places but have the valve guide in a slightly different place and it makes some notes very hard to play. I don't know what the tool is called, but it's a flexible tube with a light on the end that you look through and if this is the problem the valve can be fine on the up and down stroke but out of line side to side.My horn was a 40K that was marginal until we figured this out(sometimes the milatary will throw away a valve when they scrap a horn) and was fantastic when put in alignment. Unfortunately it weighed a ton so I sold it to Harry Connick for John Allred to play one second line tune per show.For that it is perfect. Good luck with it. Ed

My 28K from 1946 is not as much heavier than my 26K from 1928 as one might have expected, but they are made after and before a change of a Conn policy change on the thickness of the basic brass sheet metal. One may have a suspicion on shortness of supply after WWII.

The 26K is the one I have had the longest (since 1990), and it has a killer sound in the mid- and upper ranges, whereas I was not so happy with the lower range until I started using the PT-50 in 1999, but then that also was the year I started playing tuba for real. Until then I mostly used the 26K to open up my lungs in my morning routines, whereas I used bass trombone and euph in bands. The 26K has been loaned to professionals for pit work (Tom Waits’ remake of Der Freischütz) and TubeNetter bird for a concert with our opera orchestra. Both players wanted to buy the 26K, but I refused.

I bought the 28K from bloke, who had reviewed it here on TN. It is a good instrument, but I haven’t played it as much as the 26K, and far far less than the 40K, which occupies my lone Wenger chair. The 4 pistons make the 28K more specific in hand angle demands than the 26K, and my right arm ends up very sore when I play the 28K sitting in a K&M stand. I have bad joints, so I do not want a sousaphone hanging on my shoulder.

Klaus

EdFirth wrote:This is a bit of a long shot but it happened to me so here goes.If there is a replacement valve it can fit in the casing fine and have the ports in the right places but have the valve guide in a slightly different place and it makes some notes very hard to play.

This is possible also. If the alignment isn't right, it can play hell with your intonation and make certain notes stuffy. It is definitely worth your time to have it checked.

I believe that Klaus refuted the assertion that this horn is short action several posts up. Ed

EdFirth wrote:I believe that Klaus refuted the assertion that this horn is short action several posts up. Ed

yup, my 26K was long stroke valves. (Did Conn make a short action Eb?) And, in answer to the original question, mine also had an awful low Bb, could easily be lipped a whole step in either direction, and sounded stuffy no matter where you put it. Beautiful tone and response in the staff and above though, kind of wish I had kept that horn. It had the neatest mother of pearl inlays on the bottom valve caps.

BRSousa wrote:... This isn't going to be the problem with this horn because it is the short action model and the short action model has a very particular set up that won't allow for this problem. The alignment (unless you have 2XJ valve on accident, which is very unlikely) problems will only be vertical.

Kevin... the 26K and 28K sousaphones are three and four valve versions of plain old Eb sousaphones. They ARE NOT short action horns.

imperialbari wrote:My 28K from 1946 is not as much heavier than my 26K from 1928 as one might have expected, but they are made after and before a change of a Conn policy change on the thickness of the basic brass sheet metal. One may have a suspicion on shortness of supply after WWII.

The 26K is the one I have had the longest (since 1990), and it has a killer sound in the mid- and upper ranges, whereas I was not so happy with the lower range until I started using the PT-50 in 1999, but then that also was the year I started playing tuba for real. Until then I mostly used the 26K to open up my lungs in my morning routines, whereas I used bass trombone and euph in bands. The 26K has been loaned to professionals for pit work (Tom Waits’ remake of Der Freischütz) and TubeNetter bird for a concert with our opera orchestra. Both players wanted to buy the 26K, but I refused.

I bought the 28K from bloke, who had reviewed it here on TN. It is a good instrument, but I haven’t played it as much as the 26K, and far far less than the 40K, which occupies my lone Wenger chair. The 4 pistons make the 28K more specific in hand angle demands than the 26K, and my right arm ends up very sore when I play the 28K sitting in a K&M stand. I have bad joints, so I do not want a sousaphone hanging on my shoulder.

Klaus

Thank you for the info it matches my experience of the 26K I play it as much as I can the concert band director has started to ask for it when we play outdoors.