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The Elkhart Band Instrument co. Sousaphone

Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2012 1:19 am
by WilliamVance
So I just got in a Sousaphone that was made by The Elkhart Band Instrument co. It has the engaging in the side, not top of the name and an Elk. It looks like it had sat some place humid for a LONG time. I cleaned up the the valves and did a flush of the tubes, threw a Conn style neck on and it played very well! It's similar in size, weight and wrap to a King 1250. All notes slot well except the Db in the staff but that could be due to iffy valve alignment. The brass is thin but has sustained little denting. The finish is silver but probably the most tarnished I've seen. Several areas are green and I think it's going to take some mechanical buffing to clean it up more. My question is to the age of the horn. The serial # is 2888 then a space and 28. Could this horn be from 1928? The is very little info on this make. ive read Elkhart Band was a student line of Buescher. Here is the ebay link for pictures: http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewitem ... 1115202065" target="_blank

Re: The Elkhart Band Instrument co. Sousaphone

Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2012 8:33 am
by Paul Scott
There was an older line of instruments made by The Elkhart Band Instrument Company. Those aren't stencils but were made by an independent company (or at least as independent as the makers in that city were). They are listed in several trade publication articles of the day, (the 1920s).

Not sure if this instrument is from that era but thought I'd share this information.

Re: The Elkhart Band Instrument co. Sousaphone

Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2012 1:18 pm
by WilliamVance
Here are some pictures now that I've been able to somewhat clean up the horn:
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It plays very well and I love the light weight. a conn style neck works well, still waiting on tuning bits... Note slotting is nice and it has a great bottom end for a sousa this small. The pistons are all copper and show no evidence that they've ever been plated. I put the pistons back in numbered order and it played stuffy compared to before I took it apart. I noticed #1 and #3 are the same port alignment, switched them out and it plays much better with them reversed.

I'm still working on the tarnish around the valve cluster... I ran out of elbow grease after 4 hours.

Re: The Elkhart Band Instrument co. Sousaphone

Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2012 1:41 pm
by Lee Stofer
The instrument is definitely a Buescher. The engraving style, valve layout, everything points to it being a Buescher. Enjoy!

Re: The Elkhart Band Instrument co. Sousaphone

Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2012 4:49 pm
by WilliamVance
If only someone had a genuine Buescher neck and bit set to sell... Hint hint lol
Thanks Lee for your insight!