A "friend-of--a-friend" offered me an Eb sousaphone (I don't know what manufacturer) that his daughter had used in school... FREE ! (It's not fiberglass and it looks extremely well used)
This comment from another thread made me wonder if production fiberglass sousaphones or tubas have been made in Eb, CC, or F. Does anyone know? Or other plastic materials?
I'm aware of the transparent tuba and carbon fiber bells. I'm just asking about production instruments, not one-offs or experiments.
JP/Sterling 377 compensating Eb; Warburton "The Grail" T.G.4, RM-9 7.8, Yamaha 66D4; for sale > 1914 Conn Monster Eb (my avatar), ca. 1905 Fillmore Bros 1/4-size Eb, Bach 42B trombone
Definitely "Eh". I can't really see that weight would be much of an issue with Eb or F, and the bell is a good idea, sort of a reverse of the Jupiter mixed souzy. And would any self-respecting CC player be caught dead with a fiberglass horn?
Weirder things have happened, though. Conn made a fiberglass 2XJ for a short time. Very short.
JP/Sterling 377 compensating Eb; Warburton "The Grail" T.G.4, RM-9 7.8, Yamaha 66D4; for sale > 1914 Conn Monster Eb (my avatar), ca. 1905 Fillmore Bros 1/4-size Eb, Bach 42B trombone
GC wrote:And would any self-respecting CC player be caught dead with a fiberglass horn?
It has nothing to do with self-respect. It has everything to do with weight. To get the low F, or even D or G in tune without moveable slides, unless you have a large bore souzy, the privilege tones will be grainy, and to add the 4th valve and long pullable slide to get 1+4 in tune defeats the purpose. Eb is small enough that the 4th valve doesn't add back as much weight.
GC wrote:And would any self-respecting CC player be caught dead with a fiberglass horn?
It has nothing to do with self-respect. It has everything to do with weight. To get the low F, or even D or G in tune without moveable slides, unless you have a large bore souzy, the privilege tones will be grainy, and to add the 4th valve and long pullable slide to get 1+4 in tune defeats the purpose. Eb is small enough that the 4th valve doesn't add back as much weight.
Last edited by Dan Schultz on Tue Feb 17, 2015 8:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Dan Schultz
"The Village Tinker" http://www.thevillagetinker.com" target="_blank
Current 'stable'... Rudolf Meinl 5/4, Marzan (by Willson) euph, King 2341, Alphorn, and other strange stuff.
Not only this link, but La Grosse Tete has some other YouTube videos. Magnificent. If it weren't for the fact that most trad jazz tunes are in the flat keys, I know where there is a Selmer Fiberglass souzy I can get for cheap I might have to have converted to CC myself. As I posted above, with the .730-ish bore, it will do the privileged tones for low F and down, but you really don't play in that lowest register on a regular basis for trad jazz. You keep it in the "cash register" to keep everybody knitted together.
Yes, Dan did a superlative job on the conversion. If there are any intonation quirks, I didn't hear them, and on the minor keys of some of the other videos posted, you would hear them.
bloke wrote:.... That guy sounds good playing that instrument in that band. You did a fine job, Dan!
Actually... Bill's a superb musician! He could probably make a garden hose sound good!
Dan Schultz
"The Village Tinker" http://www.thevillagetinker.com" target="_blank
Current 'stable'... Rudolf Meinl 5/4, Marzan (by Willson) euph, King 2341, Alphorn, and other strange stuff.
It is fun playing the 36K CC Dan made for me, and I really appreciate that he offered to make it, but notice I don't sustain any notes on it. I wouldn't use it to play Bordogni etudes. Thanks for the kind words, guys ! I'm glad you enjoyed listening to LGT. That seems to be my main gig since I moved to Austin.
