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Hey everybody,

I've been looking around for a King 18 inch bell? Let me know you guys have one or know of somebody who does.

Not enough info. What do you want to do with it?

The Bill Bell C's had 16'inch bells. I know there weren't many but they had the same tenons as the 1240/41 tubas and the sousaphones.FWIW, Ed

Sorry for the lack of the info. I'm trying to find a bell that I can attach or fix to attach to a king sousaphone to make it a ran catcher or a helicon.

gravy_mbsm wrote:Sorry for the lack of the info. I'm trying to find a bell that I can attach or fix to attach to a king sousaphone to make it a ran catcher or a helicon.

Ah, hah... I'm not sure there is a bell which could be attached directly without modifications to make a helicon out of a sousie.

Here's a link to Tuba Tinker's page about creating a helicon out of a sousie. He has big pages so keep scrolling down until you find it. It is there. He posts here frequently so maybe he can chime in with some information.

http://www.thevillagetinker.com/projects.htm" target="_blank

You should be able to use the upright bells from the 1240/1241/2340/2341 to make a pseudo-Raincatcher, if you’ve got the “normal” King 4/4 sousaphone. It won’t be the perfect angle, but it’s pretty close. You may have to pull your slide out a good bit since it’s a shorter bell. I think they come in 19” and 22” bell sizes. I’d go with the 22” if I was trying to make an authentic-ish Raincatcher. A smaller bell is probably closer to right for a helicon. Maybe a Yamaha 201 full bell stack or something like it could work if you remove the last turn from the sousaphone to make a helicon?

On a barely-related note, I’d love to have a removable bell in any size from 15-18” for a King concert tuba, if anyone has one laying around. More like those old Bill Bell Kings and less pancake...

That all sounds right... is cutting a bell a normal or simple thing for a repair tech?

Btw, here’s a video of me using an almost-Raincatcher. This one is a Martin Mammoth with a Kanstul upright bell, but I think the King Sousa with the 2341 upright would have about the same bell angle.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YoO_6ob1HyM

-T. J.