CL Sioux Falls: Vintage Conn BBb

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Tabor
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Re: CL Sioux Falls: Vintage Conn BBb

Post by Tabor »

Straight in leadpipe & more symmetry than most Conn configurations of that era. The bell profile seems also a little different. That bell and bugle reminds me a lot of the August Helleberg rotary Conn in photos. Interesting old tuba
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Walter Webb
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Re: CL Sioux Falls: Vintage Conn BBb

Post by Walter Webb »

I have one of these Conns, from 1942, with what appears to be a bigger 20" bell. Same straight-in lead pipe. I've been told (thank you Saxophyte) it's a 35J or 37J, but have not been able to find a clear model number and picture on the internet. I use one tuning bit, if only to get my face out from behind the bell stack, and get a better playing angle, and have heard that these horns were intended for at least one bit.

Mine's a USNavy horn. Ser #341,xxx ('41-'42), 20 inch fixed bell, .750 bore (measured improperly at the outside of a slide tube), and traditional long pistons. There must have been factory variations related to the leadpipe and tuning slide placement, bell size and attachment, and short action valves. Info on the internet is elusive. Horns I've seen in this league, in that time period, has the tuning slide before the valves, short action valves and removable bells.
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Tubajug
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Re: CL Sioux Falls: Vintage Conn BBb

Post by Tubajug »

I remember seeing the one you posted Walter Webb. How does it play?
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Walter Webb
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Re: CL Sioux Falls: Vintage Conn BBb

Post by Walter Webb »

These are my impressions as an intermediate player, and anyone else's mileage may vary. It plays with a huge tone, fat and resonant in the contrabass, but is also amenable to soft dynamics and sings above the staff. It is able to hold it's own, volume-wise, alone in a large concert band. I would guess it's a 5/4 body. It is all American, with that characteristic huge bell and quickly expanding throat taper, and (comparative to tall stack German smaller bell designs) has a spreading or "flowery" tone. Pushing the volume gets that 20 inch bell to ring. Certain resonant frequencies just pop out like crazy. Tons of vibrational feedback to the head, and the instrument itself seems to hum. There are ergonomic factors I had to adjust to, like 4 top pistons. Gravity helps push them downward, and the right hand sorta floats with the palm laying against a bow. No thumb ring! Most tubas point the bell leftward, and you peer over the right to see the music. This one points rightward and you peer left around the bell which is right next to your face, so you lean it to the right. Using a Conn 20k bit really helps. It weighs 25 lbs, which to me is rather heavy, and I play it on a K&M floor stand set slightly below seat level.

I did a TubeNet search and came up with Kiltie's detailed analysis of this model as being a 35J-U 4 valve: "So the 3xJ series: 30J-R (recording bell) 3 valve, 31J-U (upright bell) 3 valve, 32J-R 3 front action, 33J-U 3 front action, 34J-R 4 valve, 35J-U 4 valve, 36J-R 4 front action, 37J-U 4 front action" Thanks, Kiltie.
Walter Webb
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Re: CL Sioux Falls: Vintage Conn BBb

Post by Walter Webb »

Lost, if this is what you meant, I got 15 3/4" inches. I always figured there was a larger version than mine, with a 24" bell. So, I suppose I've got a Monster, not a Grand.
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