Horn Identification help, please - King Sousaphone

[Neil Bliss]

So there I am, walking down the street to get a cup of coffee when I see a sousaphone sitting on the sidewalk outside an antique shop. After looking it over, I found out they wanted a very modest price for it, so I bought it. Now I need to figure out what I bought.


From the markings it's a King, made by H.N. White and Co. in Cleveland. The serial number is 240051. Do we have any King authorities that can help me narrow this down a little more?

[Neil Bliss]

From what I see on http://www.hnwhite.com/Serial%20Numbers.htm, it would appear to be from 1940. I'm guessing that it'll be a model 1250, and I'll have to break out the tape measure to see if it's a 1250-a or a 1250-b.

[Neil Bliss]

The bell has the King/White engraving on it, but it's so dirty/tarnished right now that it wouldn't photograph well.

[pierso20]

The bell has the King/White engraving on it, but it's so dirty/tarnished right now that it wouldn't photograph well.

So Shine that puppy up and show 'er off!

[iiipopes]

that bell definitely doesnt look like the original

It is. I've played them. The local university has a dozen old ones they retired a few years ago that have the same details. The sad part is they retired them in favor of new Jupiters which aren't worth the brass they're made of.