Sousaphone from hell

[Tom Holtz]

I played on one of those fiberglass Yamahas in the 1988 Disney Band in Anaheim. I was very happy with the horn I had. That thing played great. Haven't really liked any other sousaphone before or since.

OP had a POS.

[tubatom91]

I am not sure about anybody else on this board but I cannot play King sousaphones, or King copies (jupiter). I am too big or they are too small, I cant figure out which one it is. Yamaha's are just about the right size, I enjoy playing Conn's to (mostly the 20K). Take that into account before buying a sousaphone. At least try it on first!

[windshieldbug]

[Todd S. Malicoate]

I was a full time tuba player at Disney from 1983 to 2000 . I certainly know Mike Roylance but who is Todd Malicoate? What band were you in ? Ed

Hi, Ed. I was in the 1988 "All-American College Marching Show Band" in Orlando, where I played tuba next to Mike and piano for the "sit-down" sets. I came back in 1989 to play electric bass in the "All-American College Show Band"...we did the "Best of Disney" show in front of the castle with the lip-synching dancers and several characters (which, sadly, I hear hasn't been used in some time). I'm surprised you don't remember me - I was the tuba player who twisted an ankle doing a 360 with the sousaphone and was laid up for a couple of weeks (the backstage area was a lot of fun whipping around in a wheelchair!).

I may have met you backstage at some point, but as I remember we had very little interaction with the professional band members (I'm assuming you were in the World Band at the time?). We would rarely get to the park before the afternoon...only when we rehearsed with a guest artist before our sets (which is when I recall seeing some of the World Band players around the band room), and we would pretty much finish our sets and pile into the vans for the trip back to Kissimmee in the early evening.

As for the horns we used, Wade, I'm reasonably sure they were "stock," but I really have no way of knowing for sure if they were modified. They weren't, of course, the best sousaphones I've ever played, but I clearly remember feeling surprised that they were as good as they were. They seemed well in tune, open-blowing (not stuffy), and quite hard to overblow (everything I like in a sousaphone). The benefit of the really light weight may have tempered my opinions, though.

[Todd S. Malicoate]

I played on one of those fiberglass Yamahas in the 1988 Disney Band in Anaheim. I was very happy with the horn I had. That thing played great. Haven't really liked any other sousaphone before or since.

OP had a POS.

Wow, Tom...all these years of posting on TubeNet and admiring your accomplishments in "The President's Own" and I never realized you are a Disney alum from the same year as me. What happened to your section mate in Anaheim that year? Am I the only Disney college tuba player from the summer of 1988 without a gig?

[iiipopes]

I am not sure about anybody else on this board but I cannot play King sousaphones, or King copies (jupiter). I am too big or they are too small, I cant figure out which one it is. Yamaha's are just about the right size, I enjoy playing Conn's to (mostly the 20K). Take that into account before buying a sousaphone. At least try it on first!

Yamahas are copied from the old Buescher design, which is derivative of the Conn, but the Yammys have thinner metal. If you like the way a Yammy fits, then you will like an old Buescher or Conn 14K even better, as they are better balanced fore to aft.

Having played both, I can see what a person means about the Kings not fitting. They fit me fine, but I'm not quite so tall.

Also, with all due respect, I fail to see the advantage of cutting a King to CC, as you lose the low F unless the horn has really good false partials, which most don't, because with the smaller .687 bore they are in tune, but grainy sounding. And adding a 4th valve to get all that back defeats the purpose of lightening the horn by cutting to CC. And without the 4th valve, there is not a reasonable way of converting the tight top loop of the 1st valve slide on a King valve block to be a left hand movable slide for intonation, as can be done on a Conn. Also, the main tuning slide on a King is in tubing before the valve block, so the entire block has to be redesigned for a new main tuning slide on the backside out of the block. It's just not cost effective. Just my observations from considering doing this very thing a few years ago, as I had access to a retired King pre-cyborg souzy that would have been a good candidate for such.

[iiipopes]

Elephant: our respective experiences have been completely different. I'm glad you have found good ones to play.

[tubatom91]

The tuning bit aren't braced, you just jamm them in and they wedge into place. Somtimes the bit will come loose so a hand might be needed to support them, I usually dont have this problem. I usually have the problem of the neck spinning away from me which is just a result of poor playing techniques (too much pressure).

also be be careful when tightening the neck screws on a yamaha, I have snapped a few off right before a gig and had a sloppy floppy neck spinning freely.

[windshieldbug]

right before a gig and had a sloppy floppy neck spinning freely.

The subject wasn't "magic" mushrooms...

[tubatom91]

they really help when parade marching gets old, or for those extra long parades. Really makes a marching event an interesting occurance