Bessy don't play like she used to!

[Tulanetubaboy]

Has anyone every had this problem? I have a Besson sousaphone that I have been playing on for about 3-4 months now.
Yesterday I was playing on it just fine. It had a nice open feel and it was very easy to play in the louder dynamic ranges. I brought it to school for a volleyball game with the pep band and the most depressing thing happened. A friend of mine called off a song that required a lot of edge and when I tried to play Bessy loud, all that came out was a muffled sound. No matter how much air I put into the horn, all that came out was this stuffy, clogged sound. Its like I was using twice as much air to get half the sound I was getting yesterday. I flipped the horn a few times and nothing fell out. I reached in as far as I could and there was nothing. I took out all the tuning slides, placed them back in the horn and pressed the valves. Nothing has worked. I still don't understand how a horn that was playing just fine yesterday, is now playing as if a sweater was lightly stuffed into the bell. Any help would be wonderful, thank you.

[David Richoux]

It could be a sweater (or something like a tennis ball, paper cup, or some other object that would go way down the pipe.) Try flushing with water - a garden hose at the mouthpiece bit works - until water comes up to the bell neck. Be sure to work the valves while the water is passing through. Take all the slides out and rotate the horn both ways a few times to get the water out.

If that doesn't do the trick, a instrument snake might work.

[Tulanetubaboy]

So that doesn't damage the horn or anything right?

[Dan Schultz]

It doesn't take much inside the branches of a sousaphone to 'kill' it. You didn't happen to roll your music up and put it in the bell for safekeeping, did you?

The 'garden hose thing' won't hurt your horn. Flush away.

[Art Hovey]

A while back I had a new tuba student with a sousaphone that would not play. I managed to shake a bunch of crumpled sheet music out, but it was pretty clear that there was more. It was way past garden-hose season here in CT, so I brought a steel tape measure to the next lesson. Pulled the main tuning slide out and fed about 6 feet of the tape into the main bugle, not the valve section. That loosened the rest of the paper.

[Tulanetubaboy]

Nah, I never used to put music up in the bell, and thanks, I'll do that first thing in the morning. If it doesn't work, should I just take it to someone who does instrument repairs?

[Dean E]

Nah, I never used to put music up in the bell, and thanks, I'll do that first thing in the morning. If it doesn't work, should I just take it to someone who does instrument repairs?

If you don't find a stoppage, check your valves, valve keys, and water corks. Also, a soldered joint could have broken. Any chance that someone played a prank and switched valves?

[David Richoux]

So that doesn't damage the horn or anything right?

Just be careful while you are filling and when you are turning it around to drain - it is heavier and the weight will shift as the water moves through the horn - if you drop it the damage will probably be worse than with an empty horn.

Also be sure to push the valves down when you pull the tuning slides out to drain them - the vacuum in the tube could have more effect than just an "air pop."

I flush out all of my "work" tubas and sousaphones every 3 months or so.

[SousaSaver]

Nah, I never used to put music up in the bell, and thanks, I'll do that first thing in the morning. If it doesn't work, should I just take it to someone who does instrument repairs?

If you don't find a stoppage, check your valves, valve keys, and water corks. Also, a soldered joint could have broken. Any chance that someone played a prank and switched valves?

I think that a loose joint would have to be very close to the mouth piece to have an effect like he is describing, so I don't think it would be that. Switched valves does make perfect sense if there is no obstruction in the bore.

I was once repairing a Sousaphone that had some liquid inside of it. I spun and spun and spun the horn and COULD NOT get the liquid out. I was puzzled. I took out the main tuning slide and put a hose into the horn to try to see what might happen. Water came out of the spout. I was relieved. I went to spin the rest of the water out. Same problem. Liquid magically stuck inside the horn. I then took ball bearings and ran them through the bore. THUNK - out came a water bottle that had wedged itself in enough to get stuck, but not enough to form a seal that would stop water.

I know...it sounds pretty stupid in retrospect.

[iiipopes]

Sousaphone...being played in a public place...with school aged people around.

You didn't do it, but from playing souzys in marching band in high school, it does sound like something is inside it, whether by accident or purposefully tossed in.

[imperialbari]

What did you find floating out of the sousaphone?

Klaus

[Karl H.]

The Old Valve Switcharoo Trick?

Karl "who would NEVER think to do this to someone... maybe" H.

[David Richoux]

The Old Valve Switcharoo Trick?

Karl "who would NEVER think to do this to someone... maybe" H.

Most horns I have (unless they are the rare kind with "identical valves") block airflow completely if the valves are switched - the initial complaint was "stuffy" - not "nothing!"

[Tulanetubaboy]

Bessy had a sock in her! I couldn't believe it. She is playing fine now, thank you everyone for the help.

[jonesbrass]

Bessy had a sock in her! I couldn't believe it. She is playing fine now, thank you everyone for the help.

You might consider getting a sousaphone "grill" or a bell cover to prevent random things from being deposited in your bell. It is apparently a big temptation for people who don't play tuba. . .

[Dan Schultz]

Bessy had a sock in her! I couldn't believe it. She is playing fine now, thank you everyone for the help.

BRAVO!

[SousaSaver]

Bessy had a sock in her! I couldn't believe it. She is playing fine now, thank you everyone for the help.

You might consider getting a sousaphone "grill" or a bell cover to prevent random things from being deposited in your bell. It is apparently a big temptation for people who don't play tuba. . .

A grill is a great idea. I had a friend get a free piece of pizza once at a college football game...directly into his bell.

[Homerun]

http://www.music123.com/productDetail/p ... rce=ZWBING" target="_blank

I have heard these work well.

[imperialbari]

http://www.music123.com/productDetail/p ... rce=ZWBING" target="_blank

I have heard these work well.

Looks like overkill.

A lighter solution:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Sousaphone-Bell-Cov ... 0192647146

My language came up on US eBay, so that was the link I took, but the seller has several other variants.

These nets are very popular in the German Lent/Canival parades, which have the onlookers very close to the bands. And everybody throws candy from the floats.

Klaus

[Homerun]

http://www.music123.com/productDetail/p ... rce=ZWBING" target="_blank

I have heard these work well.

Looks like overkill.

This doesn't fit over the bell, it does inside and out of sight. And I used to hate playing with bell covers in college - i always felt, well, for lack of a better phrase, like there was a sock in my sousaphone.