Big Ol' Sousaphone Poll

The bulk of the musical talk

I own the following (really) BIG sousaphone(s):

Conn Jumbo
12
32%
King Giant
5
14%
Buescher
4
11%
Martin Mammoth
6
16%
York Monster
3
8%
Other (please ellaborate)
7
19%
 
Total votes: 37

Shockwave
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Re: Big Ol' Sousaphone Poll

Post by Shockwave »

Bandmaster wrote: The one below was sold on eBay back in November 2005 and showed up at Tuba Christmas Los Angeles the next month. Unfortunately I have not seen it again after that, so I don't know where it is now. The guy that bought off of eBay was a member of this forum back then, but I don't know if he is still posting here.

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Thats the one I have. I live in Twentynine Palms now, a bit far from tuba christmases, and besides the horn plays quite flat until it gets good and hot in the sun so its not a good winter horn. I put in a crazy high bid on ebay just so I wouldn't have to watch the auction, and the bidding price was quite reasonable until the last second when harvey hartman bid $2100. Oops, live and learn. So I have this horn I can't afford to fix up and can't bring myself to sell at a loss. If you look close you can see it has a raincatcher bell collar. I don't know what the story is with this horn but the satin silver is intact where I would expect to see signs of modifications. Oh, and thanks for posting this picture. I've been looking everywhere for the "other" conn tuning bit, and I can see from this picture that the horn only came with one!

-Eric
Harvey Hartman
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Re: Big Ol' Sousaphone Poll

Post by Harvey Hartman »

price was quite reasonable until the last second when harvey hartman bid $2100. Oops, live and learn. So I have this horn I can't afford to fix up and can't bring myself to sell at a loss. If you look close you can see it has a raincatcher bell collar. I don't know what the story is with this horn but the satin silver is intact where I would expect to see signs of modifications. Oh, and thanks for posting this picture. I've been looking everywhere for the "other" conn tuning bit, and I can see from this picture that the horn only came with one!

I don't remember bidding on this horn??? and Its Ok with me that you wirte about Me...But Not for nothing???
How would you know if I was 2nd High bidder on this Horn??? Ebay only lets you see a few letters of other bidder name and never are thay the same letters? Only if your the seller, you can see other Bidders Names??
Thanks Harvey Hartman
Shockwave
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Re: Big Ol' Sousaphone Poll

Post by Shockwave »

My apologies if that came across badly Harvey, I have the greatest respect for what you do. 5 years ago ebay did give out the user names and bid amounts for all the bids. Anyway, my point was that not only did I screw up with my boneheaded bidding strategy, the horn would have ended up a lot better off if I hadn't bid.

I was looking for the bits to use with an Eb sousaphone. Even one bit is too much for this jumbo, it's really flat. I shortened the mouthpiece so it has just a stub of a shank and still the horn won't quite get up to pitch unless it sits in the sun. The easy solution is probably to shorten the neck, and I suspect that the original neck was a lot shorter. The last time I used it with a group I stuck a huge 24" loudspeaker horn in the bell receiver. It kills the high register and looks absolutely ridiculous but does bring the horn up to pitch.
46K
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Re: Big Ol' Sousaphone Poll

Post by 46K »

One more Conn 46K Jumbo:
a 1924 satin silver gold wash bell in Belgium.
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Bandmaster
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Re: Big Ol' Sousaphone Poll

Post by Bandmaster »

OK, I just found this photo from the Los Angeles Tuba Christmas last month. Somebody brought this beast and they had fun comparing before the rehearsal. Robb Stewart took this photo of this King Jumbo/Giant next to a Conn 20K. This beast has a huge bore of .815".

Image
Dave Schaafsma
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1966 Holton 345 | 1955 York-Master | 1939 York 716 | 1940 York 702 | 1968 Besson 226 | 1962 Miraphone 186 | 1967 Olds | 1923 Keefer EEb | 1895 Conn Eb | 1927 Conn 38K | 1919 Martin Helicon
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The Big Ben
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Re: Big Ol' Sousaphone Poll

Post by The Big Ben »

That is a BIIIIG sousaphone!
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Donn
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Re: Big Ol' Sousaphone Poll

Post by Donn »

You could make your sousaphone look that big. Put it on a not too big teenage kid, and have him stand about 6 feet in front of the big guy with the Conn. The kid's tuba will look gigantic.
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Re: Big Ol' Sousaphone Poll

Post by Bandmaster »

Donn wrote:You could make your sousaphone look that big. Put it on a not too big teenage kid, and have him stand about 6 feet in front of the big guy with the Conn. The kid's tuba will look gigantic.
I was there when this photo was taken. The kid is actually the player that brought the horn to Tuba Christmas and he played it during the rehearsal and performance. Dave is playing the Conn 20K and and he is actually along side the kid, not behind him. They had a set of bell covers spelling out TUBA CHRISTMAS to use on all the sousaphones and they wound up just hanging one over the top of bell of this horn, it wouldn't even come close to fitting, even with the draw string removed.
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1966 Holton 345 | 1955 York-Master | 1939 York 716 | 1940 York 702 | 1968 Besson 226 | 1962 Miraphone 186 | 1967 Olds | 1923 Keefer EEb | 1895 Conn Eb | 1927 Conn 38K | 1919 Martin Helicon
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Re: Big Ol' Sousaphone Poll

Post by Brown Mule »

Dan, You're the knowledgeable one on Jumbos---------Does the King take the cake ?How do collar diameter and other measurments compare?
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