eBay: Conn 48k

[Tom Eshelman]

Congrats on the great article, Kiltie. I did not put together that our resident bearded tubenet sousaphone guru was the author. One of the most interesting statements to me was "These early sousaphones [in Sousa's band] were by no means made for marching; just imagine carrying an instrument of more than 40 pounds for a mile or more:".

So apparently this could be said of all jumbo 40+-pound sousaphones?

[lowpitchmoravian]

Lot of money to pay for bad back problems--(*&^%$#$%^&*()_+

I've read in the archives someone say they werent meant to be parade instruments. My 3 valve is heavy so i can only imagine the weight of a 4th valve and slightly bigger bell.
You need a lot of core strength to march with one. 2 weeks ago i tried and the next day i had a weird thigh strain and my ankles were sore.
The weight is mostly at the top of the horn so sore shoulders are a norm.
You need strong biceps to keep the horn level and not tipping over.
Strong legs help.
Nobody seems to notice its much bigger and you are in a lot more discomfort.

Love mine though!

I read that Sousa 's band seldom marched with theirs .

[bisontuba]

So, somebody bought it in a 'best offer accepted.' Anyone on this forum?