King sousaphone modification

[Steve Oberheu]

Hi all!

All my playing these days is on my King 2350, which I love over every other sousaphone I've played. There's only one thing I dislike...the bend in the tubing that pokes me in the ribs constantly while playing.

Over the holidays, I borrowed a 2350 from my high school and found that a modification had been done to it where the bracings along the wrap had been extended by using some kind of conversion thing which effectively lifted the valves away from the body. Made it easier to take deep breaths, etc. Anyway...

Has anyone else encountered this kind of mod? Can anyone tell me if there is a person/place they know of where I could get this procedure done on my horn? Sure would be nice to not have that sore spot in my ribs after every gig...

Thanks!

[EdFirth]

My repairman did that to mine about 25 years ago. He also bent me a new gooseneck because it made the angle of the mouthpipe, even using the bits to try to compensate, uncomfortable for me. I think it's a really smart fix but ideally, I would like to move the main tuning slide to after the valves( like on the coorosponding Cleveland King model)which would have the same result but take that awful tight bend out of the leadpipe. I was offered a choice between a King and a Cleveland sousaphone by the New Orleans Police band for purchase when I was going back out with the circus and was shocked at how much better the Cleveland played. The same nice sound but Way less stuffy and easier to center. OK, I'm done now. Ed