Happy Birthday to me....

[Rick Denney]

My wife bought me a sousaphone for my birthday. It had belonged to her uncle (who had recently bought a VMI 3301 with the wifely proviso that it would be the only remaining tuba). He bought it to have something to play when his Besson of the time was with Dave Secrist getting a valve job.

It appears to me to be a Conn 14K. The size is smallish, for a sousaphone, with a 24" bell. I haven't stuck ruler to it, but it's definitely not a 20K (it has conventional valves, and it isn't big enough). It's brass, but it's as light as many fiberglass sousaphones I've hefted. The leadpipe goes straight into the first valve, the third valve has a double loop on the top, and the main slide is after the valves. I've not measured the bore, but it seems to be medium-sized.

There is a Conn logo on the bell, but the bell was not born with the body of this instrument. They have clearly led different lives and found each other after many different experiences. But I'm thinking a Conn bell would not fit any other body. That leads me to the 14K conclusion.

The instrument plays quite well, with excellent intonation and a nice, fat sound. It doesn't have the depth and resonance of the Holton, but it's not nearly as fat. Valves are quite good. The bell is a bit battered, and the body is covered with very small dents and dings plus a huge amount of scratching. What lacquer is there is ruined, so I'll probably strip it off so that it can age more gracefully. I'll probably work on the bell a bit and then strip and polish it.

I'm surprised by the intonation, even on C and Db. B is sharp, as expected, but that's the only questionable note. Unlike the 20J I owned for a while, I think I'll be able to use this instrument with the band without feeling like I'm annoying people. It will be good at the summer concert, where the tuba sound is usually swallowed up by the tent.

And it will give me a good excuse to do something useful with all those Dukes of Dixieland LP's I'm buying this week.

Rick "who'd rather play this sousaphone than a lot of tubas" Denney

[Chriss2760]

Did she wrap the sous?

[windshieldbug]

Does that make her a Sous Chef?

[Joe Baker]

Did she wrap the sous?

Someone did, or it'd look like this!


__________________________
Joe Baker, who's thinkin' if she DID, she's got biceps like Mr. T!

[Will]

Did she wrap the sous?

If she did manage to find enough wrapping paper, or funny papers , I imagine it wouldn't be too hard to guess what it was.

[Steve Marcus]

My wife bought me a sousaphone for my birthday.

I'm working on my wife for a new F tuba...

Why would she ever want a new house first?

[ThomasDodd]

I hope that you are fortunate enough to see many, many more of them!

Birthdays or sousaphones?

I vote for both

[ThomasDodd]

I'm working on my wife for a new F tuba...

Careful, that could get reversed...

my F tuba for a new wife...

[elimia]

lucky stiff...

[Anterux]

Happy Birthday Rick

My wife doesn't let me buy any more brass...

[tubamirum]

What's the serial number?

[Lew]

Rick,

Could this sousaphone model of mystery be a CONN 32K BBb Lightweight, 3 valve built in 1931-1943.

Being it doesn't really fit the 14K or 20K descriptions.

That was going to be my guess, a 32K. If the serial number on the valves is low enough, i.e. pre-1950s, that's what it could be.

Here's a 32K, does it look like this?

http://www.xs4all.nl/~cderksen/Conn32K1943image.html

[tubatooter1940]

Happy birthday,Rick.Enjoy your wonderful gift.

[MaryAnn]

Bappy Hirthday!

You and your wife are both lucky to have each other. Be sure to give her something nice on her birthday!

MA

[Rick F]

Wow! What a nice B-day present!

[Dave Hayami]

Happy Birthday Rick,
I own a Pan American sousaphone that now uses a Conn 14K bell.
I believe that this brass sousaphone weighs LESS than the fiberglass
36K that I also have in my "collection" Measure the bell flange 6 1/4"
would be the 14K/ or any other Conn stencil horn( Elkhorn, Capitol, Pan American) The bore should be .735, it's a big bore valve section in a slightly smaller body with the 24" bell. Joe S wrote a great post about the Conn 14K's a while back calling them 5/4 size and the 20k with a 26" bell, a 6/4 size.

[Rick Denney]

Rick,

Could this sousaphone model of mystery be a CONN 32K BBb Lightweight, 3 valve built in 1931-1943.

Being it doesn't really fit the 14K or 20K descriptions.

That was going to be my guess, a 32K. If the serial number on the valves is low enough, i.e. pre-1950s, that's what it could be.

Here's a 32K, does it look like this?

http://www.xs4all.nl/~cderksen/Conn32K1943image.html

Could be. Frankly, though, I can't tell the difference between the 14K and the 32K on that site. All have the same valve-branch configuration, and the fatness of the outer branches isn't really enough to tell much from the photos. Mine does not have the attached shoulder rest shown in your picture.

I have looked all around the instrument for a model identifier, and can't find it. There's a serial number on it, but I haven't noted it, yet. I also need to measure the bell ring and the bore to make it easier.

What were the relavant measurements between the 14K and the 32K? Both had 24" bells, and both weighed 24 pounds.

Rick "who had not considered all the possibilities, apparently" Denney

[Rick Denney]

Happy Birthday Rick,
I own a Pan American sousaphone that now uses a Conn 14K bell.
I believe that this brass sousaphone weighs LESS than the fiberglass
36K that I also have in my "collection" Measure the bell flange 6 1/4"
would be the 14K/ or any other Conn stencil horn( Elkhorn, Capitol, Pan American) The bore should be .735, it's a big bore valve section in a slightly smaller body with the 24" bell. Joe S wrote a great post about the Conn 14K's a while back calling them 5/4 size and the 20k with a 26" bell, a 6/4 size.

I also wondered if the body was a Pan American. It's entirely possible that the body is fabbed up from several sousaphones. The bell is definitely not original on this instrument.

I haven't measured the bell ring, but I do recall when he got this instrument we were foolling around with the bell on his (new to him at the time) King 1241. He thought the sousa was a King, and that made us want to turn it into a raincatcher by putting the King 1241 bell on it just for fun (I'm middle-aged and he's well into retirement--in some things you never grow up). The King's bell ring was quite a bit smaller than on the Sousa. I'll measure it up tonight.

Rick "who sizes it as a 4/4 rather than a 5/4 instrument" Denney

[Rick Denney]

Okay, guys, the bore is .730 as expected, and the bell ring is around 6-5/8 or 6-3/4 inches. 14K or 32K?

Rick "who was distracted by the phone before remembering to get the serial number" Denney

[Rick Denney]

From one Southerner to another:
When are you gonna quit fartin' around and start playing the damn thing?

Surely you have noticed who has been winning all those Dukes of Dixieland LP auctions this week.

And you have to have something to do after the shoulder starts to hurt.

But I think I answered my own question. The serial number starts with C, dating it to around 1964 or '65. Unless the valve body didn't come with the outer branches (which is possible, I suppose), it's a 14K, because I don't think the 32K's were still being produced by that time.

Rick "the type was too small; did you say one smartass to another?" Denney