Conn 40K Sousaphone

[harrell]

I see that Conn is offering a 4 valve 40K sousaphone. This must be recent.(?) They must be trying to compete with Jupiter. Does anyone know any details about this horn? Any band peeps out there have experience with one? I would love to try it. As if the 20K wasn't heavy enough! I grew up on King sousas. The high school where I teach has 20K's. They sound great but they are heavy and braces pop loose from time to time and I am frequently having to resolder leadpipe bracing.

[harrell]

I read you loud and clear!

[harrell]

I teach at Pearl. If it has been in the past 11 years then yes. I know the wind ensemble has played a few times but I can't remember about the brass quintet. I remember Micah coming to play but I can't remember who he was with. It may have been when he was still at ULM.

[Lee Stofer]

I played the 40K prototype that was at the Army Tuba-Euphonium Conference in DC in February. It was scarcely any heavier than a 20K, and definitely lighter than the Quad Series Jupiter. The Conn played extremely well, and if it is soldered together as well as it is cosmetically finished, it should last a long time. I would like to own one, and am considering the purchase.

[Donn]

The Conn played extremely well

Better than the 20K?

I've never played one, but have played with someone who did. Maybe there are a lot of good 20Ks and quite a few not-so-good ones, particularly with respect to intonation.

[pjv]

A couple of years ago a Conn salesman claimed that they had finally taken care of the very flat 3rd partial on the 20K's.

"Bloke wrote:
The new Conn .734" tubing is not interchangeable with Elkhart tubing because - though yes, .734" bore - the wall thickness is considerably thinner...thus the "meeting dimension" of the inside and outside slide tubing is a lower number than with the original instruments..." (sorry, I never figured out how to get the quote function to work on my Mac)

I always assumed that a bore measurement was taken from the inside. If both old and new tubes are .734" on the inside, then wouldn't the mismatch on the outside be purely a cosmetic problem?

[pjv]

No, but I found it a rather large boast from someone who represents a company as well known as Conn. One would have to assume some margin of truth.

[Donn]

I bet they don't know how, or even for sure what.

Did the 20K ever have that flat F? There seems to be plenty of evidence it did, anecdotal evidence of 20Ks with flat Fs - but did every one of them, back in the day, out of the factory, have the same flat F? Do some 20Ks from every era play pretty well in tune, today?

[pjv]

Got it. Thanks