Monster King

tubamike · Post by **tubamike** » Fri May 07, 2004 8:05 am

Recently I saw in the yahoo-group archives the pictures of a 'monster 4 valve Bb King' Sousaphone.
I can't find anything else about it on the internet. I assume they wheren't build for long time and are very rare aren't they ?

regards

Michael

imperialbari · Post by **imperialbari** » Fri May 07, 2004 8:46 am

The Monsters seen by Tubamike were these:

Thumbnails of a 1920 King Monster BBb sousaphone 4P:

http://photos.groups.yahoo.com/group/yo ... usa+4P.jpg

Thumbnail of a King Monster 4 valve Sousaphone:

http://photos.groups.yahoo.com/group/yo ... +sousa.jpg

Especially the older one illustrates the concept of sousaphones preferably being just "differently wrapped" tubas mentioned in a recent posting of mine.

Klaus

AndyL · Post by **AndyL** » Fri May 07, 2004 8:47 am

Hello, Michael.......

Of the "plus-sized" production-model BBb sousaphones,

King dubbed theirs the "Giant",

Conn's was the "Jumbo" (bell collar measures 9.5-inches diameter....29 7/8-inch circumference!),

Martin's "Mammoth" sousa bell collar diameter measures 7 7/8-inches (same as their Mammoth tubas).

Martin called their large Eb sousaphone the "Monster", but it was smaller than the Martin Mammoth.

AndyL

Lee Stofer · Post by **Lee Stofer** » Fri May 07, 2004 9:07 am

I just went and checked the Martin "Mammoth" here. It does indeed have a 7 7/8" bell collar, but it was not the largest made. I also just pulled the bell off the Conn Jumbo, and the inside measurement of the bell socket is 9 1/2". This Conn jumbo is also the only sousaphone I've encountered that has 4 bell retaining screws.

imperialbari · Post by **imperialbari** » Fri May 07, 2004 9:16 am

Just measured the bell collar of the Conn 40K, which is large, but not a Monster model: 186mm which would equal 7 5/16".

Klaus

Dean E · Post by **Dean E** » Fri May 07, 2004 1:19 pm

tubamike wrote:Recently I saw in the yahoo-group archives the pictures of a 'monster 4 valve Bb King' Sousaphone.
I can't find anything else about it on the internet.

Some alternate sites:

You can see one pic (same as the first link in Klaus' post) after registering for the TubaEuph forum:
http://www.smartgroups.com/pictures/ope ... um&Dir=ASC

Also, another 3-valve giant King Sousa is at Dale Hale's site:
http://dalehale.com/CoolTubas/GiantKing.htm

Dale's other pics are available starting here:
http://dalehale.com/CoolTubas/CoolTubas.htm

My shoulder hurts just looking at those photos.

Mikelynch · Post by **Mikelynch** » Fri May 07, 2004 9:44 pm

The Monster King and Martin Mammoth sousaphones are great and manly instruments. But nothing should strike fear into a tuba player's heart like the thought of being handed a Conn Jumbo at the beginning of even a short parade! Something to bring a player to his or her knees, literally. A Conn 4 valve Jumbo from the late 20's weighs 54 pounds. It makes quite an impression when you put it on the first time. But it is a huge and amazing sound once you get used to it.

Mikelynch · Post by **Mikelynch** » Fri May 07, 2004 9:54 pm

BTW King made at least one sousaphone with a 9 1/4" bell collar (receiving section). None of the King catalogs I have picture anything like it. For the size of the bell joint, it has a relatively modest bell size of 25", giving it comparatively little bell flare. It's not nearly as heavy as the Conn Jumbo mentioned above, though no lightweight either.

TubeNet

Monster King

Monster King

For reference:

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Re: Monster King