Old tubas

[bnloewen]

This is my first post. I have a Boosey and Hawkes Imperial Bb tuba, dated 1917 that once was my grandfather's. My tuba instructors included the late John Griffiths and Abe Torchinsky.
I have recently acquired at an auction an old Conn sousaphone. From the serial number, it appears to be from the 1880s. It is missing one valve cap, easy enough to fix, and the removeable lead pipe. Any ideas where I could source a replacement lead pipe? I tried Conn and they were no help. Thanks. Barry

[imperialbari]

Welcome!

Your sousaphone hardly is that old, as Conn made their first raincatcher sousaphones in 1898 and the first ones with a forward facing bell about ten years later.

If you post photos of your basses maybe more could be said. I would be very interested in seing photos of the Imperial. If the engraving says Boosey & Hawkes it hardly is from before the merger in 1930.

Klaus

[bnloewen]

Slip of the fingers, my grandfather's tuba is a Besson and Co prototype. The serial number from Boosey and Hawkes website places it at 1917. I am having a difficult time attaching photos to this (error message says the board attachment quota has been reached) but I have a photo of the tuba, my grandparents and my aunt as a baby sticking out of the tuba. My aunt is now 82 years old. I took another photo last week of my parents with the same tuba, my mom is sister of the aunt inside the tuba. The dents in the tuba all match up, 80 some years later.

The Conn sousaphone is a rain catcher, serial # 44736. From Horn-u-copia's website, it places it at 1893. This is the machine that I am looking for a replacement removeable lead pipe for. Any suggestions?

[roweenie]

To post pictures here, it is best to use a 3rd party photo hosting site, such as Imgur or Photobucket.

After you have set up an account with one of these sites, you upload a picture to it, copy the link, and then paste it in your post.

[bnloewen]

I have never used "Photobucket" before, but here should be a link with four photos.

http://s1253.photobucket.com/user/bnloe ... ent&page=1" target="_blank

1. my grandparents and my aunt as a baby sticking out of the tuba. My aunt is now 82 years old.

2. my parents with the same tuba, my mom is sister of the aunt inside the tuba. The dents in the tuba all match up, 80 some years later.

3. The Conn tuba

4. Nameplate for the Conn

The Conn is the one I am looking for suggestions on where to get a replacement removable lead pipe. I tried Conn-Selmar - thought they might be able to sell me a "modern" replacement that would more or less fit, and got no where.

[Michael Bush]

Oh, that explains it. It's a helicon, not a sousaphone. Cool horn.

[edsel585960]

Nice old horns!

[windshieldbug]

The Conn sousaphone is a rain catcher, serial # 44736. From Horn-u-copia's website, it places it at 1893.

The problem you encountered is that what you described as a Conn "Sousaphone" is actually known as a helicon.
The Sousaphone was a modification of the helicon design.
The helicon you have could well have been made 1893.
It appears to to be in the key of Eb.

There are several repair people on this board that could help you get a new part.
What you need is called a sousaphone mouthpipe and also the bits needed to connect the helicon to a mouthpiece.
You will have to do some measuring because I also have an Eb Conn helicon and the mouthpipe is a smaller diameter than a Conn modern one.
Another maker's mouthpipe might be the right size, however.

It is also entirely consistent that a Boosey & Co. "Prototype" horn is from 1917.
They used the term "Prototype" to describe their manufacturing process, so all of their brass instruments carried that embossing.
Many also had "Chicago Bore".

Abe was quite a teacher!

[Beervangelist]

I have never used "Photobucket" before, but here should be a link with four photos.

http://s1253.photobucket.com/user/bnloe ... ent&page=1" target="_blank" target="_blank

1. my grandparents and my aunt as a baby sticking out of the tuba. My aunt is now 82 years old.

2. my parents with the same tuba, my mom is sister of the aunt inside the tuba. The dents in the tuba all match up, 80 some years later.

3. The Conn tuba

4. Nameplate for the Conn

The Conn is the one I am looking for suggestions on where to get a replacement removable lead pipe. I tried Conn-Selmar - thought they might be able to sell me a "modern" replacement that would more or less fit, and got no where.

Sidebar - when using photo bucket there's a set of links to the right of the image for sharing. If you click on the bar that says IMG it should copy the link. Then you can post that link here, and the images show up. Pretty handy if you don't mind uploading to photobucket. Cool photos!