US-made short-action sousaphone

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TUbajohn20J
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Re: US-made short-action sousaphone

Post by TUbajohn20J »

New Conn's are garbage. I witnessed someone put a dent in a brand new 20K with their thumb once. Horrible bracing.. but maybe the HD versions that came out will hold up longer. The Indiana and Abilene ones were great. Even played one made in the 90's and one made in 02, and those were even made way better than the current line. I'll take a 60's naked lady any day over anything new.
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imperialbari
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Re: US-made short-action sousaphone

Post by imperialbari »

What does HD mean in this context?

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SousaWarrior9
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Re: US-made short-action sousaphone

Post by SousaWarrior9 »

I'm assuming HD in this case means heavy duty. I tried a new, more heavily braced version of said short action sousaphone a while back and I assume this is what they are calling HD now. It was the only Ohio made example that felt anything like any Indiana made or Texas make variant.
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Re: US-made short-action sousaphone

Post by Uncle Markie »

Manufacturers respond to the people who make up the majority of their customers - in the case of sousaphones that would be high school Band Directors. There are still plenty of good old Conns, Kings, Reynolds and Holtons around worth fixing up and playing.
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1926 Martin Handcraft 3v upright bell front action ; 1933 Martin Handcraft 3v bellfront; King 2341 (old style); King top-action 3v; Bach (King) fiberglass sousaphone.
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imperialbari
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Re: US-made short-action sousaphone

Post by imperialbari »

bloke wrote:I've sorta viewed those (Lang-made...??) copies as kinda "cheap", but no longer...
...and the Lang product is getting better, and sports a thick-wall body.
I don’t get ’Lang’?

Is it a Chinese maker?

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Re: US-made short-action sousaphone

Post by bisontuba »

imperialbari wrote:
bloke wrote:I've sorta viewed those (Lang-made...??) copies as kinda "cheap", but no longer...
...and the Lang product is getting better, and sports a thick-wall body.
I don’t get ’Lang’?

Is it a Chinese maker?

Klaus

Yes it is....
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