Sousaphone mouthpipes

[pulseczar]

Does anyone know of a place where I can get this? The mouthpipes on the sousas at the place that I work are totally torn to shreds (one literally) and need to be replaced.

[Dan Schultz]

Let us know what kind of sousas you have and maybe someone on the board can help you.

[pulseczar]

They are all brass Conns. I don't know the exact models, but I'll update as soon as I find out.

[iiipopes]

Being standard Conns, they should be easy to get. I'm sure TubaTinker can help, and if he doesn't have enough, others on the forum surely can help as well.

[imperialbari]

Does anyone know of a place where I can get this? The mouthpipes on the sousas at the place that I work are totally torn to shreds (one literally) and need to be replaced.

If you by mouthpipes mean necks as opposed to bits, then necks aren’t just necks.

My first sousaphone was/is a Conn 26K from 1929. The instrument has suffered a rough existence, but aside from a soldering of the brace having had to be redone, the neck is in perfect shape.

My second sousaphone was/is a 1928 Conn 40K, and it is my best sousaphone. However the original neck didn’t follow it, when it arrived well over 5 years ago. The modern Conn large bore necks are too lightweight for me.

My third sousaphone is a 1943 Conn 28K. It had rounded Joe Sellmanbergers workshop on its way to me, so the instrument is in a very good shape. The neck shows its age more obviously.

I also have a fourth neck bought off some auction site. This neck also shows some age and (ab-)use.

No matter which of the sousas I play, I invariably take the neck from the 1928 26K. The tubing is perfectly round, all of the brass is heavy gauge, and it sits perfectly secure in all of the receiver clamps.

The difference between the necks can be heard.

Klaus

[iiipopes]

OK, on my @1935 Conn/Cavalier (predecessor to the 14k), the original leadpipe was too damaged to repair, and I have put lead tape at a couple of spots on the lightweight replacement, hoping one day to get a good heavier brass neck like my original.

I meant that if he was in dire need to get to a gig, the dimensions are standard, and he could at least get going while he investigated a more optimum fix.

[imperialbari]

We really don’t disagree.

For me the main problem with the modern lightweight necks is, that the pipe stub placed into the neck receiver is made of too thin metal.

Hence the old receivers cannot be tightened enough to avoid undesirable vibrations.

A repairman’s trick would be to widen the split in the receiver just a little bit.

I don’t want my receivers altered, so I have, with some luck, experimented with placing a small sheet of thin and hard plastic around the pipe stub.

Klaus