1937 Holton short action valve sousaphone

[sactubaguy59]

I am interested in this horn. There isn't much , if anything, on the net about it. The seller stated Holton made short action valves until Conn sued them for patient violation. I like the Conn 20k and the short action valves but the horn is a bit big for me. I was thinking of down sizing to a smaller bore but I cant find any info on the bore size.

Any thoughts or info would be appreciated.

Also concerned about the valves after 77 years

[Dan Schultz]

I have a short action Holton sousa AND a short action tuba. I think the bore is around .730. There's nothing stellar about them. Fun to have in a collection of odd stuff but not much fun to play other than hearing folks say "what the Hell is that!"

[pwhitaker]

I have a 6/4 short action 3 valve BBb 1941 recording bell Holton which is truly stellar. I sold my 5/4 Rudy Meinl BBb after I got this horn, as well as a Conn 20J and a Martin Mammoth. Matt Walters sold it to me in 2009 and I'm planning to have it interred with me in case the Egyptian Pharaohs were correct.