Posted by Rob P-M on August 15, 2002 at 15:19:21:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Conn vs. King sousaphones posted by Volker on August 15, 2002 at 12:01:42:
I have six or seven King catalogs/newsletters from the late 20's and 30's. There is no hint of any King Sousaphone bigger than the #1270/1271 Giant. I have seen pictures of the Purdue band sousaphone line in those newsletters, and the biggest horn looks like a Giant 1270. I think the horns your referring to must have been Giants with a 32" bell custom made. If a Giant 1270 with 3 valves and a 28" bell weighed 30lbs, it's conceivable that a 1271 with four valves and a 32" bell would weigh in close to 40lbs. To the best of my knowledged, HN White never built a sousaphone or base with a bore bigger than .750", while the Conn Jumbos were apparently a .770" bore with a 30" bell standard.
In those days, there was more customization of sousaphones, which were taken quite seriously as basses, than there is today when sousaphones are the poor (usually fiberglass) stepchildren of tubary. 4th valves were very common on Eb sousas, and not rare on BBb sousas. Bell sizes varied from 22" to 32", depending on a player's preference. Helicons often had 19" or 22" bells. Early Conn sousaphones had a 22" bell, with 24" standard in the 20's. It was not until the 1930's that 26" bells became the norm for Conn, with the other sizes available on special order. Likewise 24" bells were standard for King in the 20's and available throughout the 1930's. It seems only after WWII that all the major brand American BBb sousaphones had 26" bells. The second line horns - Cleveland, Pan American, American Standard, etc. all had 22" or 24" bells.