Posted by bloke on January 14, 2004 at 15:41:47:
Hey,
This is probably old news to you sousa-ologists, but I just discovered (duh, I've owned a music store for 25 years!) that K&M makes a superb replica of those old no-longer-made American-made sturdy collapsable sousaphone stands. These were the ones found in schools c. 30-50 years ago. You could change the bell angle, swing out the gooseneck and bits, and sit beside the sousa and play it.
These should be great for sit-down jazz band gigs where the (assuming)sousaphone/bass player needs to switch back and forth quickly while avoiding dents. Also of course, easy on the shoulder.
I was also surprised to discover that I could sell them in the lower $1XX range.
(After selling a B-I-G sousa on ebay, the buyer asked me to investigate a stand, and I uncovered this.) Heck, for schools, this would be MUCH better than those stupid "sousa chairs".