Posted by Wade on July 28, 2003 at 18:20:23:
In Reply to: Re: Jupiter 4-valve sousaphone posted by AL on July 28, 2003 at 15:43:57:
How's this for an explanation?
St. Taiwanesburg.
The sousaphones suffet from a lot of construction issues. Brace posts rarely go into sockets all the way to the end, usually being cut way too short. Example: A sousa gooseneck yanked too hard will pull the lead pipe braces apart due to the fact that there is little-to-no post in the socket. This gives less surface area for the solder to adhere to combined with room for the post to move when under stress if the too-little solder should break. I have rebuilt these with longer posts at least twenty times over the years.
Jupiter has some excellent instruments, even without the low price factored into the picture. Ant the sousaphones and other mediocre horns have improved over the years . . . but not quite enough to get a thumbs-up from me.
Good ones include the really nice little cornet and the front-piston BBb concert tuba. Both play quite well. Both seem to be fairly well and consistently constructed.
The sousaphones are not in that group, suffering from inconsistent workmanship and so-so design.
As I said: St. Taiwanesburg.
Wade