Posted by Rob P-M on July 30, 2003 at 15:09:56:
In Reply to: Re: WTB King sousaphone bell posted by Chuck Jackson on July 30, 2003 at 11:47:18:
H.N. White called their big horn the "Giant" sousaphone, Conn called theirs "Jumbo"
The King model numbers were 1270(3 valve)/1271(4 valve). It's shown in my '37 catalog. The bore is .750 (vs. .770 for the Conn Jumbo) and the bell is 28".
King also made a hybrid sousaphone, a variant of the standard 1250 (now 2350), at that time:
The 1937 catalog lists the 1250A, which is the standard 1250 with the 6-3/4 coupling and the 1250B, with the larger 7-1/8" coupling, but a 26" bell. Apparently, that horn was a standard 1250 through the valves and somewhere in the main branches after the valves stepped up to the Giant branches, ending with the larger coupling. I've never seen one in the wild, only in the catalog, and only in the '37 catalog. I have some earlier '30s promotional materials, and some '50s catalogs, but the 1250A - 1250B variants are only in '37.