I Must Be Nuts

[paulwl]

I just got a sousaphone.

http://static.flickr.com/89/243597546_c999dc22d3_o.jpg

1929 Conn 38K in BBb. Hey, it was only $650, how could I resist?

[Grumps]

That is way cool Paul. Was looking at them at a college football game the other day and thinking, man, I could sure aggravate the Mrs. with one of those things...

[Bootman]

Excellent. Great price too.

[cornific]

last month i "point of purchase impulse bought" a tuba ... and i'm so glad i did

my tuba is a BB flat in tarnished silver made by JW PEPPER. i found it in a second hand record shop sitting on top of a fridge in the corner by a pile of vintage turntables. i picked it up for 400 CAD!!! this horn rocks. i played trombone and baritone horn in high school so after about an hour of long tones we started to get along ... this thing just took off ... what a tone

google has informed me that JW PEPPER invented the sousaphone and presented it at the chicago worlds fair in 1893 where he won high honors for his creation. I was on the lookout for a sousaphone but this will do

because of the low serial number on my horn i believe it to be close to the turn of the last century. it is in fine shape with only one major dented area and numerous wee dings in a couple of areas. the horn is at the tech now getting straightened out, there was a small leak at the dent area. it had a grand stench from years of neglect so it recieved a nice long bath as soon as it arrived at its new home. all the slides and valves are fully functional. corks and felts worn but still serviceable and it came with a modern yamaha mouthpiece.

i can not wait to get playing it once the dent and dings have been removed.

i was suprised at how quickly the the low brass thing started coming back to me after all of these years ( 35 or so ) although now that i reflect for a minute i have been doing a bit of cornet playing during the last couple of years

i hope you have as much fun with your monster as i am having with mine. i am considering forming a band around the horn so that i have a reason for playing it out. also, it is great for doing the didgery doo thing

as if sax GAS isn't enough of an albatross

cheers and happy blowing in the basement

[gary]

I just got a sousaphone.

Excellent Paul! Onward and forward. No more retro-swing. Back to the future with the real thing!

Shakey's Pizza Parlor awaits!

:D

[Merlin]

I'm worried about you Paul, I really am.

It may be time for an intervention.

[paulwl]

Come right ahead. Bring a banjo. :clown:

I can get long soft tones. Longer and softer than I can on the low end of the bass sax. Tone quality seems within reach, if not grasp.

I've been too timid to play the thing louder than about mf, or should I say mmmfffff!

I can oomp in time (thank you, bass sax), but I don't hit the note most of the time.

I have also developed stage I lycanthropy, as you can see by my red eyes and profuse forearm hair. This is ok with me, as I can use the sousie for howling purposes.

It even has a name: Zadar, Cow From Hell (http://www.drscience.com/store.htm).

[gary]

Paul - all joking aside (from me i.e.), I think that's really neat. It's cool to just try something zany. Have fun, my man.

(BTW - I can learn banjo if I have to. Let me know if the Shakey's thing comes through. I need the money. :D)

[tjontheroad]

Nice Paul, congrats. You look like you're holding it like a sax :D

This guy has got it....

http://www.10d.mae.jgsdf.go.jp/butai/butai/10band/image/memberimage6/sousaphone.jpg

Watch out when standing... You'll hit the roof :shock:

March on :)

[Al Stevens]

I played Sousaphone for one year in the 9th grade. I weighed about 90 pounds. Parades in high winds were a problem.

As the old joke goes, I got hit with a blast of wind and was screwed four feet into the ground.

[paulwl]

I played Sousaphone for one year in the 9th grade. I weighed about 90 pounds. Parades in high winds were a problem.

As the old joke goes, I got hit with a blast of wind and was screwed four feet into the ground.At the very least you'd have been screwed, period.

One marching band webbage I read, apparently not in jest either, says that if you fall with your sousie you are to try to put your body between the horn and the ground. Rationale: doctor bills are way cheaper than large-scale brass repair.

A little sousageekery for y'all:
My 38K BBb Sousaphone Grand was Conn's "B flat" sousie, ie, the default choice of marching organizations. Weighs about 28 lb all told. The bell is 26" across. This later got short-action valves and became the 20K. They still make those.

The thing came by truck freight in a 25 lb hard case in dire need of new hinges and handles, packed in 30 lb of shipping carton and stuffing that WOULDN'T FIT THRU MY FRONT DOOR! Had to unpack it in the hall.

Here's a list (http://www.xs4all.nl/~cderksen/ConnSousaModels.html) of all Conn sousies. There were 40 kinds!!! :shock:

[RS]

Great instrument. I'd like to have one myself. One of the most memorable (and saddest) images of New Orleans after Katrina was the guy walking around with his sousaphone. No home. No possessions except the clothes on his back. And his beloved horn. Heartbreaking. If I could have found a way to get money directly to that one cat I would have cleaned out my bank account.