C. G. Conn Basses - An Updated List

[Dave Detwiler]

Hi all - here's what I've pulled together on this rainy Saturday. It's a work in progress, but it provides the most accurate list to date of Conn Basses. Please comment if you know specifics about any of the dates - or if you're certain I'm missing something. Enjoy!

https://tubapastor.blogspot.com/2022/04 ... -list.html

P. S. It's probably best to view the post in the link above on your laptop or home computer, rather than your phone, as it will space out the data in a way that's easier to read!

1902 (December) C. G. Conn's Truth (vol. 5, no. 4) - first evidence of production sousaphone.jpg (164.38 KiB) Viewed 731 times

[lost]

Cool list. I'm thinking the jumbo model was different than the 1 off jumbo tuba picture in the news clipping that made the rounds last year. The "jumbo" model was the orchestra grand model renamed possibly, or am I mistaken?

Also I'm wondering about the 32K. Previous posts on tubenet call it a professional quality horn, but you have junior next to it from the catalogs no doubt which makes it sound student designed and geared.

[bloke]

The 32K seems to have been the “Conn” (beefier 38K-style bracing) of the “Pan American” (aka and/or later known as the “Conn 14K”).

Someone correct me…This post is only based on what I’ve seen.

[Dave Detwiler]

Cool list. I'm thinking the jumbo model was different than the 1 off jumbo tuba picture in the news clipping that made the rounds last year. The "jumbo" model was the orchestra grand model renamed possibly, or am I mistaken?

Also I'm wondering about the 32K. Previous posts on tubenet call it a professional quality horn, but you have junior next to it from the catalogs no doubt which makes it sound student designed and geared.

I'm not sure which Jumbo you are referring to, as there were a number of them.

And as to the 32K, here's the info from 1929, which seems to be when it first appeared (although there had been a 32K Helicon before that):

Conn 32K info in 1929.jpg (135.44 KiB) Viewed 668 times

[matt g]

@Dave Detwiler, one thing missing from the model number list would be the modern 52/54/56J CC tubas. I’m not 100% sure of the dates of manufacture, but I think they’d warrant inclusion for completeness.

[Dave Detwiler]

@Dave Detwiler, one thing missing from the model number list would be the modern 52/54/56J CC tubas. I’m not 100% sure of the dates of manufacture, but I think they’d warrant inclusion for completeness.

Thanks! I only had access to catalogs through 1988 (with many missing along the way, of course). From a bit of hunting it appears that:

• All three are 5 valve CC tubas (four front action piston, and a fifth rotory valve thumb trigger).

• The only difference is the bell diameter: 18" for the 52J, 19" for the 54J, and 20" for the 56J.

• They were made from at least 1996 through 2011.

Can anyone confirm or correct any of the above? Thanks!

[Dave Detwiler]

I've gotten some input from elsewhere that there was a "Donatelli Model." Know anything about that? Would that have been a custom order, or something anyone could purchase? So far, I have found no record of such a model in an extant Conn publication. But I've got tons of gaps in those, so share if you know, or have information about it - thanks!

[Dave Detwiler]

Hi all - I further edited this list, based on the helpful input I received from various sources. I also added a separate list showing the chronology of Conn's Wonderphone or Recording tubas.

Here's the link again for your convenience: https://tubapastor.blogspot.com/2022/04 ... -list.html

The only thing I am aware that I am missing (other than the complete range of dates for many of the models) is specific information, from Conn, about a "Donatelli Model." It looks like there were a number of conversations about that horn on TubeNet in past years, but if you have any new light to shed on it, post away!

[matt g]

@Dave Detwiler, another one to add to the list:

viewtopic.php?t=4040

Conn had a Czech-made stencil and called it a “99J”.

[Dave Detwiler]

@Dave Detwiler, another one to add to the list:

viewtopic.php?t=4040

Conn had a Czech-made stencil and called it a “99J”.

Thanks, Matt! I'll need to decide at some point what to do with stencils.

So far, I have kept to only what has come out of the Conn factory, and carried the Conn name. For example, I have not included any Pan American horns (although I own a 1927 64-K, which, if I've got the relationships right, was essentially a stripped-down Conn 32-K, which later became the Conn 14-K). Further, once things got murky with mergers, I've ignored horns that carried the Conn name and model number, but were not Conn horns. This seemed obvious to me with the later 14-K, which looks exactly like a King Sousaphone!

Anyway, always more to learn!