Bort's 1925 Conn 38k

[Kirley]

That looks like a 38K to me.
The collar diameter should be around 7 1/4" or so.
If it's in the 6 inch range the only thing I think it could be is the 32K which was a somewhat short lived "lightweight" horn. Pretty much a fancier version of the 14K which came later.

The numbers on the tenon and receiver from that era are there to match the 2 pieces together. It has nothing to do with model numbers (although much later on they did start punching model numbers there). I'd guess that once a month (or whatever) some guy sat there and made 50 or so of those things then sent them all over to the assembly guys. Mine is marked "40" for what its worth.

Congrats!

Regular old (non-king) Conn neck and bits should work just fine. 14K, 20K, 38K, 40K, etc.

[MN_TimTuba]

Congrats! And I’m slightly envious. Talk to Laurel about getting a bell screw. She might have a box of assorted parts lying around. If she doesn’t you could probably get one from that shop on the north side of town.

If Laurel doesn't, call Eric P. (I've got his number). He's not far from you, and he had quite the parts box when I visited his shop. Plus more stuff everywhere!
Maybe he'd meet you in the yard.
Tim

[bort2.0]

Thanks Tim! I called Lee as well, he said he'd check what he's got.

Things I noticed as I'm cleaning it up ...
* Lots of small dents and stuff, normal 100-year old tuba stuff and normal sousaphone stuff
* Bell has a hand etched name "SANFORD"... I wonder who that was?
* Bell collar is 7.5 inches
* It sort of looks like it was serviced recently ... New felts and corks, new springs... But also missing a cork on the 3rd spit valve. So maybe they just did the valves? Lol
* This metal "grille" was in the horn, to prevent things falling in. Maybe it's nothing unusual, but seems intense to me, and sorta heavy too. Not putting it back in there!
* Cleanup is going well. Here are some "during" photos, with some spots done for contrast of before/after. Pretty sure that when I'm "done," I'll go hose it off (and hose it out), dry it, and give it a full once-over one more time.

[Three Valves]

Also attending the dedication was International recording sensation Marlene Dietrich. Who, in a fit of arousal, removed and tossed into the band, her metallic brassiere. Half of which, remained unfound.

Until today....

[kingrob76]

This needs to be asked.

Have you listed it for sale yet? You don't normally keep horns this long....

[bort2.0]

This needs to be asked.

Have you listed it for sale yet? You don't normally keep horns this long....

In this case, I think that makes even more sense than usual... I'm really not sure when/where I'd ever use a sousaphone. What would be so wrong with finding a buyer who DOES want and need a sousaphone, and then I could go and buy a normal sittin' down tuba?

In the short-term, I do want to finish polishing it, get a neck and bits, and have my fun with it for a little while. Maybe I'll like it so much that I don't sell it at all.

[kingrob76]

Two words:

Tuba. Christmas.

[arpthark]

I was surprised by, once I got my 36K, all the sousaphone-appropriate gigs that became available. Especially once folks found out I had one.

[bloke]

Several words:
If money isn't quite as tight as it was, turn that thing and those goof-around-with E-flat tubas (liquidating that stuff) into one nice tuba.

[Three Valves]

If that thing turns out to be a good player I’d never get rid of it.

When you get old, just put it in a chair to toot on it.

My 36k sounds a lot better that I remember it sounding.

Of course, I’m not playing it like a blat-o-phone either….

[kingrob76]

Do the valves have a lot of compression?

[bloke]

[humBell]

This needs to be asked.

Have you listed it for sale yet? You don't normally keep horns this long....

Oh, i just assumed it was bort jr's to grow into...

[Kevbach33]

Forgot to mention, it's missing a bell screw... but not sure if the style changed over the years. Where can I get a new bell screw?

I bet it's the standard size, that any repair shop likely has on hand.

If not ... maybe you can get reproduction magneto clamping screws with the correct thread, and fabricate your thumbscrew from that - worked for me on an early '40s Holton 109 bell front.

Bell collar diameter. That will tell the tale, if someone has the 38K / 40K reference. (Assuming it doesn't pre-date the model, which I think would be surprising.) It doesn't look slender at all to me.

I guess color my perception skewed, since the last sousaphone I handled was a 4-valve Martin mammoth that made standard (think King or 14K) and Giant (like 20K) Sousaphones look small.

The backside photo from @bort2.0 shows how big his "new" toy really is. A standard Sousa is much slimmer from that angle.

There's no model stamp where the serial number is, huh? If not, this might *just* predate Conn giving it the 38K model name, just calling it "Sousaphone Grand" iirc.

[bort2.0]

I'll post a link later on, but one of the old Conn catalogs on saxophone.org seems to indicate that this being from 1925 makes it a 38k.

I don't have a bathroom scale, but this thing is HEAVY, even for a sousaphone.

Mostly finished cleanup now. Not sure how crazy I want to go with the small parts, but if I'm doing this once, I'll do it right. Only a couple of spots of wear, but they do exist. Normal sousaphone dents... The kind that seems to indicate to me "this has been used because it PLAYS." Hoping to verify that by next week

[bloke]

I would wager ($0.00) that it weighs about 27 or maybe 28 lbs.

[humBell]

I would wager ($0.00) that it weighs about 27 or maybe 28 lbs.

What odds would you give?

[bort2.0]

I would wager ($0.00) that it weighs about 27 or maybe 28 lbs.

What odds would you give?

Seems like 50/50...

Or better yet, 50% odd and 50% even.

[bloke]

Neither - just like y'all's republic - are indivisible.

[humBell]

Neither - just like y'all's republic - are indivisible.

"Nothing comes from nothing. Nothing ever could."

Oh, well. I don't suppose i would get good enough odds to make it worth betting nothing, no matter how lucky i get (and i'm not even at a yard sale)