What to do with a Conn 28K 4v Eb sousaphone?

[arpthark]

I currently have a 1938 Conn 28K Eb sousaphone with four valves, and a late 60s or early 1970s Conn 36K fiberglass sousaphone with a cool painted floral bell that I have had the first slide flipped. I don't need two sousaphones and prefer BBb, so I have a couple ideas for the 28K. I could just sell it outright, or use the valve cluster in some Frankentuba projects. It's satin silver and in nice shape, so that would be sort of tough to bring myself to do, but I doubt I am going to find a 4v cluster for much cheaper than I purchased this sousaphone, so it's sort of a wash. What say ye, TFFJ?

[arpthark]

for reference:



Bell interior may have been gold-wash at some point but it's brass now.

[Mary Ann]

In your situation I would ask myself how much would I need to sell it for to feel good about it? And compare that to what I would use it for, to get the same level of satisfaction from it. I don't know how much "shiny" contributes to selling price, but there are buyers to whom it would matter.

[Grumpikins]

Uggh.. future me may be considering switching to Eb entirely because this little one I have is so easy and fun to play. A 4 valve Eb sousa would be perfect. But I'm not there yet... also, I have to work really hard to not be a hoarder.. uggh...!

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[Casca Grossa]

Make it shiny and add a 5th rotor.

[gocsick]

Whatever you do don't use it for parts! Embrace the Eb sousa life. I play mine once a month for a Dixieland Jam. With I could justify buying another horn, because a 4th valve would be nice.

[Grumpikins]

When I try to vote, everything crashes.

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[jtm]

Oooooh. If you sell it, I’ll be tempted to buy it to replace my satin silver Bb Conn sousaphone (which was less work than I expected to make shiny, so I won’t be too sensitive to whether or not the Eb is shiny).

[WC8KCY]

Polish the Naked Lady on the bell rosette, if present, and then sell it.

If I didn't already have a nice-playing Martin Indiana E-flat sousaphone, I'd love to own this Conn.

[WC8KCY]

Uggh.. future me may be considering switching to Eb entirely because this little one I have is so easy and fun to play. A 4 valve Eb sousa would be perfect. But I'm not there yet... also, I have to work really hard to not be a hoarder.. uggh...!

Surely you have room for just one more horn.

I've really grown to love my Martin Indiana E-flat souzy now that I'm not as young as I used to be. It can put out a truly satisfying bass line with less than half the air and effort needed to do the same on a 20K. I'm appreciating the ease-of-use more and more with each passing year.

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[Grumpikins]

Yeah, I could make space somewhere. But it's a battle .... that I cant justify or win right now.

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[arpthark]

Thanks for all the interest in this thing, but I think I'd have to restrict it to local pickup or meetup within a few hours of CT since shipping would be absurdly expensive and dangerous to the instrument. I have shipped a lot of tubas, but never a sousaphone.

I'll schedule an appointment with my repairman and see if we can't knock a few dents out of the body. Having slide #1 be adjustable would also be nice, but would require some moving of braces and reconfiguring.

@gocsick, if my 36K fiberglass weren't so much lighter, I would definitely keep this one.

Seems like the votes are dictating that I should keep it intact and sell it. I do think I will shine it up a bit. The patina borders more on grungy gray than cool/smooth purple (like my Buescher) and I think it would benefit, especially after removing some dents (which will be more apparent when it is shiny).

[Tubasousabone]

Blake,

If you’re still up for selling, I’m in Rhode Island and would be happy to meet up to purchase it!

[bloke]

After spending several hours tuning (altering) the circuit lengths on one of those, I actually dug it. The few times I need a sousaphone, I need it to be lightweight and I need it to be loud as hell, which is why I guess I'm sticking with the idea of a 1980s through 1990s fiberglass King B flat, rather than looking towards one of those, which has a lot of potential but just isn't quite loud enough for the crazy loud brass band and quasi brass band jobs.
Also, I sort of like playing low A flat, and those things only have two poor choices for that pitch.

summary:
If I had an opportunity to trade a good bit of work or pick up one of those with decent valves for a low price, it would be really tempting, but - being sort of a second choice sousaphone - it goes against my "bloke is not a collector" narrative.

non-vote vote:
Those have too much potential to cannibalize, and though York monster E Flats are some of the less squirrely of the 1920s - 1930s large E flats made in the USA, you wouldn't end up with a better playing instrument, but only a different shaped one.

[arpthark]

Thanks, actually moved on this instrument a little while ago and it's heading for a new home in Switzerland soon.

[humBell]

Thanks, actually moved on this instrument a little while ago and it's heading for a new home in Switzerland soon.

Oh, the adventures it will have!

[bloke]

I believe it's probably easier for an E-flat sousaphone to yodel than a B-flat. Just sayin'...

[tclements]

5 - Make a mailbox out of it. Or a fountain.