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https://www.ebay.com/itm/355666148260?m ... media=COPY

Bidding up to $5k for an old Olds sousaphone?

Is it because it's a "junior" model?

insanity

This is Junior - he says that’s not a Junior approved model!

I wonder how those things play. Was the market junior high school kids or small adults? Gotta be collectors wanting it at $5 grand.

Prolly a fake shill auction.

My first foray into ebay --- I was incredibly naive and overbid on what I bought. It was ok but not worth that much by a few hundred. As opposed to a few thousand. I felt like the idiot I was and have never used bidding on ebay since. I figure it was not that expensive a lesson compared to what it could have been. I think the people who like to gamble may be the same ones who get in bidding wars on ebay; somehow "winning" means something to them, even though that "winning" is a loss of money. I never understood that.

The Olds O-97 “20” sousaphone is a “holy grail” instrument in Mexican Banda circles. They’re light, easy to play, and are very in tune. They also put out a lot of sound. The 20” bell adds a lot of focus and can produce a very “tuba-like” tone. I don’t think this is a fake auction or someone’s mistake. I bet the winning bidder is thrilled to have won the auction. Searching something like “Olds jr junior sousaphone tuba Banda” on YouTube will yield a bunch on interesting stuff. I’ve seen these sell for as much as US$6,500.00 in good condition. FWIW.

Many of times the shill will enter an exaggerated price to win the auction, and it goes down as having been sold at that price, and then they will relist it for an imaginary non-paying bidder at near or close to the price.

Bid activity (%) with this seller:
15%

The buyer has previous activity with the seller. Looking at the seller, the sousaphone is about the only musical instrument they have listed. Why would someone have 15 percent activity with the seller, if the buyer only buys sousaphone and sousaphone gear from their history? Something stinks...

Anything is possible. That could very well be the case. Maybe they searched past sales and saw dollar signs.

My bet is on the seller and buyer both doing a happy dance and that the sousaphone is headed to Southern California and/or Mexico. A past sale search will reveal a track record of high dollar sales of these in that area.

The truth is out there.

I own an O-97, and during the worst of the nearby wildfires, when we prepped for a short-notice 'climb out of bed and evac', we lined up our go-bags, then queued up our 'if there's time & space' amenities in priority order. The first of my instruments was one that I'd paid the least for: the O-97, because a replacement is practically unobtainium.

I wish Wessex would clone it.
They're fabulous little horns - lightweight, play great, and balance better in small ensembles than a full-size woofer.

My son-in-law borrowed it for some post-Thanksgiving Christmas caroling last year.
https://youtu.be/TgUwymdlTgI?feature=shared

auctions:

rules 1 - 284:

Don't be dumb.

I can’t imagine paying more than a few thousand for a sousaphone. I mean, if it’s your main gigging instrument, I guess, go for it, but $6500? Absolutely not.

Those “junior” sousaphones do seem to be highly sought after for some reason. I’ve noticed that over the years. These, York made a few, but still, I don’t understand the hype about these little guys.

Sousaswag wrote: ↑Sun Jun 02, 2024 10:01 am I can’t imagine paying more than a few thousand for a sousaphone. I mean, if it’s your main gigging instrument, I guess, go for it, but $6500? Absolutely not.

I met a friend for lunch at a dumpy, concrete-block dive last week - un-paved parking lot, bus your own picnic table kind of place. Tasty food, but it was just a burger including a small side of krinkle fries & no drink. $20!
Yeah $6,500 seems spendy for a used sousaphone, but I even wince at what I paid for three tomatoes yesterday. What's not outrageously expensive any more?
*I know, I know, grumpy old guy yelling at trees*

That said, the banda guys could recoup that $6500 pretty quick, from what I hear. Folks go all out for quinceaneras & weddings hereabouts . . .
The Punjabi weddings are not uncommonly multi-six-figure affairs. Friend of mine's family laid out $30K+ just for flowers. I guess the key for an aspiring sousaphone jockey is to figure out how to make it part of Sikh wedding customs.

tokuno wrote: ↑Sun Jun 02, 2024 2:58 pm

Sousaswag wrote: ↑Sun Jun 02, 2024 10:01 am I can’t imagine paying more than a few thousand for a sousaphone. I mean, if it’s your main gigging instrument, I guess, go for it, but $6500? Absolutely not.

I met a friend for lunch at a dumpy, concrete-block dive last week - un-paved parking lot, bus your own picnic table kind of place. Tasty food, but it was just a burger including a small side of krinkle fries & no drink. $20!
Yeah $6,500 seems spendy for a used sousaphone, but I even wince at what I paid for three tomatoes yesterday. What's not outrageously expensive any more?
*I know, I know, grumpy old guy yelling at trees*

That said, the banda guys could recoup that $6500 pretty quick, from what I hear. Folks go all out for quinceaneras & weddings hereabouts . . .
The Punjabi weddings are not uncommonly multi-six-figure affairs. Friend of mine's family laid out $30K+ just for flowers. I guess the key for an aspiring sousaphone jockey is to figure out how to make it part of Sikh wedding customs.

I think you’re spot on.

It’s interesting who is still willing to shell out for live music these days. Back in the ’70’s when I was in HS my 5 man jazz combo every weekend played private house parties and nobody grumbled at handing us $500 and typically fed us as well - liquor sometimes accidentally found it’s way into the tuba case. Same when I was getting my undergrad degree. These days that private house party type gig has pretty much disappeared amongst the well to do - at least around here.

If I were a young tuba/sousaphone player these days looking to pickup pocket money - the quinceaneras / weddings crowd don’t seem to blink at paying up for live music. So I definitely would get my Banda chops in order. Around here the wealthy really don’t do funerals any more either and that has kind of spread to the middle class. But the Afro-American segment still spends big on funerals - even in poor neighborhoods it’s pretty common to spend big and many hire a NOLA Second LIne band for the funeral procession. Another gig I’d go after if I was a young player - although a bullet proof vest would also be a good investment for some neighborhoods.

My jazz combo has long done festivals and conventions and that market is still going strong around here. The convention biz really depends where you are of course - but here in Chicago there is a lot of convention biz still and my group wasn’t shy about asking for $3000-5000 for a 3 set or 5 set gig back in the 90’s for a 5 sometimes 6 man gig. We were always reluctant to do weddings as we were insistent on making sure brides understood we play jazz - and jazz only - we’d always ask them "do you understand that?" - brides get it in their head that it’s be cool to have a jazz band but then want you to play pop at the gig.

The Olds O-97 “20” sousaphones are the best of the “junior” sousas. They play shockingly well. They’re also a status symbol among Banda tuba players. Having any tuba player at all in your group or at your event is also a status symbol in the culture. These do garner a big dollars and have for quite a while.

I typed out something similar the first time I responded to this with a couple of links to prior sales, but when I read it back I thought, “these people aren’t going to believe this, it makes little sense out of context.” I have, indeed, seen these all fixed up go for $6000+. They play great, make a really big, tuba-like sound that projects like crazy, and are pretty scarce. People will pay for what they want.

That said, I own one too. It, however, isn’t for sale, so I’m not pumping for any buyer here or in Banda culture. I’ve turned down several unsolicited offers when I’ve mentioned I had one. Very weird, but there it is.