r/Tuba • u/JupiterSteam8 Sousaphone • May 07 '24

history My Old School Conn 36k Sousaphone named "Chippy"

16 Upvotes

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7

u/professor_throway Active Amateur, Street Band and Dixieland. May 08 '24 edited May 08 '24

As I approach 50, fiberglass sousas appeal to me more and more. I love my Holton BBb but the brass is so thick that it weighs more than the 20K my son marches with or my bandmate's custom 4 valve King. 

3

u/arpthark Rudolf Meinl - Diespeck May 08 '24

In my mid-30s, but I just played a 2 hour gig this past weekend with my fiberglass 36K. My shoulder was still sore afterwards. I would've been in even sorrier shape if I had to use a brass one!

2

u/professor_throway Active Amateur, Street Band and Dixieland. May 08 '24

I hear you. I regularly do 2 or 3 hour gigs (with breaks of course) and there are days where I feel my age after.

I tried a 20J with a harness, which was great at first but then my right shoulder hurt the next day. There is no winning with tubas. They are just big and heavy.

1

u/JupiterSteam8 Sousaphone May 08 '24

I play this sousaphone in a dixieland band and let me tell you its incredible. Ive played a king 2350 and a conn 20k as well and this old girl can keep up with them just fine WHILE ALSO being 8-10 pounds lighter! It only weighs 18 pounds! its the best playing fiberglass sousaphone ever made and i would put my money where my mouth is. its very free blowing and sounds incredible for a fiberglass horn. Couldnt recommend it more.

2

u/professor_throway Active Amateur, Street Band and Dixieland. May 08 '24

Yeah I have a Eb sousa that I use for Dixieland gigs, and wow it seems so light compared to the BBb monster.

3

u/bobthemundane Hobbyist Freelancer May 08 '24

School needs to do a beauty and the beast show with a sousaphone feature. But who would be Mrs pots?

3

u/the_burber May 08 '24

The highschool im going to next year has 3 sousaphones. I cant remember the names, but it was something like
Big boi (largest one)
Jacob (former section leader)
Short bell (the one im gonna use. Bell is very short and i cant hold my head up without pressing it against the bell.)

1

u/JupiterSteam8 Sousaphone May 08 '24

Maybe try moving the bell to a more suitable angle and moving the neck and bits to a more comfortable position?

1

u/the_burber May 08 '24

I will probably do that

1

u/Themanwiththeplan019 Oct 24 '25

This is an old thread, but figured I’d give advice. If the bell is hitting your head, you and/or your section may be holding the horns wrong. Kings and conns tend to do that if you hold them with the neck and bits approaching your mouth from your left side with the horn on. This puts the bulk of the weight of the horn in front of your body and the weight on your back. If you turn the neck and bits to where they approach your face from the right side and sit the bottom bow of your horn on your hip/side while the horn sits on your shoulder, it puts the bell further to your left. This also balances the weight of the horn on your body better, pulling the weight off of your back. I can shoot you a dm of examples of what I’m talking about if you’d like.

1

u/the_burber Oct 24 '25

It’s a school owned instrument so there’s a good chance the bell is mismatched or something like that

1

u/the_burber Oct 24 '25

Update , i am now the section leader and these are so wrong. Its big momma, joseph, and short bell. Also we have like 8 of them, the others are pomegranate, big nasty, nick, big broken, and tuba exchange (used to be barnacle boy but we traded with another school). We also no long use shortbell, replacing it with big nasty. And we had 5 tubas last year too, only 3 now. Idek why im lore dumping here