Posted by Joe S. on June 27, 2000 at 22:29:25:
In Reply to: Selmer sousa on eBay posted by Klaus on June 27, 2000 at 21:44:09:
I think the bell is 24" wide. The mouthpiece is simply one of those chrome-plated looking Taiwanese mouthpieces that was designed to be bounced off of a concrete sidewalk (but it hasn't been, yet). The old receiver was not made to fit a mouthpiece. One could only have inserted a Selmer BIT #1 into the gooseneck. Selmer BIT #2 fit into Selmer BIT #1 and FINALLY BIT #2 would accept a standard mouthpiece. A mouthpiece would not have fit anywhere but into BIT #2.
This thing is "almost" as good as a Conn 36K, being that it is so similar.
*****************
tangent topic:
As some know, I am quite the champion of Elkhart Conn sousaphones. I would chose a Conn fiberglass 36K over ANY King, Olds, Reynolds, or Holton brass sousaphone, and have embarrassed prominent high school and college band directors with their "back turned" consistant choice of a Conn 36K fiberglass sousaphone sound over that of a Miraphone 186 over and over again. Further, three of us in a row (three consecutive years) in my high school made 1st chair in the Tennessee All State Band (back in the early '70's) on a 36K...and withOUT a screen. (ie: The judge SAW what instrument we were using for the audition.) When each of us became a senior, it was sort of the "manly man" thing to go to All State tryouts with a piece of c**p (even though we had some good concert tubas) and make 1st Chair when it was "our turn" to do it. This sounds like bragging, but rather I am trying to demonstrate examples of the worthiness of Elkhart Conn sousaphones...yes even fiberglass.