Posted by Leland on July 01, 1999 at 17:48:41:
In Reply to: Re: Re: SOUSAPHONES, SOUSAPHONES, SOUSAPHONES!!! posted by Rob Perelli-Minetti on July 01, 1999 at 14:56:45:
I got my names mixed up on the Olds-King sousie -- sorry!
It's an F.E. Olds & Sons with San Francisco on the bell. Not a Cleveland after all.
What I meant about the King was that it gave a lot of sound, and it had enough presence to come right up to your face. It was possible for it to play extremely loud without any "that's an ugly sound now" tactile feedback, so in an indoors setting it was possible to bury the rest of the group. From the playing end, the 20K seemed to put out less sound for the same effort, and to feel productive at all I had to blow a lot harder. Blow the horn, that is...the sousaphone!.... yeesh.. :-)
If/when the shop fixes up the 20K and we get to blow on it, we'll take it & the King out for another blind listening test. The first one we did shattered some notions we had, and there's no reason that a second one couldn't do the same. If I could manage it, we'd have every currently-built sousaphone out there going head-to-head. I don't like relying on mythology and reputation when it comes to objects that cost four times what my car is worth (hmm, what does that say about my car??).
For now though, I like that King, and I'll definitely agree that it & the 20K are the two best sousaphones out there -- UMI may have a lock on the outdoor bass weaponry niche. As usual on the BBS, "Whatever works best for you!"
Seeya,
Leland