Posted by Kevin Eckelkamp on May 28, 2000 at 21:15:17:
Hello my tuba pals! I love Sousaphones to death! I love to swing them around in the parades and show off!! A few months ago I decided to get a job and save up $800 to $1200 to put towards a used silver King BBb Sousaphone, a real dream! Then I saw a picture of a helicon and I thought they looked pretty cool. Last week while searching through Waldo's Tribute to the Wonderful Tuba website I found the O.M.T.A.A.M.B. link. On that website it showed many pictures of the tuba section, many of the players owning thier own Sousaphones. One picture showed a man with helicon sitting next to some Sousaphone players. Wow! I didn't know that the helicon was that big! I later regarded the horn to be BBb helicon because of the large size. I had an idea that maybe it would be neat to purchase a BBb helicon instead of the intended Sousaphone, because they looked pretty cool and all the other players would think it to be really neat. Well I have talked to many other helicon players about various matters relating to the helicon. But now I am starting to feel guilty about wanting to play the helicon instead of the Sousaphone, because I love the Sousaphone! I wouldn't feel this way if I wanted to switch to a Raincatcher Sousaphone for instance. I figure that a Sousaphone is really just a beefed up BBb helicon. Right? I just think these helicons are really neat vintage instruments. If you have any neat stories, soothing words of comfort, comments, or historical tid bits please write!
Sincerely,
Sousaphone lover