I had one very similar to the OP's. The smaller bell seemed to produce a more focused sound than the typical sousaphone.

I wonder what key it plays in?

Playing Bel Canto was an important part of Bill Bell's teaching, according to his students. For my teacher Sam Green (who studied with Mr. Bell in New York) Bel Canto was THE most important thing. My sense of it is that this is now regarded (in some quarters, at least) as old-fashioned. I still ...

Whenever I see a horn like this, meaning missing one or more parts but otherwise in relatively good shape, I always wonder how hard and expensive it would be to find or make the missing parts. I hate to see old instruments get wasted.

The cup looks shallow like a typical f tuba mouthpiece. No idea why a bass tuba mouthpiece would have such large outer dimensions though.

I worked from the Arban book in school. My teacher, Sam Green, had studied with Bill Bell, who taught from the Arban book--we used the trumpet version to get the benefit of the melodies included and to master reading treble clef. I performed Carnival Venice a few times, as well as similar themes and ...

I will be very interested in how the replacement neck works. My horn is stenciled Wurlitzer but was made by Conn in the 1920s. Great horn except for a couple of touchy notes right in the middle, especially concert C. It is oddly similar to the low C on the older generation of F tubas.

That green stuff near the thumb ring is a little off-putting to me. Still a cool looking horn though.

The concert "C" in the mid range can be a very squirrely note on a bass sax. It is sometimes necessary to use the side vent key (obviously, the "real" sax players refer to this note as "D.") At any rate, as you get the horn in great shape, don't assume you missed anything if that note is uncertain ...

Its a nice-looking sousaphone, and a wonderful inheritance. I wouldn't sell it either!

Having owned large bell horns and small bell horns, including a very fine Sander with a storied history and a bell smaller than 15 inches, I have come to prefer the smaller bells for a more focused sound. And having been on the lookout for one of these particular Holtons for about 40 years, I am not ...

As an extra incentive, imagine playing the trio of National Emblem March on that thing! All those A flats in a row...

This looks like the same finish, including the nickel or silver slides, same type of valve caps and valve buttons and other particulars, as my Besson BBb sousaphone--also a great playing horn.

I traveled by air with a horn only once, and got away with no damage--something I still think of as a minor miracle. In my case, it was a used Meinl Weston tenor tuba (similar to a rotary valve euphonium) that I purchased while on a business trip in Arizona. I put a cardboard cone in the bell ...

Frequent pauses to let the muscles rest during a practice session can be very helpful. Continuous playing without a break wears the muscles all the way out, and then only a substantial rest period will help.

His passing marks the loss of a lot of scholarship and accumulated knowledge of our instrument.

I had a pit tuba for a while and liked it. I also had a three-valve rotary king BBb (bell front) and it was one of the best-playing tubas I ever had. It was very heavy to hold, and I eventually sold it. Now (of course) I wish I had kept it. Good luck with your search!

I didn't get the movie reference, but wow, what a helicon!

Until recently, there were always a bunch of cheap used Eb's available. These were primarily Conns, Yorks, and other American brands with three valves, and some played pretty well. Eb sousaphones were also plentiful and cheap. I don't see so many listed recently. The best Eb I ever had was a small J ...