I carry my recording bell King in a gig bag (which fits with the upright bell) by removing the bell and putting it in the bag upside down over the body of the tuba, padded with towels, pillows and stuffed animals (can't have the tuba getting lonely in the dark bag). A bit inconvenient but workable.

Can confirm: the upright bell from a 1241 will turn a King sousa into a rain catcher (did this to avoid schlepping two horns to out-of town gigs involving marching one day and sit-down the next, community band gigs so if they complain about it looking funny they got what they paid for....) , but ...

These look interesting, not interesting enough to roll the dice on international Ebay deals and international shipping. And the price on the Wessex: really?

Possibly. I have the Eb cousin to this horn, it is a surprisingly good playing instrument.

Cool horn, have a similar one in silver, and am intrigued by the zig zag mouthpiece bit, wondering where such a thing could be found? I use a king bit and have a hard time getting the mouthpiece where I want it.

I wouldn’t get a lightning connector microphone because iPhones now have usb 2 jacks. I second the recommendations for stand alone zoom recorders. I have a zoom Q8n which does ok video and great audio. These days synchronizing separate audio and video tracks is easy via software.

My community orchestra played “Fesitval Overture in the National Air” by Dudley Buck, and the tuba part was in D (!) with a note to “write to JW Pepper for a D crook for the helicon”. So apparently this really was once a thing?

I like my 1241 (modded by previous owner with a floating lead pipe and top 3d valve slide), and enjoy having an upright bell for straight gigs and recording bell for jazz. It’s a good enough horn that I’m not highly motivated to spend a lot of money for something better. Realistically, there are eno ...

Had to miss the conference this year, thanks for putting this video out; it’s almost like being there but much safer for the ears and the wallet!

I have this horn, and like the Laskey 30h for brass band and general band/orchestra use. I bought it used with a Shires 8 (apparently what Eastman used to provide with the horn) which I like for high, chamber or solo use. If I really need a bigger tuba but have to use the 853, a PT88 is the answer.

Hetman 3 is good (and currently unavailable I think), but I find Yamaha Classic is better on my stable of old horns.

Knew Brown through the Charlotte Tuba Euphonium Ensemble, we bonded talking about history. He wanted to come down to see some South Carolina Civil war history sites with me, but we never managed to do so, sadly.

Harbor Freight O ring assortment, about $5 and maybe a free screwdriver too.