Adams Sousaphones

[Cameron Gates]

Does Adams make these things? Are they Chinese parts assembled by Adams? Could Conn/Selmer be involved?

Lots of Conn-looking parts on this thing. My first reaction was to think the ferrules and some braces are Chinese copies, but maybe not?

Any info would be appreciated.

Any idea about a parts source?

[BramJ]

I have a sousaphone, owned by the 'carneval' group I play with, that is marked Adams on the bell, but it is clearly a Conn 36K.
The group already had it when I joined, from what I heard it was supplied/partly sponsored by Adams when the group got it (Adams is local to us) so in return for that we do some 'marketing' for them

I don't see any Adams marked sousaphones listed on their website, do you have pictures of what you saw?

[bloke]

36K were fiberglass, and haven't been made in decades. I'm a little bit confused, but I'll follow and see if there's clarification.

[BramJ]

Mine is fiberglass and old, it was not acquired new by my group
Like I said, it is marked Adams but that is not because they made it, its because they partly sponsored it

Some photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/caRzQmCf5wh2UyUs8
(Again, no idea if this is what Cameron is talking about, this is the one I play)

[Cameron Gates]

This is a very new instrument, is not fiberglass, and is on their website.

I will try to post pics when I get to work.

[BramJ]

Hmm, I only see Conn, Jupiter, Eastman and Yamaha sousaphones listed on the site.

Only what is listed under "Adams Brass" and "Adams Percussion" is what they manufacture themselves, for the rest Adams is a music store and repair shop, that's how they started

[MiBrassFS]

https://pearldrum.com/products/adams-br ... ing-series

Holland Craftmanship

Adams Marching Brass instruments are proudly designed, crafted, and assembled entirely in Thorn, Holland combining traditional techniques with the latest manufacturing methods to deliver superb instruments.

At least that’s what the website states. I have no first hand knowledge.

[bloke]

I'm ignorant, so this comment is based on my ignorance:

Based on the picture and some of the small details, I'm going to guess that this is an in-house product based on the Conn design.

[BramJ]

Adams Marching Brass had been removed from their own website for some time, not sure if these are still available

[BuddyRogersMusic]

Adams does indeed make all their marching brass in The Netherlands and Pearl is the US distributor of them, along with all Adams percussion. Their Custom/Select lines of instruments are available through dealers.

The University of Cincinnati Bearcat Band has 12 or 16 of them and we service them. They play pretty well and are fairly lightweight. It can be ordered in silver or lacquer and has an optional first slide kicker.

[Cameron Gates]

I'm ignorant, so this comment is based on my ignorance:

Based on the picture and some of the small details, I'm going to guess that this is an in-house product based on the Conn design.

I believe you are correct. All parts of this instrument seem well made and not the least chi-comm. I’m just scratching my head about the direct copies of Conn ferrules and bracing. I would think that Adams would make these parts in their own style. The valve cluster screams Hirsbrunner with the thick walled cylinders and European nylon valve guide held in by a screw.

Thank you all for the insight into this thing. Next up will be procuring a stock of lower mouth pipes for future disasters. This is going to be hell to make happen without the Allied/Ferrees easy button for my employer’s purchasing admin to push.

[bloke]

The picture hints (??) at the Allied Supply aftermarket 14k/36k Conn lower mouthpipes being compatible.

I can't tell for sure but it looks like they (Adams) have/has retreated back to the cast (or woodwind key machine bent) braces (which I prefer) from long ago.

As I can make copies of those from brass rod, I'm sure your shop can do the same.

The JP King copy sousaphone (Chinese) is pretty darn well made, and they diverged from King with a Conn-compatible neck. You might check to see if the Adams neck is also Conn-compatible. That would make things easy, yes?

... though you might not want to use substitute parts, because you would hate to ruin the tuning of the E natural above the staff or something like that, yes?

Since I like to knock things out and get paid quickly, I've sort of developed a particularly good nack - via repetition - of saving seemingly hopelessly twisted lower mouthpipes, including King, Jupiter, JP and all those that are similar which tend to get twisted up worse than Conn. If they're cracked, I braze the crack back together. They end up looking about A-, I don't do any filing or sanding, they're back on the field, and the invoice is in the hand of the school system's accounts payable without me having to wait for someone to ship me a lower mouthpipe tube. (Being young scholars, you know they're going to tear it right back up.) What you do is up to you.

[MiBrassFS]

Adams owns Bauerfeind, so I would bet they may be, indeed, very similar to those Hirsbrunner valves.

[Cameron Gates]

I already have an old style lower pipe on my list.

I still have questions about this horn. How does a big European made instrument win a competitive bid at an American school district. Especially when it is definitely well made by humans who are not child slaves living in a sketchy country?

The pics I saw on their website showed a curious feature that allows the valve stems to be arranged in a tight cluster like a short stroke Conn without being a short stroke. They appear to make an optional 2 piece top cap ala Conn and the cylinders have a fake little key way for the fixed part of the cap to sit in. There are 2 threaded holes on the top of each valve. Wow, what marketing guru came up with that feature.

I took a ton of pics, I just do not know how to post them. Yeah, I suck.

[LeMark]

As far as parts go, I find Adams is very responsive to providing what you need directly

[Cameron Gates]

The house frau cubicle pilot district employee will find procuring parts from another country daunting to say the least.

“We are a school district. We are tax-exempt”

Yep, I’ll never get those parts.

[MiBrassFS]

This place in Grand Rapids, Mi essentially bases their business around Adams.

https://www.thebrass-stop.com/

Can they help the haus frau? Might be a possibility. They might get the whole tax exempt thing. I’ve never dealt with them.

[pjv]

The MSP1S with normal valves (0.748-inch bore and a 26-inch bell).
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... -with-case
It looks the same as their MSP1TS
https://reverb.com/item/72825012-adams- ... -with-case

With abnormal valves
https://reverb.com/item/68156257-adams- ... ar-lacquer
and
https://reverb.com/item/26267800-adams- ... case-msp1o

I remember the boss Miel Adams once years ago telling me that they'd be making sousaphones for the US market. I’ve never seen one in NL.
Moot point I’d think. Adams’ instruments are very pricey and since import prices for products outside the US have jumped up I don’t think you’ll see a lot of these floating around.

Which makes them exclusive and thats even MORE expensive!

[bloke]

The pictures "look" good (to me)...ie. Adams...and (I suspect...??) the valves are really good, knowing which valve manufacturer they bought.

I have one customer who has been spending that much to buy [a domestic make that costs that much] and the valves [domestic make] have been REALLY causing problems (problems about which I warned them ahead of time, to no avail). Further, it seems as though they've been told that they can't buy any more (new) ones that cost that much, and they're now discussing "vintage" ones (same model...and WAY BETTER MADE valves) from me.

shameless non sequitur re. yet another make...I've been selling a bunch of JP sousaphones (considerably-better-than-Taiwan King clone) which are 4/4 (vs. 6/4 - as the Adams appear to be 6/4). I'm really impressed with the valve sections (pistons/casings/slides) on the JP's, and the fact that their bodies are thicker-walled than King is a plus (tend to feature smaller dents than King, each year).

I'm also tossing them out there (shipping and similar-to-American-made case included) for "a few thousand bucks" (vs. $12,XXX).

me...?? I'm happy with my 18-lb. 1970's King fiberglass which I found locally in an old man's garage-full-of-crap (and yeah...I found a deal on an alternate brass King bell, but I like the fiberglass bell better).

...The BEST-playing/sounding sousaphone I ever PERSONALLY owned...??
I had a 30-lb. (no exaggeration on weight - I weighed it) King (yes: 4/4) BRASS sousaphone with a very late 1940's body and a 1960 bell. Even though 3-valves, the tuning was inexplicably good, and the sound - REALLY majestic...absolutely "indoor concert appropriate". I sold it to a local university that had an "emergency shortage" - a year ago...(As I've been around the block a few times, I've noticed that - when bad economic times are orchestrated by our rulers and jobs are scarce - more barely-adult-aged people crowd into "higher" education. THIS IS A TROLL COMMENT.)

[Cameron Gates]

I found 2 more of these things at another high school. One has already had the dreaded mouthpipe twist and brace failure. Repairable, but this is not a good beginning of life for the instrument

I’m curious where these things are coming from. It would not surprise me, at this rate, that I see 2 or more by the end of summer.