Conn 5/4 BBb 4 valve recording tuba question

[Thom]

Hello Everyone, hope y’all are doing well. I just bought an older Conn four front action valved BBb recording bell tuba. I love it, they made things to last back in the old days, I believe. It is marked on the bell receiver “80J”, but an old Conn brochure I found online says it should have been marked “82J”? The serial number on top of the second valve is 218348, the serial number website lists it as 1924? I contacted their website but I have not received an answer from them. Do any of y’all know the answer to the actual model number question, help please?

Thank you,

[hrender]

The Conn Loyalist website is the most complete reference I've found for Conn basses (tubas) and sousaphones, although there are folks on the board who can give you first-hand knowledge.

The Loyalist page on the 82J includes the following picture, so a visual comparison might tell whether your horn is an 82J.

[Thom]

The Conn Loyalist website is the most complete reference I've found for Conn basses (tubas) and sousaphones, although there are folks on the board who can give you first-hand knowledge.

The Loyalist page on the 82J includes the following picture, so a visual comparison might tell whether your horn is an 82J.
That is very similar. The only difference is the first valve top slide is angled in, not parallel to the main tubing. Thank you for the help.

[Thom]

The Conn Loyalist website is the most complete reference I've found for Conn basses (tubas) and sousaphones, although there are folks on the board who can give you first-hand knowledge.

The Loyalist page on the 82J includes the following picture, so a visual comparison might tell whether your horn is an 82J.

That is very similar. The only difference is the first valve top slide is angled in, longer in length and not parallel to the main tubing. Also, some of the other valve slides are some what different. Can you recommend an app so I may upload photos, please. Thank you for the help.

[hrender]

It’s easiest to share the photos on an external site, like Imgur, and then link them to a post.

This page on the Loyalist website will give you more points of comparison.

[Thom]

Here is my tuba:

[arpthark]

If I had to hazard a guess, I would say the 80J (three valves) and the 82J (four valves) have the same bell, and your 82J body is mated with an 80J bell.

[Thom]

I thought about that as well, but it is the bottom section that has 80J stamped on it, and both the bottom and bell sections have a “38” stamped on them.I am not stressing over this, I just am wondering if it may have been special made for someone?

[matt g]

Are you saying the male and female bell tenon are stamped “38”?

If so, that was common practice to ensure that you have a matched pair, as these would be fitted to each other.

[arpthark]

I see now. Maybe the bell tenon was replaced by another one from an 80J donor at some point.

[Thom]

Yes, male and female are marked “38” and align when they are mated properly. It is the female lower tension that is marked “80J”.

[matt g]

Another guess:

Conn was only marking parts for the cheaper version to sit in inventory.

[Thom]

It seems like it is the main tubing and bell from an 80J and the valves and valve tubing is from an 82J, maybe that is why the tubing is turned to fit the smaller tuba main tubing? I do not know, what I do think is it plays beautifully and I am going to love playing it for a very long time. Thanks for the responses. Hopefully Conn will get back to me.

[Thom]

The 80/82 is likely analogous to a 20/24J. Bigger motor in the same chassis kinda thing. Not much if any in the bugle changes.

I don’t think the tubing has been turned… I think that might be an issue with the angle of the photograph or just assembly line variance.

[donn]

That's what I assumed from the numbering - it's just the additional 4th valve. My vague impression is that this is the early days of model numbers, and for some reason this 80s series in particular is prone to coming up as a mystery, because no visible model number or in this case an error. They're relatively rare, aren't they? Maybe this one came down the line, they had a stack of bell collars, they were all stamped "80J" and the show went on.

[Grumpikins]

In any case, that horn looks great. Have fun playing it!

Sent from my SM-S367VL using Tapatalk

[hrender]

Related: I note that Donn has several pics of an 80J in Klaus's old photo archive.

[donn]

The sweetest looking version I (vaguely) remember was a mystery tuba / probably 82J, that I think was silver plated with a copper bell inside. On the old forum ... but images extinct.

[hrender]

Sorry, duplicate.

[hrender]

The sweetest looking version I (vaguely) remember was a mystery tuba / probably 82J, that I think was silver plated with a copper bell inside. On the old forum ... but images extinct.

I think it was this one.



The image is from pinterest, but it's also on horn-u-copia.