My new Buescher

[EmptyCase]

Recently got my hands on a 1927 Buescher jumbo sousaphone and gave it a much needed polish(and which I didn’t finish doing because I got tired). It’s been named Apollo which I think is fitting for this horn.
30” bell, 0.770” bore, massive horn but extremely balanced somehow. Hopefully I’ll get the valves overhauled sometime in the future.

[OhTubaGuy]

That’s a nice one!
It looks very similar to “Big Bertha” that I played in high school marching band.
Enjoy

[arpthark]

I played one of these that they had at Dillon's a couple years ago.

Surprisingly easy to play, just big as all get out. Very cool horn, enjoy it!

[Sousaswag]

Is this the one that was at Dillon’s for quite some time? Cool horn. I hope you can get the valves rebuilt or even replaced!

[arpthark]

Is this the one that was at Dillon’s for quite some time? Cool horn. I hope you can get the valves rebuilt or even replaced!

Here is me with that Buescher:



I am a short guy (5'6") and it may be the camera angle, but that thing is/was enormous!

If it's the same horn, I think OP will be pleased. I was having a blast with it!

[bloke]

Probably 25 - 30 years ago (before sousaphones had become as popular to individual owners as they are today), I picked up one of those. The valves were leaky, and - at the time - I had more important things to do than send that valveset off to Anderson (along with misc. dent removal, cleaning, etc.)

A black man was in town for a friend's funeral, and showed up looking for an affordable sousaphone (second line/NOLA, etc.)

I told him the valves were leaky, but he could play it and decide if he wanted to buy it for $400 as is (adjusted for inflation - c. $1000)

I wasn't that excited about selling it that inexpensively (even though as-is), but schools wouldn't have been interested in it, and (pre-internet) the (limited, but - now - existing) "jumbo sousaphone" market (again) hadn't yet become a "thing".

internet:
Sousaphones are back.
Recording basses are back.
B-flat tubas are back.
(Were they ever NOT "back"?, and - simply - people were less connected...)

...I also - prior to that - picked up a barn-find FOUR-valve King "Giant".
I cleaned the black tarnish off with oven cleaner, shined up the silver, and sold it (EXPENSIVE shipping) to a guy in Hawaii - who was involved in one of those c. 1920's - 1930's "hotel"-style bands...ie. probably something like this:

[EmptyCase]

Is this the one that was at Dillon’s for quite some time? Cool horn. I hope you can get the valves rebuilt or even replaced!

Yep!

[lost]

Out of all the jumbos the buescher is my favorite. Largely because it is more ergonomic than the other jumbos, i.e. smaller and a lot of fun to play.
Cool horn!