TubeNet

In the "Nirschl Schmirchl" thread I was asked for comments about my Lidl tuba.

For those not aware, Josef Lidl is a brass instrument maker based in Brno, Czech Republic. They have been in existence since the late 1800s but, like other companies, became state owned when the Commies took over Czechoslovakia after WWII. After the fall of Communism in 1989, the company was returned to private control. Back in the day, Lidl was well known for its brass instruments, particularly the french horns. More recently, Lidl was making most of the student line horns for Besson.

In the mid-90s, Lidl developed a series of "student" tubas pitched in BBb, CC, Eb, and F. So far as I know, only the BBb and CC tubas made it into production. Lee Stofer was the major seller of Lidl tubas here in the US. They were frequently discussed on the old TubeNet and a search will find those threads. The BBb moded, LBB-701 is very highly rated and the CC version was also well thought of based on the very few samples of that horn that showed up here. So far as I know, no Eb or F version ever made it over here, but Lee might know better. Unfortunately, Lidl dropped its US distributor two years ago and I don't believe anyone represents them here now. I did have some e-mail contact a couple of years ago with LIdl and was informed that they only made about 60 tubas per year, most of these going to the US and Canada.

I bought my BBb Lidl from Lee three years ago. This is a very well made instrument. It has 4 rotary valves with miniball linkage, a bore of .720" and a 16.5" bell. The horn is just under 34" tall and weighs about 16 lbs. IMHO, this horn could well lose the "student" tag. It blows very free and has good intonation. It's labelled a 3/4 size but I would call it a large 3/4 size horn. Although I don't have much ensemble experience with it, I believe this would be an excellent horn for quintet, chamber, and small ensemble work. It will hold its own in a band with other tubas but may be a bit small for full-size orchestral work.

Here's the web site with pictures of both the BBb and CC models. I note that the Eb and F models no longer are listed:

http://www.joseflidl.cz/

My tuba came with a hard case (Winter) and Melton (?) 24AW mouthpiece. This is a great value if you can get one. You may have to order direct from Europe. Or. . . maybe some of you folks with some $$ and good business sense may want to approach Lidl about a US distributorship.


http://www.joseflidl.cz/

I don't understand the point of the previous post. I certainly was not comparing Lidl to Nirschl but was answering two OT posts about the Lidl - in this new thread.

I don't think Lidl instruments relate at all to the Trabant. I spent a lot of time in Poland in the early 1970s and rode in many a Trabant - or pushed it. They were the equivalent of the 80s Yugo - a POS car which was generally only available in eastern bloc countries. Lidl instruments were never that bad, even in Commie times because they were intended for export. Just like Polish ham which could be bought anywhere except in Poland.

Alex F wrote:Here's the web site with pictures of both the BBb and CC models. I note that the Eb and F models no longer are listed:

http://www.joseflidl.cz/

There's another (European) site you might want to check out -- they're still advertising the Eb and F models, and it appears they'll ship to the US:

http://www.lidlinstruments.com/tuba/lfb704.php

http://www.lidlinstruments.com/tuba/leb_703.php

HTH ...

Tony Clement had a beautiful Lidl tuba in his inventory when he was operating his business out of the San Jose area. I saw the thing up close and it looked like it was beautifully built. Wish I had had time to test it. I doubt that Tony would have been selling a new tuba that was less than good.

Kevin Hendrick wrote:

Alex F wrote:Here's the web site with pictures of both the BBb and CC models. I note that the Eb and F models no longer are listed:

http://www.joseflidl.cz/

There's another (European) site you might want to check out -- they're still advertising the Eb and F models, and it appears they'll ship to the US:

http://www.lidlinstruments.com/tuba/lfb704.php

http://www.lidlinstruments.com/tuba/leb_703.php

HTH ...

The photos on the F and Eb pages are identical. And both pages belong to an Austrian retailer, who may not have updated his site.

Lidl may have discontinued the F and Eb models, because there is no big export market for 4 valve non-comp bass tubas.

Carolus Moravius

I am the owner of a Lidl LBB 701 BBb Tuba I bought 2nd hand in Feb. 2006. I am very happy with the Instrument as it suited my needs. I wanted a Instrument that had a full sound & was not too heavy as I am a Senior Citizen.
I received a email about my Instrument from a Gentleman in Green Bay asking how I liked my Instrument. He said that he had ordered one from Ferguson Music in California.
http://www.hornguys.com/hornsinstock.htm#tuba

I agree with Alex F the Lidl Tuba is a good Instrument for the Money & not too heavy with a bore of .721, not bad for a 3/4 size Instrument

http://www.lidlmusic.cz/josef/news/lbb701.htm

We import Lidl instruments into the US. I believe they only make rotary valve brass instruments. They are well known for rotary trumpets in Bb (nice), C (just OK pitch), Eb alto, and Bb bass, and we've sold some of each. A very decent rotary bass trumpet can be had from them for 1K+. They did make French horns for Besson too.

I played all the Lidl tubas at the Musikmesse show this past spring. They do still offer a 3/4 4V BBb and CC which are excellent. I have never heard of any Eb or F models. They also have a new 4/4 rotary BBb that is mostly made in China, and then finished at the Lidl CZ factory. No matter how you might feel about Czech quality (it's also very good IMHO), I think that's a great way to offer a Chinese instrument and assure buyers that it will be a quality product.

That idea has been done before in another area that interests me: Tom Ritchey in Palo Alto, California, used to have high-end bicycle frames tig welded in Taiwan, and then he would do final brazing, alignment and paint locally. These were very highly regarded bikes, even considering their lineage. And so it will go with brass instruments.

We will have two 3/4 BBb 4V Lidl tubas arriving in September.

Best,

Steve Ferguson
hornguys.com

Steve,

That's great news. I know that you've had Lidl trumpets and recall a note from one your old NAMM reports that was positive about the Lidl tuba.

Alex "very satisfied owner of a couple of Fergusonized trombones" F.

Thank you all for this thread. It was one of the few things I could find anywhere on the web about Lidl tubas. I played a Lidl CC yesterday at Ferguson's and fell in love with it. It had a beautiful voice and the response seemed excellent. It was compact, light weight, and the design was very attractive. The case wasn't all that much bigger than the ones for my euphoniums.
Yesterday I went to 3 stores in the Los Angeles area and played 7 instruments. This morning I'm headed to one more store, but after sleeping on it, I think it's going to be the Lidl CC. I think I found my horn!
-hald
1948 Besson 4/4 compensating recording bell
No name Chinese 3/4 Tuba
Nirschel compensating euphonium
Jean Baptiste (B & S) euphonium
1962 Conn Constellation Euphonium
Wyndham baritone

COOL!!

Lidl is (or should be) a respected (if 'lidl' known in the US) maker of brass instruments. With all of the previous exceptions noted, their quality is comparable with Cerveny (a distant neighbor) quality. Rather than specializing in low brass, Lidl manufactures a full line of brass.

My first experience with them was from a friend of mine visited Brno in the 90's (don't ask why, who could explain such a thing) and found a Lidl store on the same block as his hotel. He'd never heard of Lidl but went inside to look around. He ended up buying a fine five rotary valve, double bell, flugel horn (with the fifth valve chaneling the sound to a permanently muted bell) a pocket cornet and spent less than $300. He wanted to buy an F helicon for $500 but knew it would not fit on the airplane. Of course, prices are higher now.

The Horn Guys in Pasadena California is the U.S. dealer for Josef Lidl 701 BBb and 702 CC tubas.

I've been curious to play a Lidl 3/4 CC or BBb for a while. Might have to plan a trip once the world returns to normal.

Maybe they can start selling them in LIDL grocery stores.

I have sold several (pre Stölzel) czech made Bb and C Tubas (701 and 702 model). The Bb-Tuba was a vey nice player with a nice large sound despite the compact light weight build. The C-Tuba was a quite OK instrument, but clearly a cut version of the Bb with some tuning and intonation problems.
The newer Lidl Bb-Tuba Model 715 is a copy of the B&S GR51 and looks quite identical to the chinese built Arnolds & Sons ABB-4800 (Stölzel).
I guess this Lidl instrument are of the same production since now Arnold Stölzel GmbH now owns the Josef Lidl brand.
In these days Josef Lidl are launching traditional Cerveny models under the Josef Lidl name, since Stölzel/Lidl now controls the former Cerveny factory in Hradec Kralove.