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I think they have realized that they can be players in the tuba market if they step up the quality. Matt showed me this new BBb they made and it looked and played amazing. I thought it was a Miraphone.

That is good news. I enjoy Cerveny horns on the whole, but the consistancy in the past has made it difficult to advise students to purchase them when they need to be shipped as they do here(Toronto area). It's been too much of a gamble to spring for shipping for the trials. I'd love to hear more comments on their horns currently.

Anyone else?

I just bought a 4v CC Pig, and I am so far thrilled with the pitch. I only need to pull the 1st slide for chord tuning; otherwise, the darn thing's nearly perfect in pitch. I can even get a good low F 1,2,4.

Anyone ever side-by-sided or before-&-aftered one of these with a 5-valve version? I'm contemplating adding one...

J.c.S.

I, too, have noticed that Cerveny has improved its quality and consistency of construction. Part of that is very much market driven, IMHO. Tuba players are far more demanding of their equipment and have far higher expectations than in the past. The envelope is being pushed by the players, and the manufacturers that respond will continue to do well. Those that don't, well . . .

BTW - tell us more about your BBb Arion! I've been eyeing this one as my new contra (although I'd prefer the same basic specs, wrap, etc. in CC) and am really interested in your opinion and some PHOTOS!!

jonesbrass wrote:I
BTW - tell us more about your BBb Arion! I've been eyeing this one as my new contra (although I'd prefer the same basic specs, wrap, etc. in CC) and am really interested in your opinion and some PHOTOS!!

Here, here! Me, too. I'm interested in that horn also. Might meet my needs for a smaller horn with a big sound...

I have the older style screw-adjusted ball linkages. They're my only complaint on the Pig...

J.c.S.

I am very pleased with my Cerveny 701 Kaiser BBb. Intonation is good, it has an incredible sound (a euph player I was speaking to claims he can tell if I am playing in the band before he even enters the band hall!) and the valves are as smooth and as fast as a Miraphone. I am told this aspect has been much improved in recent years.

The only aspect i did not like about it was the rotary valve keys more widely spaced than Meinl-Weston/B&S causing me aches in my hand. However, Mark Carter at Mr.Tuba has kindly bent them closer together for me - problem solved.

tanoc wrote:A buddy of mine has a HUGE BBb cerveny. It dents easy and the valves are noisy. It sure does seem to take a lot of air! But he says the intonation is really good and I love his sound on it.

They certainly do dent easy - far more so than say B&S - mine has sustained two dents in 3 months (both now knocked out). The noisy valves are I think just a characteristic of older ones, now corrected. They certainly do suck the air and take a lot of control. I am used to playing a 6/4 Neptune, but my Cerveny Kaiser 'feels' a lot bigger

tanoc wrote:A buddy of mine has a HUGE BBb cerveny. It dents easy and the valves are noisy. It sure does seem to take a lot of air! But he says the intonation is really good and I love his sound on it.

Do you happen to know what vintage of Cerveny your friend's horn is? The consensus here seems to be that the build quality and consistency has gone up in the last five or so years.

Looking at the Cerveny catalog, they have many "Kaisertuba" in their line up and the throat of the bell is huge all the way down to the bottom bow!

One of the best horns I ever played was the Cerveny 601-5RX
CC tuba. That was a huge tuba with a huge sound and was easy to fill up. 10 times better than the Cerveny BBb's I've played (which were probably student horns though). Not a big fan of Cerveny but definately was one of my favorite horns.