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The Cerveny 681 is smaller than each of the horns you mentioned. The very first tuba I ever owned was a 5 valve 681 that I bought in 10th grade. The one I had, had a nice sound and VERY smooth valves. There are 2 things I didn't like about it. First, the bell is rather small (15.75"). Second, the fifth valve was a non-standard long-half step on the left hand. I kept it up through the first semester of college. Thus began my game of "musical tubas" which ended in 2001 after I graduated from college.

The 3 tubas you have recommended are more "standard" CC horns. Personally, I would choose the 2145, but the 2 Miraphones are time tested work horses played by MANY MANY musicians professionally for decades.

My $0.02....

If you want to invest in a new horn, I'd recommend taking the time to go to WW&BW or Dillons and try out all the horns you listed. You might also consider the Cerveny 686, with a slightly larger bell - equivalent to the 186 in bell size. FWIW, out of the horns you listed, I think the 188 is the best bet. You need to play them all to decide, however. . . or go with a used horn and save some green.

I'm just curious..

Do you take private lessons now? If so, this is something that you and your professor should talk about together. If you're not taking lessons yet, have you talked to the professor at Florida State? He might would rather have you wait and play a school horn before dropping x thousand dollars for a tuba.

Another thing.. when shopping for anything, the best thing to do is test lots of them before you decide on one. If you're already comfortable with CC tuba then try out as many as you can before choosing one.. new and used. If you haven't played CC tuba, and haven't been taking lessons, I would reccomend waiting, playing a school horn at first and talking to your professor about what tubas to buy. Who knows, a grad student or upper classmen might be selling a horn.. or your professor might have some friends who have some horns for sell.. Don't just look at the major dealers and tubenet in your search for a tuba.

Cerveny's quality has improved significantly in the last 15 years. The Cerveny 686 is about the size of a Mirafone 186, and the only thing I didn't like is that the 5th valve is a half step, so it's impossible to play pedal Db...

However, I ordered longer slides for my 5th valve (standard flat whole step) from Matt Walters @Dillons, just like 99% of the CC's out there. It is very efficient with the air, and I can match the bass trombone for edge, if needed

Shopping used in today's economy is the way to go, though

jon112780 wrote:Cerveny's quality has improved significantly in the last 15 years. The Cerveny 686 is about the size of a Mirafone 186, and the only thing I didn't like is that the 5th valve is a half step, so it's impossible to play pedal Db...

However, I ordered longer slides for my 5th valve (standard flat whole step) from Matt Walters @Dillons, just like 99% of the CC's out there. It is very efficient with the air, and I can match the bass trombone for edge, if needed

Shopping used in today's economy is the way to go, though

Agreed.

This is something I would definitely talk with at least a few professors/teachers about before even thinking about dropping any coin on a horn that will be your's for a while. If you haven't already, talk to Prof. Ebbers and any other players you know about this. I'm sure that at least a few probably-successful options can be found.