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Have any of you ever owned or played this flavor of Cerveny tuba?
I would like to hear your thoughts and opinions regarding this tuba.
I feel the urge to splurge and this is the tuba I currently have in my sights.
Let me know your thoughts - Inquiring minds want to know!

CERVENY ARION KAISER BBb-TUBA CBB 693-4RX
Usually emperor tuba sold with the best price!

4 rotary valves
Bore: 21.2 mm
Bell: 500 mm (19.7")
Height: 950mm (37.4")
Weight: ca. 10,2 kg
Nickel-silver mouthpipe and rim
Nickel-silver valve casings
Compact model
4/4 size
Brass clear lacquer.
Miniballinkage
Complete with hardcase and silver-plated mouthpiece.

All I'll say is that these big boys are BIG tubas. Make sure you and the tuba are a good physical fit before you commit to buying a new one. Nothing is more uncomfortable than a mismatch, no matter how nice the tuba sounds, it'll always be annoying to hold and lug around.

Walter Sear used to import a big BBb Cerveny that was similar, but taller than this one.
I had one for a while back in the 1970s. I am not a big guy, but I enjoyed playing it. Even with all four down and the first slide pulled way out for CCC far below the staff it had no hint of stuffiness. Even though the valve bore is huge, the leadpipe starts out small enough to give some "center" to your tone.

There were two disadvantages to that tuba:
First, it was very big and rather fragile. The whole thing could vibrate like a bowl full of jello.
Second, the one that I had was rather flat on the open fourth line F. I remember an Alexander Kaiser tuba that was similar in that respect. There are alternate fingerings, of course.
I would suggest that you try before you buy.

I posted a bunch of what I know about the big Cerveny's on the Ebay section but this is a different model. They call this the Compact Kaiser. Mr Sear never had one of these while I was annoying him almost weekly in the early 70's. I have played two. One had non functioning valves but did have a magnificent sound and the other belonged to the tuba player before Neal Tidwell in New Orleans. Itwasn't as friendly as any of the tall models I had played up to then but he sounded really good on it. When I called Chuck Levins in the 80's about getting one he said they had too many pitch problems. That being said if you read my other post in the Ebay section they do vary. If you could go someplace ehere there were 6 or 8 you'd probably find a great one. Mabye even the factory if the exchange rate would offset some of the airfare.Dillon's can get them and they did come into the country somewhere near the store so there could be several at this shipping place if you could get them to let you try some. I think a good one of these would be the perfect rotary Kaiser due to the shortness of the bell, enabling you to hear yourself better. Good luck, Ed

i had a 693- great horn...just play it first

I had one of these and bought it from FMB in Germany where I tried a few and mine was the only one that played in tune.

Great instrument but was a dent magnet. Not an instrument for a gig bag, although I had a hard case for it too. It dented so much so (obviously, the thing is massive too, which doesn't help) that I stopped taking it out and consequently traded it for my Yamaha CC, which gets a lot more use.

Interesting and not surprising comments about Cerveny.

Other than Dillon, is there any other US dealer stocking any Cerveny tubas?

What has anyone's experience been with the Model 696 6/4 BBb tuba? Is it available with a 5th valve?

Hi,
You might try Karl Megules' in Hamilton, NJ. Here's the url:
http://mrmegstubas.com/" target="_blank
There is a contact page with both phone and e-mail. The last time I tried it however, the e-mail address didn't work.