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Say you had a chance to try a few of these, with a view to using one for a particularly "big and low" brass band piece, where would you start?

I can pick any... But only from Cerveny (sponsors agreement)

http://www.vfcerveny.cz/en/rotary-valve/tubas/bbb-tubas

I've only ever played on one, so take it with a grain of salt, but the one 691 I have played is an astonishingly good instrument... solid pitch, fast response, quick valves, and a big, pretty sound that still has some go to it. The bell looked pretty much the same size and shape to me as the Gronitz PCK I used to own.



-T. J.

Andy,

Berliner Tuba seemed very impressed by the 696 he tried in Frankfurt in 2011, so I would go for that one:
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=43909
Maybe they will make you a 5-valve version in order to have more options in the pedal register?
I played a 4-valve BBb kaiser tuba in brassband and was a bit limited there...
(currently playing a 5-valve rotary non-compensating Eb in a champ. division brassband and I'm very happy with the 5th valve ...)

Have fun!

Do you have to use a mute in the piece? If so you might have to factor getting a bigger one if you get one of the bigger models. If there are fast mute changes required you might consider getting a compact model so it's easier to use the mute, as I am guessing some of the Kaiser tubas are very tall and almost impossible to do rapid mute changes.

How tall is the 693/793?

Does Cerveny no longer make the 601/701?