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I've been on the search for a small compact BBb, and the Arion / Piggy (CBB683, CBB603) stroke me as a good idea.

Looking at those I came aware of there being quite a few alternatives. Some Asian, some with a more unknown origin,
probably asian but looked quite nice (John Packer).

Reading the forums it wasn't difficult to ditch out the JinBao sourced ones. Obviously sounded good,
but with lousy mech and no review from people not having trouble with it, it was pretty much out of the question.
TBH, I promised my-selves never to have anything from theirs again and different peoples experience with the Prague
pretty much confirms that it might be a good idea to stick to that.

The John Packer looked nice....Could be had from JP for a very fair price, but I figured.
With my experience with clones....Why not the real thing?

So I contacted Mike Johnson to try out the CBB683 Arion, CBB883 Opera and CBB603 Piggy

All very nice. The piggy being larger than I was looking for, the fight would be between the 683 and 883.
The 683 Arion had an ease of play but also limitations. Where it stopped, the Opera could move on.
The Opera also had a 5th and a trigger, making it more versatile. It was simply a GREAT instrument, and even though
being quite small I don't think I'll have much of a gap between this and my custom Fasolt.

I just briefly tried the Prague on a trade stand, but these Cervenys are in a completely different league!
The response and both body and core of the tone....Can't be compared!

RECOMMENDED!

Who in the USA carries Cerveny??

Dillon only seems to have the larger ones.

I believe Amati has their own office in US (Amati USA)
They should be able to help you out

how do they compare to the traditional wrap version - are they the same profile as 681 wrapped shorter or something different?

I've had 2 Cerveny's. Had a 861 I sold which was a great playing horn despite being a school combat horn. The 693 I have now is a great horn. Good sound and intonation. Have been playing it with German and community bands in SW Fl. Large bore. Deep rich sound. If you can find a used one they can be had for a good price. I'd try to avoid buying new, they don't have great resale value for some reason. Cerveny has been around since the beginning of time and has a good reputation.

Was looking @ ebay and Tubaforum.de, but the few I found were either unreasonable high priced or seller with no previous feedback.
On tubaforum I can live with that, but not an anonymous sale.
There's still a 603 4PX for sale there BTW, has been for quite some time. A beautiful instrument.
BUT...I would, if anyone should be in the marked, check up shipping options from UK and have a talk with Mike Johnson

That would be the one for sale at Tubaforum (link in previous post)
Called FMB edition, don't think that really means anything other than for FMB (a warehouse) who can sell for higher mark-up

ValveSlide wrote:Nice looking tuba.

The US kinda missed out a bit on Cerveny's relatively leap forward. They made a bunch of changes/upgrades on manufacturing and construction right about the same time they canned their US distributor.

Is that a distributor before it gets to WWBW to retail??

Interesting post, Lectron, I have been considering the CC version of the 883 Opera, and I am going to Kraslice next month to try that out... It seems they have one available not yet lacquered.
Can you tell us what configuration has the 5th on the BBb?

gionvil wrote:Interesting post, Lectron, I have been considering the CC version of the 883 Opera, and I am going to Kraslice next month to try that out... It seems they have one available not yet lacquered.
Can you tell us what configuration has the 5th on the BBb?

Probably same as CC
Left hand thumb (just above 2nd trigger, if X model)
Comes with 3/4 and 1-1/4 slides

In the United States there are only a handful of Cerveny tubas that seemed to have ever been sold in any significant number (681, 601, Piggy, and rarely the 653 F tuba) so seeing this is interesting to see, and especially that it is a BBb tuba. Cerveny offers many models and many available-by-request options that are, again, rarely seen in the United States. I'd call them quite under-rated as a whole as the ones I've played were actually quite nice instruments. Cool tuba.

Tom wrote:In the United States there are only a handful of Cerveny tubas that seemed to have ever been sold in any significant number (681, 601, Piggy, and rarely the 653 F tuba) so seeing this is interesting to see, and especially that it is a BBb tuba. Cerveny offers many models and many available-by-request options that are, again, rarely seen in the United States. I'd call them quite under-rated as a whole as the ones I've played were actually quite nice instruments. Cool tuba.

Took the words outta my mouth. I've only played a few Cervenys over the years, but they have all played good/great for me. I agree they are under-rated. Nice tuba, Lectron