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My Wessex Prague

Posted: Wed Aug 09, 2017 10:10 am
by jakewillis
I bought this horn over a year ago.

I had valve issues right from the start. My mistake was not sending it to Jc Sherman right away.

Whatever magic he did fixed the issues I had with the horn.

I can't tell you how much I love this horn. It's feisty, punchy and has a great tone.

Intonation is decent at best. The Bb below the staff isn't in tune if the F and Bb in the staff are. The problem persists throughout the partials. I lip it down with some success. The second valve has to be all the way in for me to have those notes in tune. It collects water in weird places and it takes some time to figure out where.

But my goodness, I have been playing tubas for a long time and I have never had this much fun. I owned a B&S PT-3S in college. It was a better quality horn, but it wasn't as much fun. I really hope the valve issues can be corrected and this horn makes a comeback. Sometimes bigger isn't better with horns, and I play in a community band with no problems filling the hall with sound. (I'm often the only tubist). With a mouthpiece with a big enough backbore, low notes pop out. High range is fine.

It took so long to get it right, but boy is this great for a washed up old music teacher like me who, at 43, just can't fill a 5/4 or 6/4 horn like I used to when I was 23.

I don't post much, but I lurk often. And I just love my Tuba and wanted to share.

Wessex Prague, Laskey 28G

Re: My Wessex Prague

Posted: Wed Aug 09, 2017 12:15 pm
by Three Valves
I'm glad it worked out, that is a neat little tuba...

Re: My Wessex Prague

Posted: Wed Aug 09, 2017 7:16 pm
by Daniel C. Oberloh
So far, Im not a fan of Wessex rotor valves. What I have seen recently has me very unimpressed. Affordable? yes, Quality? not so much.


D.C. Oberloh

Re: My Wessex Prague

Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2017 10:23 pm
by jakewillis
58mark wrote:the only off note on my Prague is the Low Bb, which is about 20 cents flat.

I'm interested in that JC did to your valves. I have a 2nd valve that hangs and so far nobody has been able to fix it

The third valve have the wrong paddle on it. Also, he saw it had an odd wear pattern and said that he thought when they installed the valve, it's slightly deformed the shape of the valve case. He fixed that, somehow tightened up the sloppy arms and made it work really well.

Re: My Wessex Prague

Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2017 11:14 pm
by Ken Crawford
Daniel C. Oberloh wrote:So far, Im not a fan of Wessex rotor valves. What I have seen recently has me very unimpressed. Affordable? yes, Quality? not so much.


D.C. Oberloh
Image

Re: My Wessex Prague

Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2017 2:27 am
by Wyvern
Wessex Tubas supplied the parts to JC to carry out the repair under warranty. That Prague of Jake's was manufactured BEFORE Wessex started carrying out quality checks at factory before accepting. It was such problems that made me take the decision for Wessex to make the considerable investment of quality assuring every horn at factory before acceptance which has had numerious benefits in raising the quality, developing the horns and creating a close relationship with factory management and production staff. This has led this year to the establishment of a dedicated team of the best craftsmen at factory to full time work just manufacturing for Wessex. We think that in depth understanding of Wessex high-standard requirements should lead to further raising in quality.

I am always sorry to hear when anyone has problems with their horn, and we do what we can, usually remotely to assist in fixing the problems. I am pleased to hear Jake likes how the tuba plays and now has this problem fixed (thanks JC!).

For Wessex rotors, we are model by model replacing the rotary valves with our new Z valves which have proved much more reliable and as they can be more easily removed, easier to maintain, or even replace if need be.

The Prague itself you won't now find listed on Wessex website (although we can still supply to special order), as we are over time discontinuing stocking standard Jinbao clones - to replace with new Wessex original designs, or resurrections of great tubas/euphonium of the past.

Re: My Wessex Prague

Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2017 10:52 am
by jakewillis
Wyvern wrote: The Prague itself you won't now find listed on Wessex website (although we can still supply to special order), as we are over time discontinuing stocking standard Jinbao clones - to replace with new Wessex original designs, or resurrections of great tubas/euphonium of the past.
All of what he said is accurate. I really hope you get a similar replacement for that horn. With working valves, it's super fun!

Re: My Wessex Prague

Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2017 8:02 pm
by bigtubby
Is this the Chinese clone of the Cerveny "Arion" series?

Seems as if one can buy the real thing for not much more than the Wessex price ... or the same Chinese clone for enough less to hire someone to make it right and still be ahead of the game (assuming that the cheapie plays nearly as well as the real item).

Re: My Wessex Prague

Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2017 10:31 pm
by bigtubby
58mark wrote:A new cerveny is still in the $7000 range, and I rarely see one come up for sale. Next time I do, I'll probably buy it

I've also thought about having a set of miraphone valves put on this horn, but that would be very expensive
http://www.cerveny.biz/tuben/bbb_tuben/abb_483_4m.php

Around $3640.67USD + a couple hundred shipping for the real thing brand new ...

Re: My Wessex Prague

Posted: Sun Aug 13, 2017 2:06 am
by cambrook
If anyone wants a Cerveny horn the best person to speak to is our own Mike Johnson. Don't be discouraged by the fact that he's in the UK, he can land them in the USA for a very good price. He's probably forgotten more about Cerveny than the rest of us know.

Re: My Wessex Prague

Posted: Sun Aug 13, 2017 3:30 am
by ger
bigtubby wrote:
Around $3640.67USD + a couple hundred shipping for the real thing brand new ...
€3850, that's $4552 according to my currency converter ...? :)

Re: My Wessex Prague

Posted: Sun Aug 13, 2017 9:10 am
by bigtubby
ger wrote:
bigtubby wrote:
Around $3640.67USD + a couple hundred shipping for the real thing brand new ...
€3850, that's $4552 according to my currency converter ...? :)
Please calculate again taking into consideration the fact that the U.S. in not a member of EU and therefore not subject to the EU 20% VAT that is included in the €3850 price. :shock:

Re: My Wessex Prague

Posted: Sun Aug 13, 2017 9:41 am
by bigtubby
58mark wrote:Not sure you can even order one from overseas

Here's the wwbw price. Little lower than I thought

http://www.wwbw.com/Cerveny-CBB-683-4-A ... 09234.wwbw" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank
It is done every day - in the last year I've purchased three helicons, three tubas, two cornets and a valve trombone from Ukraine, Czech Republic and Germany. A parts order is on its way from Cerveny as we speak.

I've never dealt with Hollwerth but Thomann has shipping calculator for worldwide sales and their shopping cart even adjusts by removing the VAT for destinations outside the EU.

Thomann does not list the CBB-483 but offers the CBB-683 for (U.S. price) €4193.28 or $4956.60

The 683 model is about 15% more than the 483. NS slide legs might be worth the price difference??? IMO a European tuba with brass slide legs is certainly worth the difference in price between a CBB-483 and a "Prague" with gold brass lead pipe, NS slide legs and poor design and build quality. OTOH, a non "name brand" Jimbo at a more realistic price might be worth the potential hassles:

They also offer the "Prague" 683 copy at €1,342.86 or $1587.31

<EDIT>
Just noticed the suggestion about Mike Jones and that certainly looks like a great option.
http://mike-johnson-custom.co.uk/