Czech news from The Horn Guys

[bisontuba]

From The Horn Guys on Facebook...FYI...

Cerveny is down, Lidl is up
This is interesting news from Arnold Stoezel, a large music distributor in Germany, regarding Amati-Cerveny, a brass and woodwind maker in Czech Republic. Amati-Cerveny is in bankruptcy proceedings and has closed their Koniggratz facility. Stoezel has hired the Cerveny staff (and purchased the assets?) to continue building instruments in Koniggatz under the Josef Lidl brand, also owned by Stoezel.

Dear Business Friends,

In light of recent events, we would like to inform you about the current status of the Lidl company in Brno, especially in connection with the production location for Cerveny instruments in Königgrätz, Czech Republic.

Due to various imponderables, our information policy so far, has been very defensive.
As you will have already learned from the press and hearsay within the industry, the Amati company, with its headquarters in Graslitz and a branch in Königgrätz (Cerveny), is currently in bankruptcy proceedings.
This meant, an uncertain future for the employees in Königgrätz. We therefore decided to integrate the Cerveny employees into the Josef Lidl company and to maintain the production site in Königgrätz.

We can already say that it was a step in the right direction, because it would have been a loss for the industry if these highly qualified instrument makers had migrated to other industries.

The number of employees at Josef Lidl has doubled, and they continue to seamlessly produce the models you know under the Cerveny brand. Added to this is the Josef Lidl product range with trumpets, flugelhorns, French horns and double horns as well as hunting horns. It should also be mentioned that Josef Lidl is one of the few manufacturers that can also offer invent-horns (hand-horn with slide crooks).

After a very short time, it was possible to ramp up production again and deliver the most common models from stock.
For reasons of trademark law, we manufacture the instruments under the brand name Josef Lidl, which is very well received by our customers in the specialist trade as well as by many musicians.

For the sake of simplicity and transparency, the model names were largely retained, only the first letter within the name was replaced by an "L" for Lidl.

We look forward to a long-term co-operation, characterized by continuity.

Yours sincerely,

Jürgen Stölzel

Arnold Stölzel GmbH - Josef Lidl S.R.O. - F. Arthur Uebel GmbH - La Tromba AG
Wiesbaden Brno-Königgrätz Markneukirchen Hochdorf

[tbonesullivan]

Oh wow, so I guess all the conjecture a while back was not entirely off base. It's very good to hear that the craftsman were retained. As an instrument consumer, I care far less about the name than I do the quality of the instruments.

[bort]

So basically, Amati - Cerveny - Lidl is like this...?

[Worth]

I used to have a Lidl bass trumpet that was a piece of skata

[anotherjtm2]

well heck...The USA now sports "Conn-Selmer"...and (asking for a friend) am I correct that their best line of instruments (nor their second-best, come to think of it) isn't even in their corporate name?

Bach? Buffet?

[tbonesullivan]

well heck...The USA now sports "Conn-Selmer"...and (asking for a friend) am I correct that their best line of instruments (nor their second-best, come to think of it) isn't even in their corporate name?

That depends on which one you consider "second best" currently. They've discontinued so many brand names. For Trombones and Trumpets, their "marquis" line are their overpriced Bach instruments. Then I guess King and Conn split up the rest of the Trombone world, but their trumpet lines are pretty much gone. King and Conn are still making tubas, right? Just not like they used to.

[AndyCat]

So where do Geneva fit in this?

[mikebmiller]

LIDL has a bunch of new grocery stores in the SE USA. I guess they are expanding their business options.

[bort]

So where do Geneva fit in this?

I'm not sure I've ever heard of this brand...

[Matt G]

Having seen an example of one of the last “old style” 2341s (detachable upright bell) fresh out of the box, the quality of assembly and lapping of the valves was on par (sadly) with the newer style 2341.

Regardless, good time see the Cerveny products continue on. Good design and nice tubas.

[tbonesullivan]

We all perceive things differently, but I don't really see there having been any "real" Conn trombones since the Elkhart plant was shuttered, roughly a half century ago. Unless really low-priced, I would personally eschew a Texas or Eastlake "Conn" trombone to purchase as a future flip.

In the trombone side of things, Eastlake Conns were and are quite popular in the UK of all places. Until recently I could find pictures of the London Symphony, and their players were all on Conn 88HO instruments. While not at the level of the Elkhart Conns, the Thin Bell Conn 88HO trombones are liked by many of my trombone playing friends. My teacher in college, Michael Powell, played Conn 88H instruments, and had one of the first "Christian Lindberg" valve models. He's a Rath artist now, but he definitely liked that CL2000 equipped 88h.

Well, that was, until they moved Conn trombone production to Elkhart in 2015. This was entirely an attempt by Conn-Selmer to attempt to cash in on the "Elkhart Conn" label. I wish they would make an ACTUAL attempt, and go back to the hand-brazed two piece bells, instead of the welded ones they use now. With pretty much everyone out there making some type of "Conn 88H type" trombone, I always wonder why Conn-Selmer doesn't make some real attempts to get back some of the "Elkhart Conn" magic, as there is definitely a market out there for it. But they are entirely corporate, and just see "BACH", and don't realize that players who want a Conn 88H are often not looking for the same thing that people who want a Bach 42, and they don't have to worry about cross-brand competition.