New Lidl BBb tuba

[Norm in Bellevue]

Last December I posted the topic, "Small bore BBb tubas?". Many of you replied with excellent and helpful suggestions. Thank you! The Greater Seattle area is a poor one in which to play-test tubas. But I did find a Cerveny BBb Piggy, and a 3/4 size Weril CC. Interesting, but neither were for me. I then asked three different TubeNet Sponsor shops to send me three tubas on approval, a Weril J680, a Jupiter 482, and a Lidl 701. The Weril sounded to me like a baritone horn and was very stuffy in the low range. The Jupiter was a far better tuba. The piston valves were lightining fast. But the sound wasn't quite what I wanted, and the low range was just a bit stuffy. Then I tried the Lidl. Presto! I knew immediately that it was a keeper. It has a lovely sound from top to bottom, much bigger than what one might expect from a 3/4 size tuba. The bottom is just awesome! The four rotary valves are quiet and tight, and are breaking in very nicely. This link should take you to a pic and specs

http://www.lidlmusic.cz/josef/news/lbb701.htm

Lastly, I cannot say enough good things about the service I received from Lee Stofer at http://www.tubameister.com/
Lee chem-cleaned the new horn before shipping it to me. He also installed a cork pad on the back of the spit valve, O rings on the first valve slide, fine-tuned the rotary valves, and included the appropriate assortment of Hetman lubes. Thank you, Lee!

[hurricane_harry]

how much are they going for?

[Norm in Bellevue]

$3300 is what I paid for mine--and worth every dime! BTW, that includes the molded case with wheels.

I should have included in my previous post the name, Lidl sounds like "leedle", not "liddle", rhymes with "needle"---I checked with a Czech!

[Alex C]

A friend of mine called me from Bruno Slovakia, he had walked into the Lidl shop there and was buying a double bell flugel horn for $150.

He wanted to know if I was interested in a 4 valve F helicon for $750. I hadn't heard of Lidl at the time so I declined the offer. Turns out that the flugel horn was a very playable, if odd (two bells?), instrument. I shoudda bought the helicon.

[Mark]

Then I tried the Lidl. Presto! I knew immediately that it was a keeper.

That's great! Are you playing tuba exclusively in the low brass ensemble now? What happened to the 642?

[Norm in Bellevue]

Are you playing tuba exclusively in the low brass ensemble now? What happened to the 642?

I'm the ONLY tubist in the ensemble. Yikes! And we played a recital just days after I took delivery of the Lidl. We have a new eupher, but we miss you on your 191. I sold the 642 to Ed. He loves it. And, as you might imagine, he sounds way better than he did on the old bell-front Jupiter.