Results 1 to 6 of 6

Thread: Cerveny Tubas

  1. Cerveny Tubas

    Hello,

    I am the senior tuba player at my high school and I have been playing for 4 years now. Since I am going to college next year, I figure it is time to look into buying my own instrument. My price range is $2000 - $4000 and I am particularly looking at the cerveny 681 BBb tuba. Has any one out there heard anything about Cerveny horns/ is there another type of tuba I should look into getting? Thanks!


  2. Cerveny Tubas

    Hey, Captain, welcome!

    There are a whole bunch of things to consider as you buy your tuba and move on to college. Are your planning to major in music (and all its iterations: education, performance, etc.) or are you continuing in music while you study another field? If the former, have you consulted with your new department? Does your new professor have strong feelings about CC vs. BBb or particular manufacturer preferences?

    Cerveny makes good horns; for your price range, you'd still be in the market for a decent used Miraphone or King.

    If you want WAY more information, discussion, argument, opinions etc. from the tuba community, check out tubenet's forums; I would caution that they are a bit more...harsh and strident than the folks over here. (I am "bearphonium) both places; feel free to pm me with other questions).

    Ally

  3. Cerveny Tubas

    I am planning on continuing music while I study another field and I have been using a BBb for the past four years and since its what Im confortable with, I planned to stick with it. Oh yeah, and NO yamahas.


  4. Cerveny Tubas

    Captain,
    I perused the "For Sale" section over on tubenet, and the only horns in the first few pages were either CC, Eb or out of your price range. I don't know where you are in the country, but Baltimore Brass, Dillons, Horn Guys are all shops that sell tubas. Dan Schultz, Dan Oberloh, and Lee Stouffer are all individuals that sell tubas. There are lots of options, and if you can be patient (I couldn't...) it is possible you could end up with a good horn for a reasonable price. Another option is to look at some of the tubas on Woodwind Brasswind. They sometimes sell "scratch and dent" horns that are like new with minor cosmetic damage.

    Good luck!

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    Central North Carolina
    Posts
    2,369

    Cerveny Tubas

    Let me reply as a Cerveny owner (actually a 2-Cerveny owner if you count my old oval euph).

    I very much like my Cerveny 781 (it's a red brass version of the 681). However, I'd recommend that -- since you'll be using it in college -- you look at some other instruments. The Cerveny horns (particularly the 781, of course, but in general others) tend to be made of thinner/softer brass and hence require more care to avoid damage. I'm absolutely paranoid about mine, and it still has a few tiny dents (over a 25 year period). In college ... well, you can just imagine. Unless you are a major and need a specific horn, then for college I'd go for something that is (a) robust, and (b) not too expensive. (I think that a lot of things that can be said about the Cervenys can also be said about the Miraphones in terms of robustness -- at least in my experience; but I'll let others comment on that.)

    Honestly, if I were not planning on a music major, I'd look very seriously at some of the Chinese clones. In fact, in your situation, I'd probably go for the Jin Bao (from someone like Mack Brass or Jim Laabs or MM) EEb compensating horn. These have a great reputation, and they are "all around" tubas -- for around $2,500. And the case they come in is very protective. Otherwise, I'd look at some of the BBb stencil horns if you want to stick with BBb.

    In terms of quality, I can tell you that I just got one of the compensating euphoniums (clone of the Yamaha) from Mack Brass and it's MARVELOUS.

    Another alternative would be an older King or Conn that maybe wasn't so pretty but sounded good and had good intonation.



    Gary Merrill
    Wessex EEb Bass tuba (DW 3XL or 2XL)
    Mack Brass Compensating Euph (DE N106, Euph J, J9 euph)
    Amati Oval Euph (DE 104, Euph J, J6 euph)
    1924 Buescher 3-valve Eb tuba (with std US receiver), Kelly 25
    Schiller American Heritage 7B clone bass trombone (DE LB K/K10/112/14 Lexan, Brass Ark MV50R)
    1947 Olds "Standard" trombone (Olds #3)

  6. Cerveny Tubas

    Captain,

    Just found this link over on Tubenet:

    http://forums.chisham.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=48977

    Might be worth a look!

    Ally

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •