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Thread: Cerveny Tubas (instruments)

  1. #1

    Cerveny Tubas (instruments)

    Cerveny makes good and sometimes really good tubas. They seem very inconsistent in production however and this needs to be a cause for caution when purchasing. Several years ago I bought a CC tuba at the Army Tuba Conference. Due to time I was not able to spend much time on the horn and purchased it and headed back to New Jersey where I was stationed at the time. The next day I and a friend were checking out the new horn with a tuner and could not get the horn down to pitch. Very troubling. I had my friend play it. He's a fine player and he too, could not get the horn down to pitch. I ended up driving back tot he tuba conference on the final day and trading the horn in on another. The dealer was a great to work with and exchanged with no issues whatsoever.

    This was my first lesson in the importance of play testing an instrument before purchase. Even the best instrument manufacturers aren't perfect and instruments can vary from instrument to instrument. I have found the "least" variation in tubas with the Miraphone tubas and the King tubas. They are very consistent from instrument to instrument. I suspect the Adams Euphoniums are as well but I have never owned/played one.

    What are your experiences with purchases? Ever purchase a lemon?
    John 3:16


    Conn Victor 5H Trombone
    Yamaha 354 Trombone
    Conn 15I Euphonium

  2. #2
    I have owned three cerveny tubas in the last 25 years, always my main instrument. The best bet for a cerveny is to get a horn that has the curved spatulas on it, which means it was made before quality control fell dramatically. I find the later horns are the ones that are wildly inconsistent


  3. #3
    I have heard from others that the older ones are the best. I've owned 2 of them but they are of the newer vintage. Nice tubas! Thanks for the post.
    John 3:16


    Conn Victor 5H Trombone
    Yamaha 354 Trombone
    Conn 15I Euphonium

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    Central North Carolina
    Posts
    2,368
    In about 1992 I bought a Cerveny 781 BBb tuba sight unseen from WWBW. This is a red brass Cerveny equivalent of the Miraphone 186 (very slightly larger bore). I loved it. Had the first valve vented and I lapped the 1st valve slide. So I rarely used the 4th valve unless it was really necessary. Wonderful horn -- for a BBb rotary tuba. Fantastic sound. A few years ago I sold it and moved back to playing Eb. The choice was a lengthy struggle for me since -- even though I really prefer Eb tubas -- that Cerveny was such a great instrument.

    If I'd kept it, I would at some point (after 20 years!) have cut the second valve tuning slide down a bit. But otherwise it was a fantastic instrument.

    ( If you look at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZ0e7uZHHFY at about 4:45, you can see me -- in the red shirt -- playing that horn.)
    Last edited by ghmerrill; 12-18-2015 at 12:55 PM.
    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)

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by ghmerrill View Post
    In about 1992 I bought a Cerveny 781 BBb tuba sight unseen from WWBW. This is a red brass Cerveny equivalent of the Miraphone 186 (very slightly larger bore). I loved it. Had the first valve vented and I lapped the 1st valve slide. So I rarely used the 4th valve unless it was really necessary. Wonderful horn -- for a BBb rotary tuba. Fantastic sound. A few years ago I sold it and moved back to playing Eb. The choice was a lengthy struggle for me since -- even though I really prefer Eb tubas -- that Cerveny was such a great instrument.

    If I'd kept it, I would at some point (after 20 years!) have cut the second valve tuning slide down a bit. But otherwise it was a fantastic instrument.

    ( If you look at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZ0e7uZHHFY at about 4:45, you can see me -- in the red shirt -- playing that horn.)
    I could see you! Thanks for posting Gary.
    John 3:16


    Conn Victor 5H Trombone
    Yamaha 354 Trombone
    Conn 15I Euphonium

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by 58mark View Post
    I have owned three cerveny tubas in the last 25 years, always my main instrument.
    What is that material you've got wrapped around the bell section where your right hand touches the instrument? And, wouldn't it make sense to also put it in the area where your left hand normally rests?

  7. #7
    It's a leather wrap. I gave instructions on how to make them on tubenet

    http://forums.chisham.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=64780


    on the big horn the left hand rests on the Tuning stick. On the Smaller one, there is a sdlife lever next to the 1st vale slide that I had my hand on.

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by 58mark View Post
    It's a leather wrap. I gave instructions on how to make them on tubenet

    http://forums.chisham.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=64780
    Thanks for the link Mark. I need to do something like that with my Besson and now I know how!

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Location
    Texas, where every thing is bigger & BETTER
    Posts
    132
    I purchased a Yamaha 642 Neo in silver. I had the horn flushed, where I bought it from, six months later, and the plating was flaking off at the rim of the bell. The music shop contacted Yamaha and the horn was replaced. The both horns played and sang beautifully. I don't think I could tell the difference between the original horn I had bought and the replacement. However, I can tell the difference between a 642 and a 642 Neo.
    Yamaha 642s Neo

  10. #10
    I love my Amati (Cerveny built) horn, it's dead in tune and now just waiting on a Euro Shank mouthpiece. Gary was yours a Euro Shank lead pipe?
    1974 Amati/Cerveny BBb Tuba
    SX 5-String Jazz Bass

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