Posted by Happy customer on September 03, 2002 at 17:44:52:
Just wanted to let you all know about the excellent experience I had when I recently purchased the used BIG Cerveny 701 through Matt at Dillon's. Since I live a long way from New Jersey (western Canada) I wasn't too sure how this would all work out. Because of the distance involved I had to purchase the tuba without playing it. I must say that Matt described the instrument very accurately. It was properly packaged for its lengthy journey and arrived without incident (or damage!) nine days later. At the time of the purchase I had a mint YBB641 (not my own) to use as trade material. However, since Matt and I could not agree on a trade value, he advised me very openly and honestly (without being rude) that I should try to sell it locally. Great suggestion Matt; I saved one shipping charge and got quite a bit more money for that horn than I had expected. Subsequently Matt also offered some useful suggestions for playing the big horn.
As a side note, I posted a while ago asking for comments from anyone who had played this particular or any similar horns. One poster commented this was a BIG horn. Were you ever right! Since this horn was purchased for our church brass band and someone else will actually play it, I cringed when I first played it, thinking I had maybe made a serious mistake. Notes like pedal F and lower that I could pop out on my Mirafone 186 just weren't happening for me. HOWEVER, having spent several weeks of daily face time on that horn has taught me a few things about a big tuba (and myself :)
1. Getting good results out of a horn this size requires consistent practice (like every day).
2. Using a deft touch and getting to know the quirks of a particular horn works better than trying to "force it".
3. Practicing on a big horn means a much easier time when you go back to work on a smaller instrument.
After practicing on the big horn for two weeks exclusively, I picked up my 186 (which I used to think was pretty big) and played my way through some Kopprasch and Blazhevich studies. I was quite surprised at how my breath control and air support had improved! My 186 seems like a toy in comparison to the Cerveny. I intend to continue with this practice routine, as I find it has improved the playing on my regular horn A LOT.
Thanks again for all your help Matt! Much appreciated!