Posted by John Swensen on January 27, 2000 at 17:18:50:
In Reply to: St. Petersburg posted by A. Valdez on January 27, 2000 at 16:44:00:
The St. Petersburg has great pitch and sound, especially considering its small (16") bell. The metal is very thin and soft, so it does dent quite easily. Craftmanship is rough, at best, expecially in the fitting of the valves, which are horrible. I would be astonished if those tubas held up in a school system. The St. Pete is a small 4/4 or large 3/4 tuba, in terms of its playing characteristics. With completely rebuilt valves and in the hands of a careful adult, the St. Petersburg might make a very nice quintet horn.
I have not played that Cerveny model, but I have heard that the metal is also thin an soft, but the valves are not horrible. The Cerveny is probably worth $500 extra.
I would, also, seriously consider the new VMI 103 4-rotary-valve, 4/4 sized tuba. Dave Fedderly lists that tuba at $2995, which is probably very competitive with the other two tubas.