I have been a fan of Cerveny tubas for many decades but I do not know what a roller valve is. Are you referring to the clockspring valves?
I used to own the Eb that is on the BB website here
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https://www.baltimorebrass.net/index.php?cat=5
. I used it in polka jobs and one tuba quartet gig. It had a fine cosmetic overhaul but needed one big correction. I owned three others of that model which were in terrible disrepair. I currently own a BB kaiser Cerveny.
Most of the older Cerveny tubas in the US were imported by Louis Vitak, Chicago. I think the badge on the early horns will show an address on Canton St. and the later ones (imported after c. 1900) will have one of the two addresses on Wabash Ave. Vitak stopped importing around the time of the Great Depression.
After the 1950s Fred Merrick of Custom Music fame, began importing Cerveny tubas but by then it was state-owned. Some of the master craftsmen were still there but they worked with restrictions that a for-profit firm would never have.
Some of the Vitak imported horns are really great. but they are old. I find broken solder joints to be one of the worst problems, causing leaks and inconsistent sound, response and intonation. They have a lovely sound when correctly assembled, lots of dynamic contrast is available.
The early Vitak horns have a Terrible (that's with a capital T) rotary vlave stop arm arrangment which is noisy and inaccurate. As someone seriously interested in playing my horn in a serious environment, I would have to replace the rotors and the linkage with something new before I'd take it anywhere besides a community band.
Most interesting... most of the old Vitak Cerveny tubas have a graduated bore. One the oldest horns, I've found 1st & 2nd valve to be around .820 while 3rd & 4tth were around .845. One F tuba I saw had, I think, a different bore on each valve. I think they are potentially great tubas, particularly the BBb kaiser models.
