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This one checks a lot of boxes for me as an “old man” tuba. Anyone here actually play one? What did you think?

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The LBB-701 is indeed a fantastic small tuba that punches above its weight class. I would echo all of Tofu's comments as to its effectiveness. It is a 3/4 instrument built with top-notch materials and craftsmanship that I'm targeting both students/smaller players and the aging player that doesn't see the need to heft a 4/4 or larger tuba around anymore. The 701 now ships with a Soundline gig bag but MTS hard cases are available for additional cost. I currently have two in stock at our Union Centre location of Willis Music (owners of Buddy Roger's Music Repair). We're offering the LBB-701 for $5820 and shipping is currently on us if anyone wanted to take one for a test drive.

DonO. wrote: Thu Nov 13, 2025 4:08 pm This one checks a lot of boxes for me as an “old man” tuba. Anyone here actually play one? What did you think?

If you think you need a smaller tuba than the one you have, what's the best price you've found on that model?

bloke wrote: Fri Nov 14, 2025 9:28 am

DonO. wrote: Thu Nov 13, 2025 4:08 pm This one checks a lot of boxes for me as an “old man” tuba. Anyone here actually play one? What did you think?

If you think you need a smaller tuba than the one you have, what's the best price you've found on that model?

Best and only price would be the $5820 at Buddy Roger’s (Willis)

From a very casual web search, in Europe you'd be lucky to get that price - in Euros, so at the current exchange rate you'd be paying significantly more.

Our Lidl stock is pre-tariff so prices are lower. New stock will be more expensive as the manufacturer has raised prices and shipping costs are nuts. I just had a shipment delivered and am waiting for the freight/Customs/tariff charges to hit. All that combined will tell me how much prices will have to be raised in the future.

There is a demo of the 701 along with all the other demos of BBb tubas in the "c tubas suck" thread. You can hear it is a smaller tuba, but you can hear it is a BBb too. At the very end of that video, like the last two minutes, they do Bruckner on all of them one after the other.

The Josef Lidl LBB-701 BBb tuba is a very well-designed tuba, listed by Josef Lidl as a 1/2 size instrument. For our purposes in the US, we've always referred to it as a 3/4 BBb tuba. I have played one in up to a 40-piece concert band, where the conductor (a low brass player) and the bass trombonist were both quite surprised by how much support could be had from a very small instrument.

I like the fact that the rotors, slides, everything about them is so well-made. I sold a number of Lidl LBB-701's to middle schools in Georgia before I
moved to Iowa nearly 20 years ago. I will occasionally run into former school customers at the Midwest Clinic in Chicago, where I'll hear that they just
love the Josef Lidl tubas, still in use after years of middle school use.

The Josef Lidl Company, as many others have in the last 10 years or so, went into bankruptcy/reorganization, and the new owners are even more serious about quality offerings. To this end, when I asked about the 3/4 CC version (LCB 702), the CEO told me that they were no longer offering the cut-down-to CC option, because the intonation was not good enough, and that they are running at capacity to keep up with the demand of what they are already making. Lidl has invested in improved tooling, and I'm told that their valve and slide tolerances are better and more consistent than ever. Having worked on the older, and now the newer models, I am convinced that this is the case.

I am also convinced that you cannot buy a better quality new rotary brass instrument for the price than Josef Lidl, and they are better than a number of higher-priced instruments.