Hey I`ve been playing this instrument for about 3 years and some odd months now but my tone and sound are terrible. I switched over from saxaphone (of the alto variety mind you) and was told by my instructor that this usually isn`t good on the amboucher at all. I play most of my notes very close to tuned except my low C#(two ledgers below staff), my D in staff and E in staff with major difficulties even playing anything above a D (one space above first ledger line above staff) Could someone tell me what one must do to get a good tone? And, also, I want to know what kind of reeds should I buy because the ones my band director has are called Marvin Leshers or something and I find them a bit "woody and honky" sounding instead of that beautiful sound I always hear on recordings of bassoon. Any help would be appreciated.

Honestly, there is no advice someone can give you online that`s gonna help. your best bet is to find a bassoon teacher and get some private lessons to have him help you with your tone quality. With the reeds a bassoon teacher could also help. many make their own reeds like mine did and you can get theirs. Most bassoonists including myself refuse to buy comercial reeds.

From my experience...

I understand that bassoons have more intonation problems than any other instrument. The low notes (like your C sharp) are almost always sharp, and the notes close to open F are flat (especially E natural just below F.) There are a few things you can do.

1) For the low notes, slacken your embouchure a little.
2) For notes like E natural, press down the left pinky`s low Eb key. This can raise the pitch.
3) Get a different reed, or...
4) Use a different length bocal

As for reeds, making your own is always probably gonna be your best bet, but if you`re like me and you are forced to rely on store-bought reeds, I really recommend Jones reeeds.
One reed lasted me ~1 1/2 months. Never get plastic reeds! They are very poor sounding and they don`t last long.

the reeds make a difference, your embouchoure, and also the temperature the instrument is...if the bassoon is very cold, then it will play out of tune. There are also alternate fingerings for most notes to change the pitch

What kind of instrument is it?

Two the biggest things that will help is to have 1.) a good reed and 2.) a good bocal. Jones makes good reeds for the least amount of money I`ve found... and mine last longer than 1 1/2 months!! Try to pick out a bocal that sounds good on your instrument. I started on a beat up Fox Model IV with a bent bocal. I replaced the bocal with a double star CTX (pretty penny, but worth it). It was a different instrument after that. Intonation was pretty good and helped to get rid of the overly dark/dull tone.

Good luck!