Hi Diane,

Ive been playing oboe for about 7 years now and take lessons from one of the countries` best oboeists, and have gone through quite a few oboes, so I think I can help you out.

The biggest issue will probably be money. If your son is serious about music, and you are willing to pay up to 6,000 dollars, the top of the line oboes I would recommend are Loree`s Royale (which goes for about 6000), which is what most professional American oboeists use, and the Yamaha 841 series (which sell for about 4000), which is what I use and is popping up in major American orchestras. I think Yamaha will give Loree a run for their money pretty soon.

Keep in mind, if you are looking at purchasing an oboe like one of those, you should always order from a place (I suggest Pat McFarland Oboes) that will send send you a few to try out for a few weeks.

Now, since your son is only in 8th grade, you may not be ready to buy him something like that. Lesser oboes that are still good quality and not quite as expensive include the Fossati Tiery, and some of the Fox Renard intermediate models. These range from about $2000-3000. They are still pretty much "full conservatory", which means that they have all of the keys that a professional oboe would have, but they do have some other drawbacks, which i can go more into detail about if you would like, if you would just email me at indyjones387@yahoo.com (I would love to awnser any questions you have).

Then again, if you are looking to go with something cheap for now, but is still good, i would look into the yamaha student models. These are plastic, and the others are wood. They wont sound as nice as a wood oboe, and they wont have as many keys, however, they are very nice for a beginning student.

I hope this helps you, and once again, I can help you more if you have some specific questions, just email me at indyjones387@yahoo.com.

-Jim