I have a Marigaux English Horn, and have found that it is a sweet sounding instrument, though it is mechanically "touchy", in that it requires constant tweaking of key adjustments etc. True, I bought it used, but the previous owner was fastidious about her maintenance and actually warned me that this particular instrument was finicky. I don`t know if it is characteristic of the whole breed of Marigaux, but this particular instrument is almost more trouble than it is worth. I`d be interested to hear more from others as to whether they have experienced anything like this. Perhaps I have the "dog" of the lot.

Oh, and Jasper, please CALM DOWN! I`m afraid you`re going to pop a blood vessel over the whole Selmer thing! Maybe they have gotten better in the past few years - I know they were absolute dog food when I started out, but then so was I, and at that, it was almost 40 years ago when I started playing. Some of my students had Selmers from their schools as recently as 3 years ago, and I still didn`t like them, but that is one person`s opinion. Schools notoriously buy low end instruments. And for that matter, I never thought Yamaha would ever amount to anything for oboes, but I recently tested one for a friend of mine who owns a music store, to see if she should keep it for sale, and it was really quite nice. I suppose anything is possible, and it`s necessary for these manufacturers to be able to compete reasonably well, and therefore must produce decent instruments. Miracles can happen!

Has anybody heard of a Hans Kruel Tubinger conservatory wood oboe. I am looking at buying one. It is in excellent condition and needs some info before I purchase.

Manny

*laughs* wow, I`m looking for a Hans Kreul mirafone surprizingly. I think they have a unique sound and like them alot. I have some crappy platic yamaha at the moment, but it was a pretty good beginner instrument. I`ve WAY out grown it..... I`ve been playing oboe for 6 years now... But to make up for the crappy oboe I have a Fox 500 pro model English horn that I LOVE.

But I have to add to the selmer hatred.....I DISLIKE them greater. I hate their sound...

But I`m a fan of Hans kreul Mirafone and Patricola Evoluzione, but I like a unique sound. For a more normal instrument, go for Fox or Loree. Their the best. That`s not coming from me....but the rest of oboe world!

Heather, That was music to my ears. Your right about the unique sound.

Go and try as much oboes as possible!
It`s must be in tune, well mantained,have ALL keywork and adjusted.
After that I personally looking for how much instrument taking part in sound production. In an other words can I play good tone on it with so so reed

I personally don`t have any luck with Loree instruments.
They somehow feels very shallow for me and non vibrant.
Rigoutat is Ok but needs to much push to make sound project.
I also found that I tend to overblow on a high notes.
Marigaux is great if played with french or greman type reed, Great oboe but too "open" and too sharp for me.
Howarth is great mechanically but I personally miss some brilliance in tone, but oboe is very helpfull.
My horns are Buffet Greenline, Al. Laubin and perhaps Ludwig Frank

After playing several different brands, I can definitely recommend Loree (of course), but also Patricola (which I currently play) and Bulgheroni. Loree is usually very high priced compared to almost every other brand and I don`t think the Loree is a whole lot better than the Patricola professional model. I also played a Yamaha (as a step-up) instrument. It seemed that the Yamaha was constantly needing adjusting.

I suspect that the edge Loree used to have is wearing thin. Once upon a time they were far and away the instrument of choice for the professional, but, like the Cadillac, they ceased to be the gold standard for top of the line instruments as the other manufacturers improved their materials and processes. I dearly love my Laubin and would only consider trading up if I found an instrument that was truly worth the change, which has not been the case thus far. As for the cost, well, brand recognition is still a strong influence and people will wait in line to pay too much for something they perceive as being a status symbol.

The Laubin Oboes is great. A little History. The Laubin factory have been using rosewood for over 30 years , I believe before the Kreul`s and Loree`s. The rubber sleeves That many manufacturers use to help with the cracking problems or Whatever was first used by Laubin. They don`t have a patent but probably should have. As a result many munufacturers use this rubber sleeve. Too bad for Laubin. They make excellent Oboes
Good for you.

You know two outstanding brands of oboe not talked about alot is Howarth and Fossati i am on a fossati soliste and love the body is wnoder full and with the many up grades that only their oboes have like the crack area between the trill keys in the topjoint is almost taken away by the combining of the Keys to one. So if you ask me Fossati and Howarth and Yamaha top Oboe brands.

What buffet greenline is best? 3613, 4051, 4051, or other? does it really matter?

There is only Pro models of Greenline, and it is 3613 model

I believe Buffet intermediate oboes are supposed to use the same bore as the professional oboes, just lacking keywork. If that helps any.

hello, i was wondering if there are any complaints for Buffet Crampon BC4052-2-0 model of oboe.

i plan on getting an oboe and i wonder if this is a good choice? i don`t intend on getting a professional model.