I am looking for information about my mother`s childhood oboe. It has long been neglected and now that my sisters and I are grown and it is still unplayed (none of us are oboists), she is now interested in selling it. However, when she took it to her local music store, they were unable to identify the brand, and therefore assess its value and whether it would be worth the cost of the repairs it required.

I have not seen the oboe in years, but she tells me it is plastic and says "Barklay" on it. Apparently it requires an estimated $500 in repairs, as the pads are all dried out, etc. from years of neglect.

Does anyone know of Barklay? Thanks.

Okay, so I`m searching for Barklay, and I`ve come across a Barklay clarinet for sale.... just thought I`d add that in.

I`ve never heard of Barklay, and my professor (a Juilliard grad) had never heard of it either. The good news about it being plastic is that it`s unlikely to be cracked--the bad news about it being plastic and from (possibly) a little-known maker is that it could be a poorly made instrument.

The other bad news is that as has already been mentioned, Barklay apparently makes clarinets. And generally speaking, especially in the old days, makers of other woodwind instruments generally didn`t make the finest oboes.

But if I were you I`d keep poking around at local appraisers--make sure you`re dealing with a double reed specialty shop and not a general music repair shop, as they will a) tend to gouge you on the price and b) not be experts in repairing oboes and tend to do a mediocre job. Also, double reed shops are oboe experts who know oboe experts who in turn know more oboe experts, so if Barklay was good, SOMEBODY affiliated with the double reed shop will know.

As long as you don`t have to put out money until you have a half-decent instrument, you might as well keep asking around. You might e-mail Nora Post and ask if she`s heard of Barklays--if anyone`s heard of an oboe company, it`s probably her. www.norapost.com

Jn4Jenny--
thanks so much for your reply--turns out I had lots wrong, as I`m going by second party info--it is actually BARKLEE--and it`s wood! (see my repost) if you could ask your prof again, that`d be rad. thanks
cora