Hello, everyone.

I'm searching for a new oboe currently.
My old oboe is Howarth S20 with English thumbplate.
I'm going to sell my old oboe an buy a new one.

I'm looking for an automatic model.
Which oboe is better? Marigaux (French) or Ludwig Frank (Germany)?

I know that Marigaux, Howarth, Rigoutat, Fox are more popular than Kreul or Ludwig Frank oboe.

Anyone have tried Ludwig Frank oboe?
Any comment will be great.

Thank you very much.


Best regards,
retsugo

I forgot to tell.

I have played oboe for 2 years. I think my Howarth oboe sound is good. But, after I tried my teacher Kreul oboe (Germany). It sounds darker and beautiful.

And I have also heard German oboist played Marigaux in a concert. I become confused, should I choose Marigaux or Ludwig Frank.

I know that Marigaux has a good quality in all aspect.
But, I'm interested to find how good is Ludwig Frank oboe mechanism and sound.

I found this on www.idrs.org

The French sound on the oboe, and on most instruments, has tended to be light delicate and flexible, while German playing has always been heavier, sweeter and richer. After all the French eat croissants and the Germans prefer chocolate cake.

I've never heard of those German brands before.

Hello,

I play a Frank oboe. I got it six months ago, before that I played Dupin for 7 years.

I have the model 12, which herr Frank told me has a german bore compared to the new Brillant model which is supposed to be closer to the french makes. I tried both models, and while the Brillant is excellent the one I finally got was simply outstanding.
Soundwise the instrument isn't too far from the Marigaux instruments I've tried. The same goes for resistance.

The keywork is excellent, not really at Dupin's level but getting close. Definitely much smoother and more reliable than a Marigaux. The wood seems to be of good quality. I did have a small crack, probably due to not having time to break the instrument in properly - I started working with the new one pretty much right away. But from what I hear, not many Frank oboes do crack, at least compared to Marigaux - in the last few years I haven't heard of a single new Marigaux which haven't cracked.

Tip of the day: don't decide whether to buy one brand or the other! Try them out first. Not just Frank, Marigaux, Howarth etc but as many as you can. (Dupin still makes really great oboes by the way.) I think it's just a matter of finding the right horn, the right individual for you to use. That's what it was for me; I didn't even intend to buy a new horn - I visited herr Frank on a vacation to Berlin, but couldn't say no once I'd tried the one.

Check out www.frankundmeyer.de for more info, btw.

A question: Did you play automatic system before? Otherwise, why would you want to change to it now? The semi automatic system is, in my humble opinion, to prefer, for instrument technical reasons if not for others. The constant adjustments to get the octaves working and the G-pad closing seems tiring..

Just my 2 cents..

Okay, thank you for the info.

What is the difference between the normal and the brillant model?

In my country, many oboist use the automatic model. Only 1 or 2 people use half automatic or english thumblplate like me.

And it's not so easy to use the thumbplate, especially for high C note and B. I have used it for 4 years now. The sound is too thin.

Currently, I lived in Dortmund, so I think I'll visit Ludwig Frank shop in Berlin in the next few months.