Hi!

I need information about my unusual oboe. How old is this instrument and who has manufactured it? What`s the value of this oboe?

I`ve had some suggestions that it`s possibly made in Germany (Markneukirchen or Grazlitz) at early 20th century, but this info isn`t verified.

It`s made of wood except the bell part, which is made of some sort of plastic (not original part of this oboe I think). The most unusual part is the key mechanism. It has some extra keys in it`s right side (from player`s view) like in clarinet. And it has more open keys than oboe usually does.

Here`s few pictures of it.

http://www.internetix.fi/mikko/oboe/01.jpg
http://www.internetix.fi/mikko/oboe/02.jpg
http://www.internetix.fi/mikko/oboe/03.jpg
http://www.internetix.fi/mikko/oboe/04.jpg


-Mikko

That Oboe looks really interesting. I thought at first that it could be a Viennese oboe but the top of the oboe doesn`t have that onion shaped reed well like normal Viennese oboes and the bell looks `normal` although rather clarinet like. My first question is if it plays like an oboe, meaning if you could use French Conservatoire fingering on it and it still plays. It looks like one of the many prototypes that were made in the early Twentieth century. Oboes that were made with the clarinet fingering system. At that time there was the move on to have every wind instrument use the same fingering system-Boehm but it just didn`t take with the oboe,due in large part to the amazing French soloists and teachers of that time. It could possibly have been made by the Adler company[??]. As far as value, I can`t imagine that a hardcore oboist would be interested in it, but for someone who collects I think it would be a real find.
Where did you find this instrument and how much did you pay for it?

Wow, that`s an interesting looking beast you`ve got there. I think Richard could be right about it being an Adler. Have a look here:-

http://perso.club-internet.fr/cjsax/diaporama/diap.html

Click on "oboes" and then "hautbois 9". Yours looks similar to the first one there, perhaps an earlier model(?)

It`s cute how the levers take a detour around the F pad. That part certainly has the look of German engineering.

Thanks Mikko for the high quality photos. Any chance of an MP3 or WAV as well?

I bough this oboe from an auction for about 200 euros (250 USD). I forgot to mention that someone said to this oboe`s ex-owner that it`s a baroque oboe(!). This sounds crazy, because boehm mechanism was invented much later.

If this oboe really is almost hundred years old, I must say it`s condition is excellent. It`s a shame that it doesn`t have it`s original bell.

I`m actually a bassoon player, but I have played different instruments and also had some oboe lessons few years ago. Fingering system of this oboe is different from standard mechanism. It feels more like playing a clarinet.

Thanks for the really nice link x-fiddler. I`m afraid I can`t offer you any sound clips (I`m not good at playing it), but I think it sounds like a normal oboe. I`m still not sure if it`s an Adler until I see some real evidence.
I`ve been trying to look for this logo all over the internet, but still haven`t found any clues. I remember I have seen this logo also on trumpet somewhere.

-Mikko