Hello,

I`m thinking about joining a Youth Orchestra in a few months, but my bassoon is a borrowed plastic Fox Renard student model... My dad might buy me a bassoon, probably a decent second hand if we can find one, but do you think it better to buy a new one, which isn`t that expensive? (probably plastic again..)

I would go for a second hand wooden bassoon rather than a new plastic one. If you get a used bassoon, you will know that it plays and it is a good instrument. Unless the person you are buying your new bassoon from has a good name, I would go for a used one. I would suggest buying a wood bassoon no matter what, because bassooons rarely go down in price a whole lot. I don`t know what studen Foxs are right now, but chances are if you decide to give up playing the bassoon in any amount of years, your bassoon will have retained most, if not gained, it`s value.

I agree with Suzy in that a wooden bassoon will hold its value and be acceptable in any orchestra. I would go farther and suggest if you are getting a used bassoon, get a German one. These bassoons are readily available for a few thousand dollars (unlike the best used Fox models) and would see you right through school and college if you wanted.

Don`t totally discount plastic bassoons. The Fox Model III is not considered a student model yet costs less than Renard 220 or 240 and may be the best buy available in bassoons. If you can find one of these used, grab it.

There`s no question that there are some BAD plastic bassoons out there but you should go to the fox website and read their literature on plastic vs. wood.

http://www.foxproducts.com/pdfs/VirtuesVicesOfPlasticBassoons.pdf

I think u may consider buying a fox 220 or 240.
If u want to choose a eur bassoon, SCHREIBER 5016 or 5031 are very good choice~~

Thanks for the help everyone...

I`m kinda leaning to getting the Amati ABN 81S, (http://www.wwbw.com/Amati-ABN-81S-Bassoon-i271103.music) which sounds like a nice bassoon for the price.. I`ve talked to one of the owners of this bassoon and he`s very pleased with it, especially the `gentlemen style` feature which makes the case shorter than the normal cases.
Has anyone had any experience with Amati bassoons? The price to buy from a distributor here in Canada is about $5500 CDN, which is about $4900 US? WWBW sells the `new b stocks` for about $2600, so do you think this is a good price for a instrument like that?