Don't leave it too late. I would guess they'll be starting to get fidgity by mid afternoon and start filling boxes.

Now THAT sounds well worth a look at.

I'll have to get there early too then...

I am very close to buying a new oboe! I now have a second hand (4year old) S45C to try for a week from my teacher, which sounds and feels lovely. I think it is very likely that I will be buying it! A bargain at £2500. I've also currently got a brand new S40 which I'm trying out, but I don't like it as much as the S45 - the second hand S40 never materialised. I will be very glad to get it sorted so I can get used to one instrument instead of switching over all the time as I seem to have been doing for the last few weeks.

Lots of practice to do this week.

I think I will be going more red in the face as well as my teacher has made me some slightly harder reeds to encourage me to support more from my diaphragm to play in tune and play more loudly.

How's everyone else's playing going? I had my 4th orchestra practice last night and managed to just about make it through the whole practice on the same reed before my lip gave way. First time I've managed it - the last couple of weeks I've had to switch to a softer reed for the last half hour. We went through the whole of the New World Symphony last night - it was fantastic and I managed to play most of the notes which was a bonus too!

Sounds like a good bargain. I have never tried a Howarth oboe but after reading so much about them on here would quite like to do so.


My teacher did this for me as well about a month ago (although only for the "play more loudly" effect).


I'm impatient for my next lesson which is not until the 18th. Last week and this week there were no lessons because of school holidays and next Wednesday is a bank holiday in France so no lesson either

They're wonderful instruments I tried an S40 a couple of weeks ago and I'll be getting it this month. I would have preferred a better model, but I'm satisfied with the S40 until I have enough money to buy myself a really good one.

I'm sure your new oboe will fab - just wanted to clarify that I wasn't dissing the S40. The S40 is very lovely, but the second hand S45, for me, is a just a little bit lovelier (prob part due to being fully blown in and apparently a lot of work went into getting it set up really well!)! I think I've been very, very fortunate that a second hand one has come up as they are apparently like gold dust and I'm not sure I could have afforded a brand new one!

I'm sure you'll be more than satisfied with your new instrument!!!

Just out of curiosity (again). If one is "thicker-walled" does this mean that the oboe has a larger external diameter? And is it heavier than the other one?

I have a Marigaux and I tried someone else's Fossati last week. The Fossati was considerably lighter and also felt skinnier. My teacher has just bought a Buffet Greenline and that is even heavier than mine (but didn't feel any larger so I assume the weight difference is down to it not being pure wood).

yes and yes. Talking to the Howarth's guy at the RNCM stand and the guy I've borrowed the new ones off in Huddersfield, many students prefer the S40 because they find the S45 a bit too heavy. I think the 2nd hand one I'm trying now is slightly narrower and lighter than the brand new S45 that I tried, though my teacher couldn't really tell much difference. I haven't found the extra weight too much of a problem so far, though my RH thumb was aching a little bit after practising today. That may just be due to practising longer though.

I suppose I'm used to mine but I find the wider diameter more comfortable (seems to fit in the hand better). The Fossatti was probably easier to play (it required a bit less breath and was more tolerant of not supporting properly) but I thought the sound was too "thin."

My teacher had only got his new oboe the day before my last lesson so he was being ultra-protective of it. He let me have a hold of it but didn't ask me if I would like to try playing it. I expect he will in due course as this is his third oboe and he let me try the previous two.

Most of the time the weight of mine doesn't bother me but I did put an adjustable thumb rest on when I was having shoulder problems (not caused by the oboe but it made playing painful) and having the thumb rest in a slightly different place did, in fact, make it feel lighter.

I had hold of a couple of Fosattis at IDRS in the summer. I thought they seemed quite light (too light?). I also thought the keywork was rather "fine". I prefer the rather more hefty keys on my Howarth.

As for the Greenline, I understand the resin/wood dust material is heavier than wood.

That's what the man at the Howarth stand told me - that usually the teachers swooped down and nabbed the second-hand ones before anybody else could even get a glimpse

If I could somehow scrape up the extra money, do you reckon an S45 would be the better choice?

I haven't tried either so am not really in a position to offer advice but, having looked at them on the website, I would have thought that it's a question of personal preference, rather than one being "better" than the other. (On the other hand, I'm assuming there would be a difference between these two and the professional models S5 or XL (hope I've got the names right) but this would need quite a considerable extra sum of money.

Have you tried both the S40 and the S45?

My oboe teacher said that all reeds are a compromise but I think you can probably say the same thing about the oboe itself. My Marigaux, for example, is about twenty years old and doesn't have a left F because oboes didn't back then. My first oboe (a new, unbranded plastic one) did have a left F but the Marigaux is far superior in tone quality because it is a professional instrument. I decided I was putting tone as my priority and I can live without a left F. On the other hand, if I were to upgrade to a more modern instrument to have the left F, I would want a split D key (for the Eb/E trill) because the Marigaux has one and I'm used to it/like it. This would be my reason for rejecting an S40 and an S45.

My oboe teacher originally had a Marigaux, which he decided was excellent for solo playing but unsuitable for orchestral playing, which is what he does when he's not teaching. He then bought a Josef which I think is probably the most comfortable oboe I've ever tried but he had on-going problems with cracks and has replaced it by a Buffet Greenline which apparently have the reputation of being good orchestral instruments, can't crack but are very heavy.

Is there any possibility of you going to London and trying out Howarth's second-hand oboes? You might find a second-hand professional one you like at the same price as a new S40.

Thanks for that, gives me a bit to think about !

I think a professional oboe might be something to think about in the future, when I have a little bit more money, even if it is second-hand. A trip to London would be a little difficult right now, both time and money-wise, but I'd be perfectly happy with a graduate oboe now, which I could perhaps sell in a year or two if I want to upgrade to a professional.

I agree - I don't think that the S45 is better quality than the S40. They are just different, the price difference is down to the extra wood due to the walls being thicker. It is entirely personal preference. For me the S45 worked better, but that won't be true for everyone. I also think that if my choice was between a brand new S40 and a brand new S45, I'd have to think long and hard about whether there was enough of a difference to really warrant an extra £500.

If you can try to get a play on both that would be very useful I think - also each one is individual, so 2 S40's may actually be a bit different.

I think seeing if you can get a second hand professional would be a great idea - you certainly seem to get a lot more for your money going second hand.

Would it be easier for you to get across to Huddersfield than down to London? If so, Peter Davies in Hudds had a couple of new S45s and a new S40 in - as well as a few second hand ones in. So at least you would be able to try them. He is very knowledgeable and helpful too. PM me if you want details.

Or a secondhand S40 or S45 would of course be even cheaper. Especially if you can find one privately (and you trust yourself to buy wisely). I got my 2 year old, hardly used S40 for £1350 and someone else on these forums got theirs for a good deal less than that

I think someone earlier on the post said that they are very hard to find second-hand in shops.


I also bought my Marigaux privately second-hand very cheaply. It needed to be completely re-padded, but I knew this when I bought it, and even with the cost of re-padding and having some work done on the keys it came out at a total cost of around £1 500. (Imagine my surprise when I asked Howarth for an estimation for the insurance and they quoted me £4 500 ). This is when having a teacher (or an experienced oboist) is helpful since my teacher was able to give me an opinion on the Marigaux even though very few notes on it actually worked because the pads were in such a bad state.

Wow, you guys, that's a lot of advice! Thanks! I'll chat with my mum about the possibility of getting a second-hand professional. It's a good idea, but I'll have to see what she thinks.

My daughter moved on from her "initiation" oboe to a Rigoutat small hands one in her lesson today. She came out of her lesson very pleased with things and told me that he had even taught her how to play "C" with chocolate ice-cream

I had no idea what this was but it turned out to be our teacher's way of explaining to the little ones which of the bottom three keys to use. Apparently one is a scoop of chocolate ice-cream, one is vanilla and the other one is pistachio

She couldn't believe he hadn't told me this

That's brilliant. Glad she is enjoying it!

I had to read that twice The second time, I was just as confused. All became (sort of) clear when I read on though..

I'm feeling really chuffed

This morning I had my oboe lesson in the music school concert room in preparation for a pupils' concert next week. The room has nice acoustics but one of the disadvantages of using it on an impromptu basis is that members of staff use it as a short cut from one wing of the school to another.

This morning the head of the music school came in - I just carried on playing as I assumed he was going to just walk through but he stopped and listened. When I'd finished he told me I had a "lovely tone" My teacher then asked him if he wanted to see him about something and he said no, he'd just been walking in the corridor and had heard a lovely, full oboe tone and wanted to see who was making it. My teacher said that I had made spectacular progress over the last few months and since he very rarely gives compliments it was nice to hear him say this. The whole thing concluded with the head saying that next time he puts together a "teacher's orchestra" for a concert he would like to include me in it as second oboe

You must be so thrilled!! It's great to have your progress recognised in that way. Well done!

Well done. That must be really encouraging. Sometimes it is hard to see progress in our selves, so lovely when someone else comments on it.

It's always a great feeling to be commended on your work, right? Well done!

Is anyone familiar with the three volumes of the "Nineteenth Century Collection" of pieces edited by James Brown?

Things like the exact pieces in them, the logic behind the way they are split into three volumes etc.
And if you have played them (or some of them) would you recommend them?