Are you looking to buy an oboe for yourself or for your child? First off, congratulations! Now, take a deep breath because this is a very big purchase you are about to make. Just as with any instrument, there is a wide variety of oboe brands and models to choose from. The major difference is that oboes are very expensive compared to most wind instruments. A student model oboe generally starts around $2,000. Professional model oboes, however, can cost more than $10,000. This oboe buying guide should help you navigate the purchase much more easily.
Oboe Buying GuideFull-Conservatory vs. Modified-Conservatory
Before we start talking about the different models of oboes, we need some terminology. You may have already seen the term full-conservatory or modified-conservatory and wondered what this means. A full-conservatory instrument is an oboe with all the keys a professional oboist would want. A modified-conservatory leaves out keys such as trill keys, and low B-flat key, but more importantly a Left F key, which is necessary to learn proper technique. There are three categories of oboes: student, intermediate, and professional. Student oboes
In general a student model oboe will be plastic or resin. This is lighter, and less expensive, but doesn’t have as good of tone than wood. It is less susceptible to cracking and damage though, which is why students start with resin. Student oboes used to only be modified-conservatory, but because it put young students in a difficult position when trying to navigate through key signatures with a lot of flats or sharps, manufacturers have begun to offer full-conservatory student model oboes. My favorite student model oboes ($2,500-$3,500): K.Ge Lan Mei Howarth S40 Both of these instruments are full-conservatory and are made with very high quality materials. I recommend trying each of them if possible. You can request a trial of both of these from Innoledy. Intermediate oboes
An intermediate model oboe usually will be a “full conservatory” system. It also will be all wood, or some combination of wood and plastic. In general, I recommend buying instruments in this category because they will go a little further for you or your child than the student models. They of course are a little more expensive, starting around $3,500. My favorite intermediate model oboes ($3,100-$5,200): K.Ge Hybrid Academy Howarth S50 Yamaha 441 All three of these are good instruments, and your budget may dictate which you can afford. My favorite of the three is the Howarth S50. While it is an intermediate oboe, it is made with a professional bore, adding to the sound quality the player is able to produce. You can request a trial of the K.Ge and the Howarth from Innoledy. For the Yamaha you can request a trial from Hannah's Oboes. Professional oboes
A professional model oboe will be a full-conservatory system. It will generally be all wood, unless that is something the buyer doesn’t want. It will also have a more advanced bore and tone hole system, which allows the player to have a more refined sound. A professional instrument is wonderful, but generally not something many young students need, unless they are at the end of their high school career and are looking at continuing music in college. With that being said, there is a large market for used oboes. As a professional oboist, we are purchasing a new instrument every 4-8 years because it has “blown out.” What this means is that the bore has expanded a little, and it no longer has the “sparkle” in the tone that it had when it was new. This makes them great for a student, because the instrument is broken in and shouldn’t be as susceptible to cracking. (This in no way means that that it won’t crack. There is never a guarantee of that.) My favorite professional oboe brands ($8,000+): Lorée Howarth Marigaux Fox I am withholding model names in this category, because if you are choosing to purchase a professional oboe you should be sure to get them on a trial, and try all models possible. They are all different in ways that appeal to different players. All these instruments will cost $8,000 or more depending on the brand and model. All of these models can be requested for trial from Innoledy. I hope this oboe buying guide has been helpful and you now feel comfortable trialing and then buying and oboe! You can always reach out to me with any questions. I happy to help clarify and walk you through the process. If you do plan to trial instruments with Innoledy, please mention my name! He's always interested where people have heard of his business.
Below you'll find my recommendations of websites to buy an oboe and a more detailed list of oboe brands and models. Recommended Websites
     Detailed list of oboe brands and models
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