musical instruments

Sam Ash in the city at 48th & 7th. You'll find everything from the starter instruments to the top of the line. They also have tons of music and accessories. They also have a Brooklyn store, (I think its near Kings Plaza) not as large or comprehensive but it still has a good selection.

Go to Roberto's Winds on 46th Street. Roberto works on the horns of NYC's best saxophonists and has lots of horns for sale.
www.robertoswinds.com

I checked out the Kessler site. Fox oboes for nearly $3000?

HOLY CRAP!!

And those aren't very good.

pyros44 wrote: Well, I think part of the difficulty from some of these suggestions is that Chance wants to know what he's getting before he gets it, and that's just generally not an option for buying online.. A few more regular stores, like the one mentioned on 46th, I'd imagine would be quite helpful for his situation.

But you can always go to a store to figure out what you want and then comparison shop online (or check the local pawn shops) to find the best price.

Fox 330 Oboe on ebaY

Ah Yes, woodwind instrument blow out - a very interesting topic.

My take: it's a fantasy. There's no real evidence that it exists, that the molecular structure of the inner bore of the instrument is so altered over time, or whatever. But I'm a clarinetist. Maybe it's a reality for oboists. But I would tend to believe in oboist blow out, as opposed to oboe blow out.

Again, I'm just a clarinetist.

I do agree that it's best to try out instruments in a shop, but it's getting harder and harder to do that. Some things, like inexpensive saxophones, can be done well on-line (or by telephone), especially from a reputable dealer.

I played professionally. But I do NOT miss making reeds. I think I couldn't even get sufficiently neurotic about them. And I HATED getting together with other oboists for the most part because ALL they talked about was reeds! Even bassoonists knew when to give it a rest.

The bore blows out not because of "molecular structure". Geesh! Every time you breathe warm air into a wood instrument (and probably it's less evident in a clarinet because there is a wider bore to work with; an oboe has such a narrow bore that any change in it causes a noticeable difference) it causes the wood to expand, and then it will eventually contract once you stop playing it. (And this is assuming that you keep your instrument from sudden temperature changes which would cause it to crack.) After years of expansion and contraction, the wood will eventually stop contracting altogether, leaving a wider bore and diminished sound quality. I HAVE blown out the bores of several oboes, so I know what I'm talking about. The Lauben I have is still playable, but does not have the sound quality I would need if I were playing professionally. It is now a high-quality student instrument. I would never EVER use it professionally.

OTOH (as I plug for my favorite brand), I have a student Howarth English Horn that I have used professionally. The quality is so high that the only difference I could tell between the student and professional instruments is gold keys and $2K.

Actually, I'm an operatically trained lyric mezzo and professional actor now. Do you need a mezzo lead or supporting singer? I's good!!

Now if I can only get the *(*^%^ movers to show up and move my piano into my apartment!!

THANKS!!!