Oboe Buyer's Guide

Student Oboes: Student oboes are designed for the beginner and meant to provide an excellent start for the first years of playing. These oboes are made with durable plastic bodies and priced to easily fit into most families’ budgets. Teacher-Recommended Student Oboes

Intermediate Oboes: Once a student is established and is learning the fundamentals of good playing, it is important to purchase an intermediate instrument to continue his or her musical growth. All of our intermediate level oboes feature more advanced key work. Recommended Intermediate Oboes

Professional: Designed and constructed with the professional musician in mind, professional oboes find favor among the serious students as well. Recommended Professional Oboes

Artist: Hand-crafted and true artist quality. Recommended Artisan Oboes

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Buffet Crampon Model 4052 Oboe

Oboes are made of Grenadilla wood or high quality plastics, generally known as resonite. Although Grenadilla wood has a long tradition of use by professional oboists worldwide, the quality of non-wood instruments has risen to a highly respected level and is used by both students and professionals.The plastic resin used for manufacturing instruments is highly stable. Plastic oboes require less maintenance and are not susceptible to cracking like wood instruments.

Many of the most respected oboe manufacturers offer their professional model oboes in plastic orwith a plastic top joint in place of the traditional Grenadilla wood. This is advantageous because the top joint on the oboe is the portion most likely to experience cracking due to temperature and humidity fluctuations.