Doublereed Archive - Posting 000089.txt from 2004/03
From: Lee Lowry <leel@-----.net>
Subj: [DR-L] Re: LaMarque oboes
Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2004 16:33:49 -0500
Hi Steve,
LaMarque oboes come up on eBay from time to time--that was where I first
saw the name. I was surprised because I'd never heard of them before.
Later I heard that "LaMarque" was a "stencil" brand, not an actual
company of that name that actually made oboes, but a "generic" oboe
company who made oboes with no name on them for sale to anyone, and they
would stencil the name you wanted on them, as long as it wasn't one of
the famous brands. "DuRay" was another such name. There were apparently
several companies who did just that, and the only one I ever heard of by
name was called "Malerne," which was later absorbed by Marigaux (S-M-L)
after the death of its founder. I have a no-name English horn that I
have several times seem the identical model show up on eBay with a
variety of different (and unknown) names. So the first issue is who
actually made your instrument, and that could be hard to determine now,
though someone on this list may know who made them. I heard years ago
that there were a LOT of companies making "no-name" oboes and English
horns back then, aside from the well-known companies of Loree, Marigaux,
Rigoutat, and Cabart that did brand their products. There were even
Italian companies who made oboes and put French names on them because
French oboes were preferred in most places. All of the "name brand"
companies are still in business except Cabart. Loree took over the
Cabart operations in 1974 and redesigned their oboe, which is today
marketed as a student instrument.
Probably the wood is grenadilla. Grenadilla was not in short supply back
then and the first cocabola instruments I saw were in the last 15 years
or so.
So it is hard to say what instruments would be like a LaMarque today
without knowing who made it back then. Probably most oboes have changed
since 1963 at least somewhat, and my suggestion would be if you're not
in a great hurry, to try as many as you can of the modern
offerings--Loree, Marigaux, Rigoutat, Fossati, Buffet, Howarth, and Fox.
There are also German companies that make oboes in the French style but
I don't know who handles them here. One of these lines will probably be
closer to what you want than the others, and even oboes from the same
maker can vary a great deal. I got a new oboe in 1998, expecting to buy
a Loree. But I ended up with a Fossati because it sounded the very best
of the four oboes I was able to try. I would like to have tried more
oboes and different brands but they were in short supply at that time
due to heavy demand. I still love it after 6 years and have had almost
no problems with it. I would never have guessed I'd go with a name new
to me at the time but that was just the way it worked out.
You should be aware however, that with the steep decline of the dollar
in the last few years, oboe prices from the European makers have jumped
dramatically, at least 20% or more. You could watch for a used LaMarque
instrument to show up on eBay, as they used to fairly often. As I recall
they were not expensive to win at auction and usually went for well
under $1000. Otherwise, if cost is not an issue, start having the
dealers send you instruments for trial. There is no obligation beyond
paying shipping and insurance both ways, and this is a very common way
for people to try multiple instruments if there's no dealer near them.
If you can take time off, visit one of the major dealers who keep a lot
of instruments in stock, such as Gilbert in LA or Midwest in
Minneapolis. There are no doubt others you could find with a search,
perhaps some near you.
Good luck to you---
Lee
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>I bought my first and only oboe when I was 14. It was a LaMarque and =
>my teacher raved about it and felt that it was as good or better as his =
>own Lor=E9e. I also loved the way I sounded playing that instrument. =
>I am trying to remember if it was made from grenadilla or cocobolo, as =
>I'm about to look at buying an oboe again (I haven't had one for about =
>25 years and haven't played for about 35 years). I'd like to find an =
>instrument with similar tonal characteristics to my LaMarque. I'm so =
>far considering Lor=E9e, Fossati, and Howarth, but I'm entirely open to =
>other possibilities.
>
>=20
>
>Do any of you know if LaMarque oboes circa 1963 were available in =
>cocobolo, grenadilla, or both? Which current producer of better oboes =
>makes an oboe that is most similar in tonal characteristics to a top =
>LaMarque from that time?
>
>=20
>
>Thanks for any insights,
>
>=20
>
>Steve
>
>
>
---------------------------------------------------------------------
For personal help: email doublereed-owner@-----.org
Doublereed is a service of Woodwind.Org, Inc. http://www.woodwind.org
