 The Oboe BBoard
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Author: oboist2
Date: 2025-01-04 00:32
Every so often, this list goes into hibernation. It is long since past its heyday but I am a firm believer that there is much to be gained by a forum outside social media, so I urge people to use it, tell their colleagues.
My topic of discussion is today: Are there still many thumbplate oboists left. If you are a thumbplate user, why?
I have used both. I started using thumbplate as a beginner and stopped in my mid 20s when I gave up playing for 10 years. When I resumed, I decided it was time to make the switch, largely because it was what most post people were using, and if I needed to borrow an instrument, it would make my life easier. I played on a Fossati Conservatoire oboe for many years and loved it...but I missed thje oboe of my youth too much and decided to revert back. This was consolidated last year when my first oboe teacher died and I inherited most of his instruments.. I do prefer the sound of the B flats and Cs on a thumbplate, and I find the fingering makes more sense.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2025-01-05 21:04
The farcebook IDRS (or more precisely, the USADRS given the heavy USA bias) page may be popular, but it's full of bad advice and adverts which is why I left it back in 2020.
Dual system oboes are the best of both worlds and are the only real option when upgrading from a beginner thumbplate model to an intermediate or pro level model.
The only new thumbplate models still being made are Howarth Junior, S10 and S20 oboes, as well as the entry level Buffet/Schreiber oboes - although the latter don't have any real tone to them but do have a resin lined bore. Back in the '50s through to the '80s there was more choice of basic thumbplate beginner models with the plastic B&H Regents (and other stencil models), the UK spec Bundy/Buescher/B&H "78" oboes made by Selmer USA, the Italian wooden ones of various names made by Orsi and Prestini and then the ones made or offered by UK makers.
The only fingerings you can't use on dual systems (or conservatoire systems) are alternative fingerings that involve opening the top joint Bb tonehole while LH3 is held closed - on thumbplate systems you can use the side key to do this if your left thumb is otherwise preoccupied.
On dual systems, the thumbplate fingering for C has more substance than the conservatoire fingering which is more brash and nasal, then on the flip side the conservatoire Bb fingering has more substance compared to the thumbplate Bb fingering.
The UK has a real problem as the majority of oboists started on thumbplate systems as beginners, then upgraded to a Howarth S20, then went from that to either an intermediate/semi pro level or a pro level dual system and most won't use conservatoire system fingerings and some don't even realise they have a RH C-D trill key and use the C-C# trill key (with LH3) instead as that's where it was on their basic thumbplate model.
The last pro level thumbplate system oboes Howarth made (two S2 XL oboes) was in the very late 1990s. I don't know if any S20 cors have been made since the early 2000s as I only finished two of them and one was a special order as the buyer ordered it from a music shop which hadn't updated their price, so Howarth had to make one specially to fulfil that order (and the price had been updated by that shop by the time it was finished).
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
Independent Woodwind Repairer
Single and Double Reed Specialist
Oboes, Clarinets and Saxes
NOT A MEMBER OF N.A.M.I.R.
The opinions I express are my own.
Post Edited (2025-01-06 00:30)
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