 The Oboe BBoard
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Author: Jennn
Date: 2011-10-10 15:44
I have an old wood FE Olds Ambassador oboe that I bought 25 years ago for next to nothing at a garage sale. Even when I bought it, the case was very very old and falling apart and the velvet inside appeared moth-eaten. I immediately bought a new case for it, but kept the old one. It was in good repair back then (except the ugly repaired key noted below), so I had it cleaned and re-padded and then played all through high school. I haven't played it, or any other oboe, in nearly 20 years but I've been wanting to pick it back up again.
Today, the wood is still in very good shape: no cracks, but the E key appears to have been broken off and badly soldiered back together (it looks awful though it seems to be holding together and functioning pretty well). A couple of years ago, my local repair shop quoted me near $500 to clean, adjust, re-pad and re-soldier the E-key (around $300 without making the E-key look better).
I don't want to spend that much money if it's not worth it so I'm trying to find anything I can about it. I'm unable to find a reference to this particular model or its serial number, so I'm not sure if it's worth enough to justify the repair cost. On each of the pieces is a number - C283, not sure if that's a serial number or a model number. On the bell is the text:
"Ambassador made exclusively for F.F. Olds & Son" (Yes, it really looks like it reads F.F.. It doesn't look like the letter is worn off either... could this be an old knock-off?)
Over the past several years, I've tried Googling for answers but so far nothing new has popped up. I've been through http://rouses.net/trumpet/olds.htm and many many other websites with no luck.
Anyone know anything about this oboe? Is it worth it to get it fixed up and ready to play again or should I just retire it?
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Wood FE Olds Ambassador oboe - worth it to fix? new |
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Jennn |
2011-10-10 15:44 |
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cjwright |
2011-10-10 18:05 |
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The Clarinet Pages
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