 The Oboe BBoard
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Author: spsu3
Date: 2015-12-22 05:10
Hey everyone,
This is my first post here but this has been something that has been bothering me. I recently just got back into playing oboe again after taking a few years off during college. I was kinda shocked to see that the prices are so high now... I bought both of my oboes in the mid to late 2000's and the prices seemed fair. I have a Fox 330 which I got from McFarland Double Reeds for $1,600 and a Fox 450 that I got from Hannah's for $2,850. Both oboes were less than 10 years old and in great condition. Now it seems that you have to pay mid to upper $2,000 range for Fox 330's and upper $3,000 to $4,000 range for a Fox 450.
So I guess my main reason for this post is to ask why it seems that prices have gone up?
Sorry for the rambling! Thanks
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Author: heckelmaniac
Date: 2015-12-23 02:47
Actually, the discount price for a new Fox model 300 now is about $6200 (+ state sales tax in most states)...
In 1965, I purchased my first English horn (a top of the line, exquisite Chauvet) new for $600 from Linx and Long in NYC. Adjusted for inflation, that $600 would be about $4500 nowadays, enough to purchase perhaps a top joint of a new Loree or Howarth English horn. My best guess is that most of the increase in price is due to the rise in labor cost and cost of benefits.
Another way to look at it may be that in 1965 the artisans who made oboe instruments were paid next to nothing for their highly skilled labor.
It is easy to balk a paying [say] circa $10,000 for a phenomenal oboe, such as Hiniker, Puchner, Howarth, Loree Royal, Marigaux Altuglas, Moennig, Rigoutat model J, Fossati, but such an amount pales in comparison to what bassoonists routinely pay and expect to pay for a first class professional model bassoon. $30,000 and up is routine in the realm of new top of the line bassoons...
Oboes.us
Post Edited (2015-12-25 06:47)
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Author: WoodwindOz
Date: 2015-12-23 17:44
I think you'll find the economy and the value of the dollar has a lot to do with it.
In Australia, we seem to see this more obviously than most, I'm not sure why this is the case. I think because of our small population and buying power, every time a new shipment of instruments (with a proportionally small number of oboes) arrives it has been affected by the fluctuating dollar, and we are bound by certain agencies importing these instruments.
Inflation also plays a part. I bought an R13 clarinet brand new in New York in 2006. I paid $2100 for it, which was about $2600 AU at the time. R13s in Australia in 2006 were about $3200 brand new. I recently sold that clarinet for the same AU price I paid for it. The reason? A brand new one is now around $4800 AU. The cost of the second hand market will also be determined by the cost of the new market, not what was originally paid for the instrument.
Also supply and demand - as the economy has dipped, more people are going to want secondhand instruments as they are less likely to be able to afford new, or too cautious to invest as much money as they once might have. This makes secondhand instruments more desirable, pushing the cost up.
It might seem expensive...but I'd give anything to have access to the secondhand market that the US has, at any cost! We don't even have the choice here, so the cost is actually irrelevant.
Rachel
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