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Re: Covey & Howarth

Author: Chris P
Date: 2007-10-29 10:52

"Regarding Howarth, if the XL is Howarth's answer to the Royale, is the S5 roughly equivalent to the regular Loree? I've tried several XL's, and I've been quite impressed by the projection, intonation, and especially by the quality and comfort of the keywork. However, the sound is heavier than I would prefer, and the instrument is also literally a bit too heavy for comfort. So now I'm thinking about trying out the S5, if it is indeed a lighter instrument, but of equivalent quality. What do you all think? Also, it's my understanding that Howarth makes some (or all?) of its oboes with plastic lined top joints nowadays. Is that just the XL's, or the S5's too?"

All Howarth pro and intermediate oboes can be ordered with a partially ebonite lined top joint which lines the bore from the reed socket to the C tonehole where cracks are most likely to happen. So this does away with plastic top joints.

The XL is the top model and the S5 is the standard pro model, but both of these have the large diameter joints (and therfore heavy). If you do like a lighter instrument you could opt for cocobolo or kingwood which are much lighter than blackwood, though there's now the S6 which has the narrow joints:

http://howarth.uk.com/pic.aspx?pic=./wo/HowarthS6OboeCon.jpg&pid=969170

Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.

Post Edited (2007-10-29 10:53)

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