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Re: F.Loree Oboe.Serial Number help please

Author: Chris P
Date: 2010-08-03 12:42

Just noticed this oboe's got the pad retainer washers in the large pad cups as on flutes http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/download.html?10,127/2004_01010658.JPG. Louis (Chelsea) oboes which were copies of Loree oboes had these pad washers too, as did early Howarths.

They're often removed (by unsoldering the screw mounted in the pad cup) so modern pads can be used, though I've only removed them on instruments that have been replated and the screw thread has become too large, but have tried to keep them on instruments that still have them as they're a nice touch.

This idea of pad washers/rsonators on instruments other than flutes and saxes came back into fashion when Buffet introduced their Elite clarinet in the late '80s and Leblanc also used them on their Opus clarinets when they were launched in the mid '90s. Now the Yamaha CSG has pads with plastic buttons in the centre, so what goes around comes around.

I just checked the length of my Howarth S5 which is 60cm or 23 5/8" - this Loree probably has a short bell (6-10mm shorter than a 'normal' bell) to bring the low Bb up to pitch (from 438Hz to 440Hz) but they found it made the E wild, so they went back to using the long 438Hz bell and had a closed bell vent mounted on the bell key that opened when playing low Bb to bring it up to pitch.

Your Loree is 58.5cm or 23" in length (against 60cm or 23 5/8"), though it could also have a shorter reed socket at the top end - the bore length is from the base of the reed socket (not the entrance) to the end of the bell so I would say this is built to 440Hz as opposed to 452Hz which will be a considerably shorter instrument. The length of the reed socket isn't important - it's the depth into which it's set into the top joint which is important as that determines the actual bore length.

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

Post Edited (2010-08-03 22:17)

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