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Re: Lined oboes vs. synthetic top joint oboes

Author: Chris P
Date: 2021-03-26 00:04

Plastic is less stable than wood when it comes to temperature changes when wood is less stable than plastics when subjected to humidity changes. Then there's metal which is the most stable substance out of them all. Mixed together it can be a recipe for disaster unless it's been done with understanding and factoring in the different properties so they will work together.

I've never seen any lined oboes come adrift compared to flutes with metal lined headjoints or bassoons where the ebonite tenor joint bore lining has separated as the much higher density wood oboes are made from (grenadilla, cocobolo, kingwood and rosewood) are of a much thicker walled compared to flute headjoints which split because of the metal lining or bassoons where maple is a much lower density and porous wood compared to rosewoods.

The only oboes with lined joints that are compromised are the Schreiber/Buffet student models where they also line the lower joint which is completely unnecessary and that only leaves a thin shell of wood at the socket which can break off as resin doesn't have the same structural integrity as wood.

On oboes cracks usually happen at the top half of the top joint, so protecting that area from the inside will significantly reduce the risk of that happening. Also with the partial liner, the top joint is still mostly wood and the bore sleeve is around 9mm in diameter (compared to around 19mm to 22mm diameter where the top joint is at its narrowest), so there's plenty of wall thickness of the wood to maintain the strength, the toneholes are bushed through to the lining to prevent any moisture getting in between and with ebonite being dense, I doubt anyone would notice a difference in tone quality compared to an all plastic top joint unless they have ultra-superhuman senses.

If your furnace failed, then the gradual resulting temperature drop won't cause any problem if it was cased up (as would allowing it to slowly warm back up to room temperature) rather than being plummeted straight from room temperature to -40 in a heartbeat, unless you decide to play it from frozen. And bear in mind oboes get shipped around the world in all manner of temperatures and conditions and can end up in some freezing cold warehouse during that time.

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

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