Author: cjwright
Date: 2006-12-04 03:17
I've been using an Opus1 gouger for about 6 months, and as I've played on Mack-ish reeds most of my career, I've found it has worked very well. However, as I've been playing around with a more Philly approach, I've been trying to get smaller openings by setting the gouge to thinner sides and I still am not getting reasonable openings to scrape as I wish.
Point being, I think Driscoll's curve is very specific to his type of reed which produces very large openings, and if you shoot for a smaller opening, you might have difficulty with this machine.
I sent some reeds and cane to several Philly style oboists to look and play around with, and they all responded the same way: amazed that I could get a reed to work the way I did with that gouge due to the opening size.
Mr. Driscoll however is incredibly nice, and loves to talk oboe (I've had several conversations with him that have lasted over an hour, with him just talking, which gets pricey when calling Pennsylvania from Korea) and will do his best to assist you as you try to work with his machines. It just hasn't worked for me the way I want it to yet.
Edit:
Ross- $800, comes with guillotine, no pre-gouger
Opus 1 - $1000, no guillotine, but he sells a pre-gouger/guillotine combo for around $170, also should buy the little measuring tool he has for $20
RDG - $1450 or so, comes with guillotine, no pregouger
Ferillo - $1650, doesn't come with guillotine or pregouger.
Graf - $1000, doesn't come with guillotine or pregouger
There's some other German models and stuff, but I'm not familiar with them.
Not sure about Barr's. When I meant "cheap" I meant that the Graf's used to be $250 or $300 to buy.
The Ferillo and Graf you can buy at Boston Double Reeds
I have Robert Graf's number. You can email me (we're not allowed to post phone numbers.)
Opus 1 you can find info here
RDG website is here
Blog, An Oboe In Paradise
Solo Oboe, Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra
Post Edited (2006-12-04 04:09)
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