Hi, I'm new here.
i have played a piano, so i know the readings. but i just want to switch to a wind instrument and i found the oboe who catch my heart.
I want to buy from amazon, RS Berkeley OB400 Elite series. for like a 1000USD. and from more research, i found a Selmer student oboe from eBay for like a 300USD. Just need your opinions, because I'm from Indonesia, and its like a rare thing to learn oboe, and a lot of people here doesn't know about an oboe. (sorry for my bad English)
Thx !!

sorry i accidentally made 2 threads

I think it is much better if you buy an used oboe, I have never heard about the Berkeley oboe and the Selmer oboe dosn´t have left hand F and you can´t play low B-flat on it and I think these two options are what you absolutly need.
Try to contact Hannah (http://www.hannahsoboes.com/) and she will come up with what is best for You on your budget.

I think Berkeley are Chinese made. I have not seen one of this brand but I wouldn't touch any of the Chinese made oboes I have seen or heard reports of.

As Trombi says you can do much better than the Selmer.

Good luck

I certainly agree. The Selmer was my first oboe, and it worked very well...for a while. Low notes and high notes both were quite responsive and (relatively) in tune. The tone, if I remember correctly, was somewhat horrifying, but this may have been due to the low-quality store-bought reeds I was using than the bore. For a beginner, it was just what I needed. However, for purchase...I would suggest something a bit more top-notch. I needed to move up soon after I began renting the Selmer, and an intermediate level oboe solved most of my oboe-related problems. Check out Fox and Yamaha, as their oboes are high-quality and affordable.

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As for the Berkeley...it might be a good choice. I have never heard of RS Berkeley, but it seems to be based in New Jersey, not China ( http://www.rsberkeley.com/aboutus.asp ). You'll have to do more research on your own.

Hi,

It really depends on the model you are thinking of buying. The RS Berkeley OB400 model has a modified conservatory system whereas the Selmer Intermediate oboe has a full conservatory system and it has a Grenadilla body. You can go to http://oboemarket.com/oboe-instrument-reviews/ to compare the features of oboes by these brands.