ok, any thoughts on these two as potential oboes for my 4th grader? She was progressing well on the Selmer rental so went ahead and got two used oboes to try so we can give the Selmer back. These sound SO MUCH nicer than the Selmer rental. Looks like the Yamaha is easier to play. It is wood, and we live in MN with cold winters...so know plastic (Fox 333) is more stable. But thought I read somewhere that cracks more frequently occur the first year or so in a wooden oboe`s life...and this one is 4+ years old. Looks like new. She is leaning towards the Yamaha. Even I find it easier to play the few notes I have learned so far. The Fox is around $1475 and the Yamaha is $1650...again both look new and appear to be in great shape.

I know I sound like a broken record on this issue around here, but you REALLY need to get a private teacher on board when choosing a new instrument. In my opinion, trying to buy an oboe without a private teacher on board is like trying to buy a luxury home in an exclusive area with no real estate agent. Any young oboist who is not studying privately is wasting time learning bad habits from band directors who (even the best of them) often have radical misconceptions about oboe technique. Find an oboe specialist, either at a local shop, or through www.teachlist.com, or consult a local university or symphony orchestra professional player. At the very least, enlist a very good local high school oboist to play both for you so you can hear the differences.

As for the companies, you`ve clearly done good research! There`s few better mid-line oboes than a Fox 333 or a YOB-4xx series. I have played on both models you mentioned in the past. They are both excellent student-level oboes and you`ve listed very good prices for both.

As for the cracking issue, the superstition that oboes tend to crack in their first year is actually an observation unrelated to some inherent quality in the instrument. Wood oboes tend to crack when they`re "new" because they`re often being shipped into different humidity conditions from those in which they were manufactured and stored. Oboes crack because of radical humidity changes--because, for example, you move to a new climate. They can even crack simply because you changed the humidity level in your home.

I feel that if your student is only in fourth grade, there`s no need to put her on a wood oboe purely for tone quality reasons. I happen to think that putting a young student on a wood oboe is asking for trouble, because they will inevitably abuse it by knocking it around and by dragging it through radical climate changes (she`ll end up in first period band in seventh grade and be blowing hot air through it after bringing it in from a low-humidity snow storm--THAT`S what makes instruments crack).

Chances are, both oboes are great. But again, there is really no way to tell by listening to your fourth grader play it. Take both oboes to a local professional, and in a matter of minutes after they run some scales and arpeggios they`ll be able to tell you which is the superior horn across the entire dynamic and tonal range. Possibly, there won`t even be problems, just personality differences. They may both be great horns but have different timbres, and being able to hear someone who really knows how to "make it sound" will allow you to better compare.

We live in the middle of nowhere and driving to the Twin Cities is not an easy jaunt. I too figured that it would be good to get an experienced opion but our isolation does not help. I did find the daughter of a friend of ours who is a senior in HS here and she studies oboe privately with a teacher at a college an hour away. She tried both oboes and liked the Yamaha better...well, SHE plays the same model. She thought that one would be better for tone etc. My daughter again also thought the Yamaha was easier to play. Again, I am afraid of the cracking...and you gave a good example of how that could happen. When I listened to both oboes being played by that one girl I didn`t really think the plastic Fox sounded that much "brighter" in tone. Also spoke to Cygnet Studios and they ranked both of these oboes as being good choices. The teacher there pulled these and others off the shelf and played them herself and recommended the Fox as #1, and the Yamaha as #2. Had them send these two on approval. I get until Friday to make a choice. Thanks for the input : )