Genuine copies – limited edition
Because of the long time-consuming process of creating these oboes, I am able to make only a few copies a year, so please ask me about the current dates of completion before you pay.
I give you a lifetime warranty for all these models!
- All the instruments from this group are made from 20, over 20 or even 30 years old seasoned timber!
- All of them have long-time oil bath, just like the best originals from the past centuries.
- All the oboes in this group reflect the sound quality, external details and the way of playing the originals as faithfully as possible.
On request, I also offer many of these instruments at Werckmeister’s or Young’s types of tempered scale.
The price of the instrument also includes the cost of courier shipment with full insurance to any place in the world.
Instruments:
copy after Thomas Stanesby junior (415Hz) 2 or 3 keys: $ 3,000
- wood to choose from: maple wood, wild cherry wood, planted cherry wood, wild pear wood, genuine plum wood, peach wood, European boxwood, cocobolo, African blackwood.
copy after Thomas Stanesby senior (392Hz) 3 or 2 keys: $ 3,000
- wood to choose from: maple wood, wild cherry wood, planted cherry wood, wild pear wood, genuine plum wood, peach wood, European boxwood, cocobolo, African blackwood.
copy after Jakob Denner (415 Hz) 3 keys: $ 3,000 (on request with double f hole)
- wood to choose from: maple wood, wild cherry wood, planted cherry wood, wild pear wood, genuine plum wood, peach wood, European boxwood, cocobolo, African blackwood.
copy after P. Paulhahn (415 Hz) 3 keys: $ 3,000
- wood to choose from: maple wood, wild cherry wood, planted cherry wood, wild pear wood, genuine plum wood, peach wood, European boxwood, cocobolo, African blackwood.
copy after Johann Poerschmann (415 Hz) 2 keys, oboe d’amore: $ 3,000
- wood to choose from: maple wood, wild cherry wood, planted cherry wood, wild pear wood, genuine plum wood, peach wood, European boxwood, cocobolo, African blackwood.
copy after Jakob Friedrich Grundmann (430 Hz) 2 or 3 keys, Classical oboe: $ 3,000 (with single or double f hole)
- wood to choose from: maple wood, wild cherry wood, planted cherry wood, wild pear wood, genuine plum wood, peach wood, European boxwood, cocobolo, African blackwood.
copy after J.I. Weigel (415 Hz) 2 or 3 keys, oboe da caccia & English horn: $ 3,600
- this set includes one curved body and two Bells: one big flaring „da caccia” and a smaller , bulbous “English horn” one,
- kinds of wood to choose from: maple or cherry wood.
copy after Johann Friedrich Floth (430 Hz) 8 keys, early Romantic oboe: $ 3,500
- kinds of wood to choose from: maple wood, wild cherry wood, planted cherry wood, wild pear wood, peach wood, European boxwood, Cocobolo, African blackwood.
copy after Fridrich (415 Hz) , 3 keys, Baroque tenor oboe: $ 3,000
- kinds of wood to choose from: maple wood, pear wood, peach wood, plum wood.
As you can see from above, some instruments are available with two or three keys. It is because I know oboes by a particular maker both with 2 and 3 keys. So, both versions are historical. For example, oboes made by Stanesby junior and senior have three or two keys. It is the same with Grundmann’s and Weigel’s instruments. Another issue is double or single f holes. Almost all oboes by Jakob Denner have a single f hole; I know only one with a double f hole. So, I think generally a single f should be the leading model for us, but of course double f is also historically right. There is a very similar situation with Grundmann’s instruments. I know only one with a double f hole.
It is also very interesting why, for example, Jakob Denner made his oboes with only double f hole, especially that his father made oboes with two double holes. Personally, I think it is because of the measurements of a bore and reeds. It is interesting that today we know an oboe made by Jakob Denner (by the way, it is beautiful and fully ornamented) with a single f and… g hole (!). I am sure we cannot say that it was a simple, cheap oboe for simple music.
Additional helpful information about some of the kinds of wood from which I make these oboes:
Pear wood (pyrus communis, var.) – it is “normal” pear wood, often from trees which were planted for fruits. Its weight is definitely less than that of wild pear wood. Because of that, it is very suitable for bigger oboes, such as tenor ones, for example. It gives a nice, full sound, it absorbs oil quite well and has a pretty brown colour. There are certain slight differences in colour of the wood, depending on the variation of a pear tree. They do not, however, affect the properties of the wood itself.
Wild pear wood (pyrus communis) – it comes from genuine wild pear trees which grow in wild meadows, on balks or , infrequently, at the edges of the forest. They are becoming fewer and fewer, and, what is more, it is very difficult today to obtain their wood without knots, since they are a species which likes the sun very much, and the plants growing under such conditions are very densely branched. This wood, in my opinion, is much better for making oboes than boxwood, due to the sound quality it gives. On numerous occasions I and some oboists whom I know have carried out sound tests, without looking at the instrument, on the same mouthpieces, only listening to the oboes made of wild pear and boxwood, and the comparisons always worked to the advantage of the pear wood (!). I encourage you to carry out such tests. Besides, pear tree wood is far less susceptible to warping. The wild pear wood has initially quite a light colour (lighter than that of fruit pear wood), but with time it acquires an unmatched brown colour, frequently with a slight reddish shade (it often resembles the colour of very old boxwood). Wild pear wood (compared to fruit pear wood) is much more similar to boxwood, because of a sort of “greasiness” of the wood. The wild pear tree as a species easily crosses spontaneously with fruit trees; that is why not all the wild pear tree wood has now the same properties. I use the genuine wood from genuine wild pear trees.
Planted cherry wood – paradoxically, unlike in the case of pear trees, the wood of planted cherry trees is much more plastic, susceptible to processing, more compact, harder and heavier than that of wild cherry trees (prunus cerasus) and as if a little “greasier”. Therefore, I consider the planted cherry wood to be better for soprano oboes in c. At the same time, I believe that the wild cherry wood is better for bigger and heavier varieties of the instruments. The planted cherry wood, properly seasoned for a long time and impregnated with oil, gives almost as deep and rich sound as wild cherry wood.
Wild cherry wood – genuine wild cherry tree (prunus cerasus) grows sparsely and constitutes a small addition in natural mixed forests. Unfortunately, it occurs less and less often nowadays. It should not be confused with the species available for sale under the trade name “American black cherry”, since that species is not actually a cherry tree. As I wrote above, its wood is lighter and has a looser structure than that of the fruit cherry tree, but most frequently it is more interesting in terms of colour. The basic colour of the wild cherry wood is golden-brown with additions and stripes of reddish, brown or even greenish. The wild cherry wood is a bit harder than maple wood and produces a very similar sound; when well-soaked with oil it takes on a beautiful resonance, which is especially suitable for d’amore oboes. The wood of both wild and planted cherry trees has a very pleasant, distinctly sweet scent.
Genuine plum wood – (prunus domestica) – it is a variety of the once planted purple plum tree. The wood of this plum tree was once very often used for making woodwind instruments, as evidenced by the very numerous copies of oboes, flutes and recorders. It differs essentially from the wild plum tree (mirabelle plum), which is so willingly used nowadays. Firstly, it is much more difficult to acquire, due to the much smaller size of the trees, compared to the wild plum tree (mirabelle plum); it is harder and has a considerably richer pattern and colouring. It gives a dark and deep resonance, so valued in d’amore oboes. The wood of this plum, especially with sufficiently large diameters needed for the oboes, is less and less frequent because these days dwarf varieties, which do not develop a large enough and tall trunk, are planted most often, so that the fruits are easy to collect. Currently, it is much easier to get such wood as European boxwood, or many exotic species, than pieces of the old variety of purple plum tree of a suitable quality and size.