What Is An Oboe?

How do I find out what kind of oboe I have?

• My Selmer oboe has this written on it: B 49856. I want to know what kind of oboe it is. Someone is interested in borrowing it for her son if it is not a 'student oboe'. How the heck would I know? My husband bought it for me because I used to play the oboe and he knew that some day I would like to play it again. Unfortunately it did not come with the weekly oboe lessons, which I would need before attempting to play again!!! :-)

• Answer:

  Selmer...I haven't heard of that brand before. You might take it into a music/instrument store nearby and ask someone there (or the repairman; you'll probably want to fix it up before loaning it to them) and see if they can figure it out. If that isn't an option, try this- is it a wood oboe or a plastic oboe? If it's a wood oboe (doubt it- wood oboes aren't meant for playing now and then, they're for pretty constant playing and if you would pick it back up 'someday', it's probably plastic), then I'm almost a hundred percent sure it isn't a student model. Student models are usually plastic and pretty durable, and they last for a while without needing tons of repairs- usually, the only repairs you need with a student model are any bent keys or leaky pads, whereas with wood oboes, if you scratch or rip it, you need to get it fixed so the wood doesn't pull apart. If you feel like loaning it, would you be doing it out of the goodness of your heart or would they be paying? If you need some help with the right fees, again, talking to a music store would help. I hope this helped! ~~SKS