We Are Expanding Our Repair
& Used Instruments Services

Our news in a nutshell is that we finally have the opportunity to grow our repair as well as used instrument businesses. For so many years we have had to limit what we were able to take in for repair because servicing all those new instruments took up so much time. But the silver lining of much higher instrument prices is that we are able to devote more time and energy to repairs. We love repairs, so this is working out just great for us. Higher new instrument prices mean many players will not replace their instruments as frequently as they have in the past, and this has already created an increased demand for skilled repair services. We are really expanding our used instrument business, too. Again, it’s something we love doing. Used instruments are selling like DVDs at Blockbuster—it’s amazing. And it’s lots of fun. So, while we don’t see new instrument sales booming anytime in the near future—it’s all those high prices again—this situation has given us a wonderful opportunity to build up other aspects of our business. So far, it’s been a blast.

Why Do We Sell So Many Used Instruments?

We sell used instruments faster than anyone in North America. Some are sold with waiting lists before they even arrive. Many go out on approval as soon as the repairs are completed. So, why do they sell so fast? The answer is very simple---we repair them before we sell them. This sounds like such a no-brainer, but no one else we know of does this. Businesses don’t do this because unless they can get the former owner to pay the repair bill (a dubious proposition, to be sure, in a consignment sale), they won’t be paid for their work until the instrument sells. What if an instrument sits unloved for a year? Two years?  Whether it’s flutes, clarinets or tubas, no business owner wants to do this. So, instruments are sold for the most part “as is.” The seller has nothing invested in the consigned instrument, and if it sells, it sells. Otherwise, so be it. No wonder it takes most businesses so long to sell their used instruments!

Our approach is completely different. We will put whatever it takes into any instrument—up to and including a complete overhaul at more than $1,000—assuming, of course, that the instrument justifies the expense. We are paid at the same time the owner is paid, so we have a real incentive to complete a sale. The end result is terrific for everyone—the instruments play so well they sell themselves in a heartbeat, and the former owners are delighted. It’s a very different approach to used instrument sales, and it has worked wonderfully well for twenty-two years year. Who can argue with that kind of track record?

Why it makes Sense to Avoid Old Oboes
and Internet Auctions

There is clearly a lot of junk out there, and when it comes to very low-end oboes, the Internet auction websites seem to have the franchise these days. Most oboists already know that the $500 oboe that needs a $1,200 overhaul is no bargain at all. But still, this is a chance to discuss the pros and cons of the somewhat less awful instruments, most of which are old, many of which are also from companies that are long out of business. I always recommend against these instruments, and won’t accept them for repair or to be sold used. Why?

First of all, when a maker is no longer in business, parts are no longer available. Every time a customer sits on their oboe, or runs it over, or loses a key, I thank God that they got their instrument from a manufacturer who is still in business. Just recently someone’s toddler (sort of) sat on a Rigoutat professional model, and a Howarth oboe arrived this week without a first octave key. (The owner can’t explain the mysterious disappearance.) I just drop to my knees in gratitude that we are dealing with reputable makers who can and will do what it takes to get these instruments playing again. Otherwise, the value of instruments like these drops to zero.

Second, so many improvements have been made in oboe design and materials over the past two decades. This is just the opposite of a one-keyed baroque flute, for example. A baroque flute—or a Stradivarius violin, for example—have virtually no mechanism. There is no wear on moving parts and thus there is nothing to devalue. But an old oboe is crammed with moving parts that simply wear out. The older the oboe, the less it’s worth, as most oboists already know. This alone is one reason to steer clear; these instruments have such pitiful resale value—if they have any at all. While people talk about considerations that go into the idea of an oboe getting played out, or blown out, the wearing of the mechanism is surely an important aspect of this process. I always say an old oboe is just like an old car. They are repair intensive, and as soon as you fix one thing, something else goes wrong. Again, just think old car. Virtually all professional oboists play on young oboes. The reasons are reliability, crispness of sound, durability, as well as being able to take advantage of the latest design innovations. When players mention old Chauvet, Buffet, or Cabart English horns, or old Mallerne or Gordet oboes—i.e. all the old, old stuff made by companies that discontinued those models or went out of business generations ago—I want to crawl under a rock. No matter how skillfully repaired, these instruments can never transcend what they are. They are what they are, and they just aren’t very good.  It’s one thing to have a sentimental attachment to Grandpa’s old oboe. It’s another thing to think one has stumbled onto anything of any real value as a reliable playing instrument. I know a guy who has two very old used Laubins. Laubin, of course, is very much still in business. But these instruments are very old, very beat up, in need of complete overhauls, some plating and crack work, new cases, i.e. the works. The works would run at least $1,500 per oboe if Laubin did the work. The instruments play miserably, but the guy who has them is convinced he stumbled onto a gold mine with these two oboes. I think he has been trying to sell them for four years now. He even went to Laubin with the oboes, and was given an estimate of what it would cost to get the instruments into reliable working order. I guess he didn’t believe it. In any case, he hasn’t done a thing, and will probably goes toes up with those two little gold mines of his. The longer I am in this business, the more I am convinced that you get what you pay for. The oboe bargains I have seen in my life have invariably been repair disasters. It’s also important to realize that pads and bumper corks, for example, don’t last forever. Fifteen years is a good long run for cork pads—but it’s a whole lot shorter for certain pads, as well as all bumper corks. So if you are looking at a forty year old English horn, for example, you can fairly well assume it will need new pads—i.e. an overhaul. All of a sudden, that little gem is looking a lot less gem-like.

Years ago, the wonderfully talented repairer and bocal maker, Bill Glover, worked for me. He was one of those great old-timers with stories about everything and everyone. Bill worked for me right up until the week he passed away. At any rate, Bill Glover had a great expression that I used to call his Greater Sucker Theory. He used to look at people buying really lousy instruments and say: “There’s a sucker born every minute.” Too bad he didn’t live to see those Internet auctions. Whoa, baby. I often think back on what Bill said, and how right he was.

One thing I try to do in this business is to steer people away from the junk. I don’t care whether they actually purchase an instrument from us or somewhere else, but I will spend a lot of time talking to people about the better makers and models in their respective price ranges. If I can prevent someone from learning the hard way—from throwing away his or her money on some disaster--I feel I have done my job, and have been a credit to my profession. Amen!

As a final offering, I would like to include a letter written to a buyer of a very old pre-Loree Cabart oboe—another eBay special. The letter was written by the wonderful oboe repairer, Steve Malarskey. In answering the owner’s email repair inquiry, Steve really tells it the way it is:

Andrew,

You get what you pay for. Old Cabart oboes are obsolete, tired old oboes, and generally have had so much bad repair done to them over the years that they are a nightmare of horrors. Why would you want to inflict this on any skilled repairperson let alone yourself? There are times when old instruments need to be retired. Thanks to the Internet many people like you are being taken advantage of by people who are scouring their attics and basements for worthless junk, and unloading it on-line.

I just looked at a Robert oboe for a customer of mine. She paid $600.00 for a recently overhauled, "plays great, sounds wonderful" absolute train wreck of an oboe. She found it on-line. It was sent from Europe. I refused to work on it. It was totally worn out in the first place, and whoever overhauled it obviously has no idea of what it means to repair something. Fortunately, she complained and got her money back.

My advice is to buy a newer oboe that is in good repair, or at least something that is worth repairing.

Steve Malarskey
Malarskey Woodwinds
93 Municipal Road
Pipersville, PA 18947
610-294-3114
888-808-6263
www.malarskeywoodwinds.com

How Expensive Are New Oboes Right Now?

First of all, I hope you are sitting down. A Loree AK is about $6,000 right now. The Royal model is about $7,500. The Howarth XL is $7,900, but wait, it goes up to $8,600 in cocobola wood. The Marigaux oboes start at $7,000, with the 2001 model at $7,900 and the M2 model at $9,500.  The Howarth XL English horn is $8,600. Ditto for the XL d’amour, plus an $800 surcharge for either one in cocobolo wood (these prices are taken right off the Howarth website). There are German oboes—Püchner comes to mind—that are over $10,000. I could go on, but I think the point has been made.

A Wonderful New Book on Reeds

A most useful and informative book has just come out by Cheryl Wefler of Cascade Oboe Reeds fame. Her Principles and Techniques for Oboe Reed Adjustment is one of the most useful oboe books I’ve ever seen. It doesn’t matter what style of reed you make—it doesn’t even have to be American style—her information is straight to the point and helpful to absolutely everyone. The book is available at $28.00 (plus shipping) directly through Cheryl at:

Cascade Oboe Reeds
P.O. Box 50336
Eugene, Oregon 997405
541.517.7488
Website: www.cascadeoboereeds.com.
Email: cascadeoboereeds@msn.com

Reeds and Cane Galore

Two wonderful resources for cane and reeds have just appeared on the oboe horizon. Legendary principal oboist of the Oregon Symphony, Fred Korman, has just started a reed business. As I know first hand, he’s an astoundingly good reed maker. Wow. If you go to www.fredkorman.com just click on Oboe Reeds. The phone contact is 503.720.6645. You can also email don@fredkorman.com. As Fred writes: “Just Add Water.”

In addition to Fred’s new business, the wonderfully creative and innovative New York oboist Matt Sullivan has just started a business selling very high quality gouged & shaped cane, as well as blanks. Sullivan was inspired by his experiences dealing with the poor quality cane his students often bring to him. Matt teaches at New York University, Manhattan School of Music Prep Division, Princeton University, Rutgers University and Long Island University. The website is www.mattsullivan.com. It’s great to see such great players provide these services to the oboe community. How terrific for all of us!

Let it Rain Used Oboes….

As part of expanding the used instrument section of the business, we would like to get the word out more than ever before that we are always looking for good quality instruments. We do all needed repairs before we put an instrument up for sale, so an oboe, English horn or d’amour doesn’t have to be perfect when it arrives. But it has to have the potential to be a really good instrument by the time we finish working on it. If you, or someone you know is thinking of selling an instrument, we would be delighted if you would give us a call at 845.331.4845 or shoot us an email at Norapost@hvi.net.

Click here for a list of currently available used instruments

 

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