This morning I and at least one other oboist I know (hi Jillian!) received this email:
Dear Madam/ sir:
We make perfect wooden oboes.the price is $1280/each include shipping cost.please contact me no hesitate if you are interested.
B.wishes
[name and link removed]
My immediate reaction is, “Yeah, right.” The photos in the email made the oboe look plastic to my eyes. But of course I still had to investigate, as the name of the oboe was totally new to me. After all, I do dream of the perfect oboe. And the perfect reed. (And thin thighs, too.) I then did a google search on it to see if anyone else has anything to say about it.
I landed on an oboist’s site — a person I’d never heard of, but who had quite the bio on his own site (but nowhere else aside from Wikipedia, which could have been put up by someone he had do it). The site looked rather unprofessional and suspect.
Still, I replied to the seller. (No harm, right?)
Hello,
Did you want me to review this instrument for my oboe blog ( http://oboeinsight.com ), or are you just advertising to all oboists? (I sometimes get review requests, but your email is a bit unclear to me.) I would be happy to do so, but I can’t afford to purchase an oboe at the moment (although I have students looking for a new instrument). I never recommend oboes without being able to try them first, as you can imagine!
Just now I received his response:
Dear Patty:
Please contact [name removed] and visit his web site [link removed]
to know our perfect oboe.
B.wishes
[name removed]
You can guess, I’m sure, whose site I was to visit to read about the oboe! Yep. The same unknown oboist I found when I googled the oboe.
So … well … never mind! One oboist whom I’ve never heard of recommends an oboe I’ve never heard of. There is nothing else about this instrument anywhere. At. All.
I guess I just lost my chance at getting the perfect oboe.
Oh well. I get to pick up my not-quite-perfect-but-fine-for-me oboe from Mark Chudnow on Monday! I can live with that.
