yinfente Professional C Key Ebonite/Rosewood Oboe Case

Very impressed! It’s both beautiful and plays beautifully. Sounds lovely. I am so happy I took the chance and got it. I was considering to plunk down the money for a Bulgheroni Artist. I don’t know my oboes. I do know music as I am a music educator. And was visiting music shops to try out oboes.

I bought this for my daughter who just started in the spring. We rented a Yamaha 241. She needed the extra keys for Bb and the left hand F. She is in love with it!!! We don’t use the included reed. I don’t have much faith in it from the looks. We get our reeds from a reed maker.

This oboe plays much easier than the Yamaha! I don’t have much embouchure for oboe, but I could play from the lowest Bb up until I ran into 3rd register notes. I don’t know the fingerings for the 3rd register.

I lightly conditioned and cleaned the oboe with bore oil. I use Lanolin cork grease (stock cork grease looks typical). Cleaning supplies are nice. Needed to adjust the screw for the 3rd register to open the hole when depressing the key. I can’t attest to that register working because I don’t have fingerings to test play.

The case is nice enough. My only complaint is that the well that holds the cork grease is too shallow. I can’t fit my cork grease tub because it’s taller. But the soft case that covers the hard case does have a zippered pocket that can hold a reed box and my little tub of cork grease and cleaning supplies. It comes with a neck strap. I haven’t used it. My daughter hasn’t used it either. Would be a nice touch to include a little screw driver designed to fit the screw adjustments in the key work. (I have a set for my woodwinds). Yinfente’s Bb clarinet came with one. (I tried this oboe because their clarinet was a pleasant surprise).

And shipping was far faster than expected! Longer than the usual 2 days Prime, but it felt like it was Prime shipping! I’m writing this review end of Oct. Expected date was end of Nov. I ordered it about a week ago. I had to sign for it. And it was well packaged for safe transit.

I’m so very impressed, I may get a 2nd one to play oboe duets with my daughter! I feel fortunate it has such an affordable price point.

Update (January 2020): Since my good review, we have had a problem with the key work suddenly failing. This may or may not be an overall quality issue. I really need to test a replacement oboe first. And as I mentioned, I also own their Bb rosewood clarinet without issues. I will say that this key work failure happened weeks into ownership. Meticulously cared-for ownership. Yinfente was quick to respond. But as we have yet to resolve this situation, I will post another update soon to give you all the scoop on what happened, and how I feel about it. Also, whether or not I feel customer service and/or instrument quality is an issue. I will be equally honest if the situation is not their fault. As well as information on how this company handles shipping problems, exchanges, and returns.

Follow up Update (Feb 2020): I finally received my replacement oboe at the end of January. It was held up on customs. I’m still disappointed with the lack of follow thru from customer service to have known they needed to pay more import taxes to clear it. However, they did initiate the expedited shipping as promised. It just ended up taking 42 days to arrive (instead of 7-15 days).

Considering the significant amount of time in transit, and not in a particularly controlled environment, I had concerns it would be good shape. Alas, it seems like everything is fine. I think the key work might even be a bit nicer than the original. It plays well like the original oboe I reviewed. And as we have only had it a couple weeks, I will continue to follow up with our experience owning this oboe over time. First time, the key work failed after a month. I truly hope it will not fail at all. My biggest concern is how soon I would get a replacement oboe should the key work break.

Key work materials: I’ve done more digging on this material. My daughter did bend a bridge when she twisted the body joints too hard. This is the bridge that connects the right hand D drill key. Only affects that key. I was able to wrap the bridge elbow in cotton and carefully (most slowly) bend it back. The other half of the bridge was slightly knocked off position too. But I can’t bend that one without taking it off the oboe first. And it’s not enough a mismatch to bother. So, I fixed it. And so far, no other keys have been affected. 🤞🏼 So, the materials can bend! And pretty easily. I had to be careful not to accidentally bend the arm that helps depress the lever that will open the 1 register vent! So, the rods and levers/bridges/arms are all bendable with enough force. But I would not say the alloy isn’t strong. Just malleable. That said, all student level instruments that are budget instruments use the same material. So, I don’t feel it’s much difference amongst those selections. The Yamaha rental we use has stronger, nicer key work! But it’s also $2500, with only the basic keys. So, $700-800 with semi automatic conservatory key system and rosewood tone vs. $2500 with basic key system, plastic tone but definitively more hearty!

FYI: There’s a new Roffee ABS Resin oboe with the 3rd (right hand) open-holed tone hole, also with full semi automatic conservatory key system out. Same price point. Not rosewood tone! But it caught my eye… maybe as a more durable model for the younger beginner? I don’t own it. Just saw it came out on Amazon mid Jan 2020. Same alloy for the keys. Boasts German quality, but it’s also Chinese. This other company has a headquarters in Germany too. ☺️ ABS Resin and Rosewood are 2 very different sounds. But I am sharing… I am considering it too. I want to get a 2nd oboe to play duets with my daughter.

I am okay knowing I need to be extra careful with the keys. For kids, I recommend they practice assembling and disassembling the oboe with care (and patience when it’s new and a tighter fit). That said, I expect all my key work to last forever. I have owned instruments (from woodwinds to strings to piano) for 40+ years. I’ve never broken my own key work. And none have mysteriously failed. But all require upkeep and care. In my view, if you paid $5000 for your oboe, you would give it as much care as you should for this $700 oboe. The main difference is that I feel more nervous about needing repairs. And when the day comes I need basic maintenance done by a luthier for this oboe, I will be back to report that experience!

The rosewood body: Take good care of it! Lightly oil the inside with bore oil every few months. Not to the point of soaking your oboe (that will deaden the tone). I’m guessing/assuming the inexpensive rosewood is not fully cured. So, pay attention to the humidity of the wood. Don’t let it dry out and crack. But don’t soak it until it’s waterlogged and expanded and no longer allows the key work to sit properly. Just 2-3 month periods, lightly oil the bore via drops of bore oil on a swab cloth. I’d have to do this for any wooden instrument anyway. But I feel I may do this a little more frequently, but with a modest amount of bore oil. All wood instruments can crack over time due to dryness. This one is just unlikely to have spent the extra years being cured. Still… it’s such a beautiful instrument! Easy to play. Sounds lovely.

I still recommend this oboe! But test your new oboe carefully! No jiggly keys. All the action is responsive (not a split-second late). All arms, levers, bridges, rods, etc are straight and attached properly. All keys covering tone holes properly. Inspect the wood quality inside and out. Considering the nightmare of getting my replacement oboe, I’d go through Amazon’s return policy. It might have been quicker to straight up return it and put the order for a new one. The only difference is that Yinfente said they extra tested the oboe before shipping. The company strikes me as caring about their quality, but not so good at follow up with customer service. I felt I had to advocate for myself. They make an effort. And so far, a good oboe as arrived to replace the defective one.

Update (Feb 28, 2020): We still really love this oboe! It always sounds lovely (even with a beginner). The keys are delicate. It needs to be adjusted sooner than expected. My daughter has bent some of the bridges from cranking the joints together (she’s 9 and not so careful at school). That said, if you take the time to assemble/disassemble properly, keys should be fine. I’d say that it’s equally easy to bend keys on my sterling silver flute, and even easier to dent an alto sax bell! So take care. It has a lot of rods, arms, bridges, and other mechanisms that make it work. So take extra care. My knowledge is that of a music teacher who has seen how kids and instruments combine!

So far, I was able to carefully bend the bridge back to its original position (98%). And needed to make some screw adjustments for regulating the upper register keys and vents. For those who don’t realize this, intonation can also be from key regulation. A little too high or low, and it can affect the pitch of the notes using those keys. I’ve checked that over pitch and intonation have remained correct. And I still feel I’m getting what I wanted: lovely tone, consistent, easy playability, all the keys needed, and a bargain price. It will never be the Bulgheroni Artist or Opera model we really want. But until then, this is perfect!❤️

Bought the rosewood with gold keyed oboe for my 7th grade daughter who performs in State and County performances as well as school ensembles. I basically trusted the previous good reviews and took a chance since I wasn’t
prepared to pay $3k. The instrument came almost a full month later, but was well worth it! It arrived with gorgeous cases and accessories, including white gloves, wiping cloths, a reed, cork grease and caps to cover the instrument when in the case. The real test was when my daughter played. The tone is amazing. Having attended the Crane School of Music, I was blown away by the rich tone and full sound this oboe produced. Excellent purchase! Thank you Yinfente! Superb!

***Change to review***
While playing at school the week of the purchase, my daughter said the oboe was out of tune. We changed the reed but to no avail. After scrutiny of the instrument, her teacher noticed both “springs”, (they look like strings), were broken. How discouraging. It seems they may have been too tight and that is why she struggled to get the correct notes? It was always kept in the hard case and she is very responsible, didn’t drop it or anything. Very discouraged and sad that I am holding on to a $700 instrument she can not use. Hopefully Yinfente can help.

The first thing I had to do was throw away the Roffee V3 reed that it came with and used a Fox reed (and other reed makers since). Having done that the sound is beautiful, sweet and warm. Using tuners I have checked the range from low Bb to high C (anything above that is a bit beyond my current novice skill level) and found the oboe to be in tune throughout. It is loaded with things you’ll only find on professional (i.e. $8000 plus) models. For example, the low Bb key, 3rd octave key, f key and split f tuning key, various trill keys et al. you don’t find on oboes even in the 2-4 thousand dollar range!

If you buy this for your child be sure to show them how to safely assemble and disassemble (check YouTube, books, online pictures). When it’s new the cork may cause it to be a bit snug so be sure to have them use cork grease. The bell to mid section has one key linkage but there are two for the mid to upper section. All of the links have curved tabs to make the attachment easier. However, if you grab onto keys without looking at what you’re doing (often something children tend to do) it’s possible to make the link that’s supposed to be underneath raise up enough to snag on the other part. If the child twists it together like that it’s possible to bend the links out of adjustment.

The tenons are reinforced with metal without which there would be a chance of cracking (as with the standard less expensive oboes). Be sure they swab it out after each playing to get their saliva out (which over time causes wood rot). Remind them that anything they eat without brushing their teeth afterwards will wind up inside their reed and inside their oboe (gross). And every few months show them how to use a feather with good bore oil to help nourish the wood. Buy a thumb rest (clarinet one will work) to help the child properly hold it and they can use the strap that came with it to help support it.

This oboe came complete with a substantial case, carrying strap and case cover, cork grease, cleaning cloths. The inside of the case looks quite elegant with the rosewood and gold-colored keys and the sound matches its looks.

It started out a bit rough as i was sent a clarinet rather than the oboe i ordered. When i contacted the seller though, they sent me a return label and got me the right instrument. It sounds lovely, but the reed that comes with it isnt the best quality. I also would have liked it to come with some cork grease as well, but i was able to find a music shop