Howarth S40C Conservatory Graduate Oboe

Howarth S40C Conservatory Graduate Oboe
Our Best Selling Oboe!

The Howarth oboes are the current best offering for players & parents who are in need of a high quality oboe but need to be conscience of the price. Howarth oboes are manufactured in London using exceptionally well seasoned Grenadilla wood and are built with impeccable quality. The Howarth S40C is the single best value in the major brand oboe market. Using an advanced bore, this conservatory oboe provides an unmatched blend of performance, value and quality.

Unlike the S20C, the Howarth S40C uses fully vented keywork and includes almost all of the additional mechanism of a “Full Conservatory” oboe with the only missing option being the ring system D. For most, this is a minor mechanism and this helps keep the Howarth S40C in a perfect value price point!

Optional Bore Liner (“Velvet Throat”)
The Howarth S40C is made from a wonderfully seasoned Grenadilla wood that we find exceptionally reliable. Regardless of the quality of the wood or maintenance, there is always the risk of cracking. How you care for your oboe can greatly decrease the risk of cracking, but unfortunately cannot fully eliminate it.

To combat the risk of cracking, Howarth offers an optional bore liner in the upper section of the upper joint to greatly reduce the risk of cracking. They refer to this as a “Velvet Throat”. We highly recommend the lined joint, so much so that it is the only way we stock the S40C oboe! Below is a cross section of a Howarth upper joint with the Velvet Throat partial bore liner installed:

As you can see in the illustration, the liner does not go through the entire joint, but instead through the upper part of the joint. This is because the heavy majority of cracks occur in this section of the joint. With the liner installed, we have not seen a single on of the Howarth oboes crack to date! This does not mean that they cannot crack, but with this option installed, along with proper maintenance by the player, the oboe should provide the perfect combination of durability and tonal performance! Models with the bore liner are denoted with a “-VT” in the official part number for the oboe.

Professional Setup
Every Howarth S40C oboe we send out to a customer is not released from us unless it has been completely setup in our shop first. This is because the setup on any oboe is of the utmost importance! Sometimes, an instrument (regardless of who the manufacturer or the price point is) comes in needing 20 minutes of adjustments and then the very next one can require 2 hours!

This is why we perform our setup in our ProShop on your new Howarth S40C before delivering it to you. You trust us with your purchase and we want to make sure that you are rewarded by giving you your new oboe setup flawlessly!

Multiple Financing Options Available!

We have a myriad of different financing options available for your new instrument! From affordable monthly payments over a longer period of time to other options that can include 0% Interest or Deferred Interest options, we can help find a way to make the instrument of your dreams become the instrument of your reality! Give us a call!