My DD is in her first year of uni and keen to continue with bassoon as part of various ensembles and orchestras. She has always loved playing in orchestra and in wind groups but was noticeably less keen on sitting exams! Despite this she did sit G7 and G8 in her last two years of school and achieved distinctions in both.
She has played since she was 8 but has never owned her own instrument. It has always been borrowed from school and she is fortunate that she still has it with her at uni to enable her to continue to play. She is aware it will have to be handed back fairly soon though. She has joined the Music Society and auditioned for orchestra and knows there are one or two bassoons available to borrow. These are standard reach whereas she has always had a short reach instrument She is fairly petite, around 5’ 3” with small hands. She has not tried these yet and so could well manage. We are wondering though whether to bite the bullet and buy her her own bassoon. Essentially it is the cost aspect that has meant it hasn’t happened up to now. Equivalent second hand bassoons to her current Adler seem to be available online for around £4200-£4500 - have looked on and off at John Packer online over the years. Short reach is also quite difficult to find.
It is obviously a big outlay (at an expensive time!) for something that will only have occasional use. I do see her wishing to continue to play in groups throughout her 4 years at uni and beyond though as music was such a big part of her social life at school and she loves the camaraderie.
Wondering whether anyone with more experience has any advice on alternative places to buy, short reach models etc. She wouldn’t be looking to take the diploma or progress really, just to be able to make a nice sound in orchestra and groups!
Oh, and we are in Scotland.