IDRS forum (TM)

Hi Mark,
   The main differences that you will notice will probably be the sound and the weight. The plastic weighs a bit more than the wood and never really developes the sound of a good wood bassoon, although the Fox plastic bassoons are sounding pretty damn good these days. The advantages of plastic bassoons are they are easier with upkeep, no worrying about rot, wood drying out, wood swelling, storage for extended periods without being played  etc. Its a big reason I tell school band directors to buy plastic. The differences in sound may bug players that are more advanced but I doubt that beginners and less advanced players will be bothered or notice the differences.
One problem with plastic is you need to make sure it doesn't get too cold. Plastic will expand and shrink a lot due to changes in temperature and if you keep it in the trunk of your car during a winter day you will find that all the keys are binding when you first take it out to play. They'll be fine once the bassoon warms up. I wouldn't worry too much about a high E or trill keys at this point.
Good luck with your choice and have fun.
Best
Jim Kirker

This might come as a bit of a weird suggestion if you haven't heard of this before, but get a wood bell for your plastic bassoon.  I mean the high resonance treated bells from Fox, so it'll fit your instrument.  They make the sound more like a wooden bassoon.  A colleague of mine played one a model III with the high resonance bell for several years before finally getting a 660 this past spring.  Michael Dicker, bassoon professor at Illinois State University in Bloomington, IL, played on this setup professionally for quite a few years.

You can get the bells in black finish if you want it to visibly match the rest of the instrument.

If you want to try it out, just find a friend with, I think it is Fox 201 (maybe a 601 bell will also fit, I'm not entirely sure) and try their bell if it has the high resonance treatment (all 201 and 601 models made after 2002 have this treatment).  You can ask Dr. Dicker which model it is that fits if there's even any difference.  You can contact him through his website: http://www.mddoublereed.com/

Have fun!

I just noticed that Bryan already mentioned this, but I gave a bit more detail, so I'm leaving my post.

Last edited by Trent (2008-07-01 21:17:39)

If you want a high res bell for a Model III it will be from a Model II. The bore of the Model II is the one that will fit the bore of the Model III. The Model 201 and 101 are so called short bore bassoons and their bores are different than the Model III, which is a so called long bore. (To be honest, I prefer the term wide bore and narrow bore) Be prepared to spend about $1000.00 for the bell

I know this is an old post, but Michael Dicker now plays on a newer red maple 601.