About Us

Crook and Staple was founded in 2011 by Matthew Petrie, a professional bassoonist, who was finding difficulty obtaining double reed instrument parts and accessories quickly for oboe & bassoon. Matthew plays with major orchestras including Co-Principal Bassoon in the Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra of London, guest principal seat with Filarmonica Oltenia (Romania), Welsh Session Orchestra, Bristol Ensemble, The National Symphony Orchestra, Southern Sinfonia, Welsh Camerata, British Sinfonietta, studio recording with Sony Music, Centaur Records USA & lots more alongside solo work with the Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra of London and Bristol String Orchestra. Matthew is also the proud owner of a Mollenhauer contrabassoon with which he regularly performs, including a performance of the Schoenberg Chamber Symphony a short while ago (if you've played this piece you'll know it is rewarding but hard work!).
Crook and Staple is one of the leading double reed retailers. Our offices are based in Monmouth, UK. Its success has resulted from a secure customer-centric approach, including a prompt and helpful service, great quality products & highly specialist double reed advice.
Due to an increase in demand for our products (now shipping 35% of our orders worldwide!) we now have 5 double reed specialists working for us. As a result, in 2014 we introduced a 'Live Chat' service on our website which has proven very successful in providing advice & help rapidly to our customers worldwide. This is enabling us to provide one of the most comprehensive and knowledgeable support services worldwide. We have just reached the milestone of 1,450+ reviews with an average rating of 5 stars and despatched nearly 15,000 orders!

We have a large free resource section within the website (scroll down to the bottom left for the links), including a highly regarded oboe reed adjusting guide & bassoon reed adjusting guide. If there is a guide you would like to be written please get in touch with us!
We look forward to helping every double reed player, whether you just need some friendly informed advice or need a double reed accessory delivering quickly to your door!
We have been featured on the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama's blog - have a read here!

Welsh Government Young Entrepreneur Award 2012
This prestigious award was presented to Matthew Petrie, within the first year of launching the business, by the Welsh Assembly Government, Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama & University of Glamorgan Centre for Enterprise. The award was given in recognition of business excellence. This has enabled a number of unique and powerful partnership opportunities and is one of the most successful schemes of its type in Europe.
The image on left: Crook and Staple attending the BIG Double Reed Day 2016 at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London