Honestly - the high end of the cost bracket isn't really very relevant. Yes, you can pay £25k for a Heckel, but that's pretty much the only make that goes that expensive. Puchners are _very_ highly rated and start sub-£10k new. And then you'd be surprised at the number of players who are still using e.g. a student Adler. My bassoon cost just south of £3k new, which isn't cheap for a 'student' instrument <edit>i.e. compared to non-bassoons</edit>, but has taken me through from grade 2 (I used a music service instrument for ~1 year first) to my diploma and onward - I haven't replaced it!

Sure, I'd love an upgrade to some fancy-pants model, and it's thrilling to have a tootle on other bassoonists' instruments from time to time, but virtually no one needs what the parent comment called a "good" bassoon.

Order of importance for making a good sound? player > reed > crook > bassoon

I can't comment on the availability of reeds where you are, but I'll agree they can be a bit of a pain. They're expensive (mine are £20 each) and variable. That said, once you've got an instrument, the ongoing costs of playing the bassoon are much lower than many hobbies.