I have been looking at woodenTreble Recorders for my daughter as she is about to take Grade 4. I want something that will last her through a few grades. I find all the differant types out there very confusing. some say they7 are suitable for ensemble work others for solo.

Can anyone make any recommendations of what I shoulod be looking for as she plays solo and in ensembles. I don't want a Yamaha so please don't suggest them. I was thinking of in the £100 range.

Thanks!

I'm not an expert but I believe you would pay at least £300 if not more for a wooden treble to have any real advantage over good plastic. I have a plastic treble and can comfortably play grade 7/8 standard pieces. Even then, the only advantage of wooden is probably improved tone. Good plastics are at least nicely in tune and easy to look after. Personally I would stick with a plastic treble until grade 6 or 7, but I know people have passed grade 8 using plastics.

Sorry if that's not what you are looking for, but in the £100 range for treble is probably not such good value.

As Neil says, for a good wooden treble you are looking at far more than £100 - more like £400-£500. If you don't want to pay that kind of money, you're better off sticking to a good-quality plastic recorder - a cheap wooden treble would actually sound much worse!

I'd agree with Neil and Jo - also, a new wooden recorder has to be played in very carefully to avoid cracking the instrument, and many will also need oiling from time to time - so maintenance comes in here too. The issue of solo or ensemble is slightly complicated - a solo instrument will have a sound which demands to be listened to, an ensemble one may be softer in sound but also not be able to hold its own against other instruments. I play mainly solo or duets, so have suitably attention-seeking whistles, but when playing second recorder in a small baroque orchestra over the summer, found my recorder was drowning that of the first recorder player... In the end though, the choice comes down to how the sound issuing from the instrument appeals to you, providing the budget will stretch. £100 is not going to do it, for a good wooden treble. Have a look at this page for an idea of likely prices. I have a maple instrument which has served me well over the years, but I know that Jo.clarinet has more experience of them and has advised against these; my pearwood ones sound soft and mellow, the boxwood ones bright and warm.

A Mollenhauer Canta treble can be had new for not much more than £100, or a Prima (plastic head, wood body) for considerably less, but those may not give the sort of step-up you're looking for - the Canta is designed for ensemble use rather than solo playing. I do like the tone on the Prima but the combination of plastic head and wood body won't appeal to everyone. You might go for a used treble on ebay - there's usually some on there.

Liz

I have a Mollenhauer pearwood treble I bought for about £140 about 5 years ago. The pitch slipped during the 1st year so it had a little trip back to Germany and came back transformed. For a pearwood it is surprisingly strident and just about holds it's own against the Moeck Rottenburgs in rosewood it sometimes contents with. (My Kung in plumwood does better with less effort from me!)

I would suggest that at G4 a good plastic is more than adequate, but if the feel of wood is likely to kindle a re-newed love then I'd happily recomend the Mollenhauers. Keep the plastic though - for some things (ease of top F and intonation on 'false' top F# fingerings) my plastic Aulos that was my 9th birthday present is still the best recorder I own!

If you want a wooden recorder for that price you might find a Hohner alto a reasonable choice. I bought one for a pupil a few months ago and it is a decent instrument. It went to the technician at the Early Music Shop in Bradford for some tuning but otherwise it was fine. Suprisingly good for an inexpensive one. I cannot remember the model but it cost around £76 and the tuning was around £12. I have just checked on Ebay and there is one there, from a shop called Hardy Smith Music. If you put in Hohner treble recorder as a search it will show.

Thanks everyone! I've just bought from ebay a Moeck 236R Rondo Flouto Dolce £54, suspect it's not a very sensible thing to do. It claims to be more for ensemble playing than Solo. Not sure exactly what that means.

If it's not good enough to be a solo instrument she can use it to play in her ensemble.

I'm going to keep looking though and follow some of the suggestions you've kindly made. As we are still looking at upgrading her Flute I wanted to keep a lid on the price. Maybe for her birthday (March) I might try for a solo costing a bit more. I have to be careful not to pay more than I'm prepared to stand the loss of. One of our Wooden Yamaha's was damaged (vandalised) at a concert in the Summer (luckily it's not very good).

Also having two Recorder players in the family means twice the cost!

Have only just come across this thread, hope you are happy with your purchase

I have a Moeck Rottenburg which has a lovely tone but I have always struggled to get a top F out of it, I feel much more comfortable on my trusty plastic Aulos if i'm playing something with very high notes in it, otherwise it plays very well, because of this I wouldn't necessarily recommend it.

They're the successor to the Tuju. That seller gets up my nose somewhat by her inflated descriptions but you got a good price anyway. Ebay prices are right down through the floor at the moment - we just had a new Ninjo go for, wait for it, £5.50 - never before, not even in July, have we had to sell one at a loss! And the prices on the rest of the stuff we listed have been appalling too. Usually this time of the year is good but after months of not bothering with ebay at all we are now wishing we'd stayed away. It's going to be BIN or nothing from now on, I think

Liz

Blimey! If I'd've seen that I'd've bid on it - £5.50 is ridiculously cheap! Gah I wish I'd seen it