I'm keeping half an eye open for a bargain Eb clarinet at the moment. Daughter has long fancied one and the "Reed 1" part she has been assigned for the school show calls for one - though I think there is a scheme afoot to move the part to alto sax, so I will probably talk myself out of unnecessary extravagance in the end. However, meanwhile, our local woodwind shop has a secondhand but "as new" ABS Bundy at the moment. Is it worth considering? They also have new Earlhams at about half the price of the secondhand Bundy. Anyone know anything of those?

Reliable but rather unrefined is how I'd describe all Bundy clarinets. They tend to be bright almost to the point of shrillness.

Haven't tried an Earlham Eb before, but if they're like the Bbs, then you'll probably find they sound OK, but need lots of TLC : reliability is not 100%, really. But I can think of much, much worse.