Richard (not Kevin). Yes, I do have a soprano Bernolin resin. I don’t play it very much because I don’t like the shrillness of a soprano, but that’s the nature of the beast. So I mostly stick with the alto, although I agree that the soprano is a good alternative if you are unable to play an alto.
Bernolin resin recorders are similar in clogging to regular plastic recorders, I’d say. So yes, they are worse than wooden recorders in this respect. It’s too bad because I think the expectation is that the wooden block would help prevent clogging, but it doesn’t really, IMHO. But if you resign yourself to the thought that it’s going to clog similar to the way a regular plastic one will, it’s not so bad.
Of course, the reason full wooden recorders don’t clog as much is because they are absorbing all that moisture, which causes swelling and contracting and then they require revoicing, repair, etc. So life is full of tradeoffs.
As far as the LM-77 fluid, it works VERY well. I don’t think that being “proprietary” is necessarily a bad thing. I mean, Bernolin has invented by far the best anti-clogging fluid I have ever used. Where regular fluid might last say 2 or 3 playing sessions, the Bernolin fluid will actually last WEEKS, and work better too. Of course, this probably depends on how much you practice.
Assuming you warm your recorder properly beforehand (I hold it under my arm for about 15 minutes), you won’t experience any clogging, pretty much. I do actually get about 3 or 4 weeks of anti-clogging from one treatment. So one bottle has lasted me well over a year and is still about half full. So it’s worth it, period. It can be used on ANY recorder, based on what it says on his website (i.e. plastic, wooden, and of course his resin recorders with the cedar block).