Richard, thanks for your thoughts on this.
Regarding the Bernolin soprano (which I did order!), I did ask Mr. Bernolin about the need for sending back for revoicing or other reason, and he said that about 10% of his recorders need to be sent back. I hope I get one of the 90% that doesn’t!
I don’t have any “competent repair shops” near me. Do you have any suggestions for where to send a Bernolin (in the US) for any needed repairs?
I’ll keep an eye on that block. I don’t have an aversion to knocking it out and cleaning it!
Plastic recorders clogging don’t really bother me all that much, especially if I take the time to really warm them up before playing. But I don’t play much more than about 30-45′ at a time, either. I don’t use the anti-condense anymore.
Hmmmm, I didn’t realize that revoicing was such a common need for wooden recorders. I’ll see how the olive soprano works for me. When can you tell a recorder needs revoicing?