Recorder Workshop 604B Bass Recorder, Black with White Trim

Given that this is around half the price of a Yamaha, I knew that there may be some issues. But I'm quite handy in the workshop, so I wasn't too worried. The main issue I found (and the reason it only gets four stars) was the F/F# keys were binding unless I was extremely careful about finger placement. And this made playing rapid passages almost impossible.The "fix" was very simple and took less than two minutes. I folded a small piece of emery paper (320 grit) and gently sanded the gap between the trim and the key on the foot of the recorder. problem solved.It plays really nicely, and is in tune all up the range with good intonation. I did find that I needed to use an alternative fingering for the low octave Eb though: (0 1 3 5 6) as opposed to the more usual (0 1 3 4) that I've been using on all my other recorders for 50 years.While writing this review, I've spotted that the price has gone up by £40 since I paid for mine a week ago.At £134 it's good value. At £174, I'm not so sure. I'd save up the extra and go for the Yamaha - or negotiate the price down in light of the little problem I had with the F/F# keys... ;-)Oh... the sling that comes with it is useless. :-D

For value for money, ease of playing and especially excellent tone, I give this recorder 5*****, even more. It is such good value for money particularly if you are not certain if you’ll like playing the bass, so before investing £500+ £1,500+ on a better instrument. The standard is well good enough to take it to play bass in a consort.The only reason I’m not giving it its otherwise well deserved 5 stars is that the edge of the thumb hole is rather sharp and hurts my thumb. This only happens when pinching the thumb hole to play the higher register. I certainly don’t want to interfere with the back hole as it might affect the sound, but it could do with chamfering, basically. My thumb will just have to toughen up! It’s still worth it for all the reasons given above.

This instrument is really good value for the price. It has a nice tone and is quite easy to play apart from bottom F which is a real stretch! The case rather let's it down as it is thin plasticky fabric - however it does do the job. For the money, I would say it is a really good buy.