Aulos 533b-flauto, Plastic, 3 Pieces

This is a crook-style plastic basset recorder in F of Japanese origin. The product I received played both the middle and low F's perfectly in tune when the head is warm. The lower register has a crisp response with a loud, full tone. The upper register has a sweet sound organ like sound. The recorder has a consistent sound throughout its range and could blend in with wooden instruments and my cello in recordings. The notes begin to get windy around high D. I have not been able to get a full response from notes above highest F, but this is a day one impression. So maybe you won't be able to record the complete works of Van Eyck on this recorder (but what's new anyway).So let's get to some details about the recorder. The windway is curved! And like all plastic recorders, its windway gets wet fairly quickly. The keys are metallic, probably chrome-plated plastic with hard plastic pads. But are well made, as the springs have a quick response and they cover the holes completely. Personally I think it looks much better than the Yamaha knick bass's plastic black keys. The recorder itself is made of brown and white ABS plastic with a glossy finish, not a wood grain like the 703BW descant recorder. The metal crook connects to the cap with two sets of rubber gaskets. The cap connects to the head with a greased joint. Both parts are removable, so that you can play the recorder by directly blowing into the windway (make sure to un-grease the joint before doing this, unless you want lubricated lips). The back of the recorder has a small hole to place the hook for a neck strap.In terms of reach, this is a good fit. At 6'2" I have pretty large hands and long arms. The finger reach is maybe a little bit smaller than my Yamaha tenor in terms of finger reach. However, I find it a bit cramped arm-wise with the crook, but I prefer to directly blow into the windway anyways. I don't think short people with normally-proportioned arms will have problems, my 5'2" mother can play this with as much facility as me.So you get the recorder, but what else? It comes with a "stylish" heavy brown leather(ette?) carrying bag that's big enough to house a whole family of recorders along with the basset. The case has pockets for each piece of the recorder, and space to store the crook. It also comes with a removable thumb rest, a somewhat primitive neck strap, some recorder grease, a cleaning rod and a cloth. The rod itself is too short to clean the middle joint, and the cloth is too thick for internal cleaning, really. instead I'm using a rifle cleaning rod and a bass clarinet swab - which will both fit into the case! The neck strap works as advertised, but if you're short it might become a choker.In conclusion, although this is more pricey than the Yamaha knick bass, the handsome carrying case and metallic keys make it well worth the added value. I removed a star for the poorly designed cleaning rod and neck strap.