GILL 3 Piece Pearwood recorder - Questions

[valpatel]

Hi,

Does any of you have opinion on GILL 3 Piece Pearwood recorder? Would this be an upgrade to my Johaness Adlre 2 Piece Pine recorder from the qulaity of sound perspective? How do I make sure it is not a simulated pearwood recorder instead of a real pearwood recorder (local store do not have papers on it)? Also, if it a real pearwood recorder, what would be a reasonable price to offer/pay?

Looking forward to candid input.

Thanks and regards,

Val Patel

[Tim2723]

Hi Val,

I'm no expert, but I have three Gill recorders, one of which is pear. They're pretty nice instruments, but to be honest I've always thought people traded up from Gills, not to them. They're kind of mediocre as top of the line instruments go, IMO. I don't know how you tell the wood is real pear - it doesn't look all that special to me - but I can't imagine why a manufacturer would bother to lie about that; there are way more exotic woods than that to cheat on.

[MTGuru]

Yep, ditto what Tim said. I used to sell both Adler and Gill as cheapo brands, suitable for beginners only. East German Adlers had design and quality control issues, and didn't improve until the end, after German unification. Gill were (are?) Israeli made, and targeted to the student market. Neither had much to recommend in terms of sound and playability, with so many other good, modestly priced instruments from Moeck, Mollenhauer, Küng, Aulos, Yamaha, etc., including the plastic or plastic-head models.

Pearwood is usually the cheapest tone wood used. No reason to lie. May be slightly mellower than harder woods. I have an old Küng pearwood soprano that sounds quite nice.

[Tim2723]

They're kind of mediocre as top of the line instruments go, IMO.

I have absolutely no idea what I meant when I wrote that. I think I won this week's award for the most botched sentence.

Gill recorders are student grade instruments. Look to the other brands that MT mentioned for an upgrade instrument. Personally, I think the resin recorders from Aulos and Yamaha are very nice for the money (at least their top-end models), and they are nearly maintenance-free. They would make a good first step upgrade from your current instrument, and offer a reliable improvement of tone and playability at a very reasonable price.