In a previous lifetime I purchased one of the first thousand "plastic" clarinets made by Selmer (#991). At the time, the usual choice was between wooden "professional" grade and metal "student" grade stuff - both rather outrageously priced for a kid making 50 cents per hour. The new "plastic" clarinet was available at an "introductory" price I could almost afford.

A couple of weeks after I got it, the lead clarinetist from the local symphony "dropped in" at a rehearsal and asked to play it. Aside from the obvious demonstration that "it's the artist, not the instrument," he "borrowed" a mid-range wood and a standard grade metal clarinet from others in the group; and pointed out and demonstrated the rather distinctive "differences." His main criticism of the plastic clarinet was that the key mechanisms were "student grade," but the sound was very close to the "woodiness" of a good wooden clarinet. His comments about the metal one agreed with my own opinion, but are best omitted.

Good polymer instruments (especially considering almost 50 years additional experience with the materials since my purchase) should closely approximate the acoustic properties of a good wooden instrument, and will largely avoid the "environmental" problems associated with wood (although even good polymers are not indestructible). I wouldn't worry as much about the material (between polymer and wood) as about the abilities and "style" of the specific maker.

Contrary to the popular concept, the "material" cost for a slug of polymer adequate to make a flute may be higher than the cost of a run-of-the-mill wooden blank. Plastic is used for a lot of "cheap" products because of the savings in processing - by molding large quantities. A good polymer flute will probably be pretty much "machined," much like a wooden one, so there isn't a significant process saving for a small volume producer. The choice is more likely to be based on the suitability of the material for the intended use - something largely ignored by the "quantity" manufacturers.

And noone ever ridiculed my plastic clarinet - although we'll ignore comments on my playing as "uninformed opinion."

John