I don’t necessarily agree, Jack. When an instrument is played that poorly it’s difficult to assess the crappiness factor. 
It doesn’t look quite like that.
It’s a lot darker with whitish cream colored rings, and has an actual wood pattern on it. Look’s a bit like a Yamaha…
The Berkeley word is quite faded, perhaps I’m not reading it correctly…
Maybe it has a tough clog that’s been resistant so far… Any suggestions for tough clogs?
It was given to me in 2008, I’ll try to upload a pic soon.
Any suggestions for tough clogs?
Soak it in enzyme detergent.
If it’s a Yamaha, then it should be an excellent instrument with strong and clear high notes. Try washing it thoroughly in hot (hot) soapy water - leave it to soak for a few minutes, the rinse it through with more hot water. But a blockage would be visible in the windway. The plastic Yamahas have quite an open voicing (they are beginner instruments), anything that prevents the top notes from sounding would be very evident.
If it is a Yamaha and that doesn’t cure it, then there are two possibilities (and if you’re an experienced recorder player, you’ll know which it is): a) you got a fluke bad instrument, extremely unlikely, b) you need to work on your top notes, which means thumbhole aperture, tonguing (the top notes respond best to a harder tonguing, although some modulation is possible) and using the tighter vowels for the vocal cavity. It’s also possible you’re not warming it up enough before playing - condensation in the windway can prevent the top notes from speaking clearly.
Double thumbing is a valuable trick for the high notes - move the thumbnail so that there is an airgap above and below it in the thumbhole. This can solve problems with the highest notes especially, but also works with the lower second register notes upwards. You will need to fine tune the aperture for notes like F’‘, E’’ and Eflat’', of course.
That is, assuming the voicing has not been damaged.
The Yamaha’s have the word “Yamaha” and the three tuning fork symbol on the head joint. They also have the letter B or G (for baroque or German fingering respectively) in relief just above the thumbhole. And, they have the pattern of white plastic decoration you describe. At least mine does, purchased three years ago.
If it is a Yamaha alto, and the fault lies not with the instrument, make sure you can play it cleanly and fluently in all registers before you rush out and invest in a wooden instrument, because you’ll face the same problems with any recorder.
And that’s all I have to say about that.
Crikes.
They call that advertising?! 
Maybe it’s just a demo by customers who come into try their recorders. I know if I play improvisation in a shop, I tend to make everyone cringe lol.
hmmmm… Any suggestions to make the unplayable playable?
I contacted my recorder technician this week. Almost 2 months later, he did a good job of making my broken recorder sound like …a broken recorder. Any pics of your strange Berkeleywind then?
Okay, here’s the pics.Sorry, I’m not too handy with cameras. lol.
And here’s so you can see the wood pattern:
It looks nice anyway…
To satisfy my curiosity, would you be able to measure the length of the window on that plastic alto, between the outlet of the windway and the labium? If I’m figuring right, about 8.5 mm would be ideal, and if it is over 10 mm you are going to have a lot of work getting into the second octave. If it is 12 mm or more, the second octave is likely impossible. (But that bottom F is going to be real solid. 
)
Yes that does look exceptionally beautiful.
Is it really that terrible sounding? It’s a shame in view of the beautiful two tone appearance.
Perhaps I find it shocking that a compnay might invest in making a great looking recorder which plays terribly.
I suppose back in its era, perhaps this was a standard two tone look for even student recorders?
Okay, I measured it, it’s 10mm.
I’ve tried blowing hard and softly, doesn’t seem to work.
All I get is a heart wrenching gasp. 
I can get a high A through…
I guess I could use it as a decoration if nothing else… 
One of the techniques Jerry Freeman uses in tweaking whistles is laminating a bit of plastic to the top of the labium ramp, or the bottom side of the labium, or both. You could use this technique to reduce the length of the windway. You can read a bit more in Dale’s interview at http://sites.google.com/site/6holetheoryjuly2008/february-2009.
Not for the faint of heart, but if you try it first with a temporary or water-soluble adhesive, you might be able to experiment without permanent damage to the recorder.
At least in the photo, that Berkeley looks like a (Chinese) knock-off of the Yamaha Rottenburgh woodgrain rosewood alto (YR312B). Which is probably exactly what it is.
No harm experimenting with it, of course. But the real Yamaha sells for $35, and is an excellent instrument.
Berkeleywind is located in El Cerrito, in the Bay Area. Maybe worth a phone call, if you’re adventurous.
Well, well, well…
Look what I found on the Berkeleywind website! 
This totally looks exactly like it!
The Berkeley logo is almost worn off on mine… I guess it will make a nice decoration..or something.. 
And if you look at the list of stuff for sale down the left margin of that page, they’ll also sell you a wheeled walking frame, a 2 million dollar house in California or a stay in a luxury golf resort in China.
I say keep it…one day you might find an alto with a cracked body or foot joint which takes this one perfectly!
O.K. will do.
I can always crash it over my sis’s head when she gets too annoying. JK. lol.
Thanks for all your help!
Poor girl
Don’t suppose you’ve sat the ABRSM recorder grade exams?
There’s some interesting pieces on the Grade 8 recorder sylllabus. Alas, it’s for treble or doubling instruments. I wonder if it’s possible to double on bass recorder. …
Alto recorders are great for flexibility though. I’ve only ever needed one plastic one, and that’s it.