I've had an older recorder European made and tuned for over twenty years that delivers a very mellow tone you just can not seem to find today from the same maker, and the tone did not mellow with age it alway had a sweet mellow tone maby there was better wood to choose from then.
My father a professional musician sax player had a saxophone from the forties every so often he would have the whole thing replated and repadded claiming the new ones just didn't have the same big band sound that his old horn did now displayed at a small private musicians gallery ; I believe he was right.
MGA