K9 you are lucky, hard to find a Becker big estate, I had to pony up big bucks for mine, it smoked Faboulas from the first bowl, everything in it smokes to a fine ash, treasure yours as they are hard to find, love the classic shape, Marty Pulvar is going to Europe in a couple of months and is going to the Becker shop, I told him tell him an old Cajun has his pipes in the highest place of honor in his collection, he assured me he will, by the way I have a Fritz Becker his father"s pipe that is just as good. The old cajun