Berkeley Stradivarius D/Eb Trumpet

This picture is from the seller's website. Berkeley Wind Instruments or Music1688.geThe instrument is available via auction on okay, but it is also available via Yahoo store. On the bell, you can spot some barely legible words above Berkeley. I had to use two magnifying glasses to make out what it says: Music1688.ge. You put that in your browser and it takes you to a Yahoo store with a different web URL (that is, it does NOT say http://www.Music1688.ge).I will start with the positives about this trumpet.The PositivesThe Berkeley Stradivarius D/Eb trumpet is a beautiful looking instrument. The attractive case is aluminum (even though they describe it as HQSteel; presumably, HQ stands for high quality) and the case is well constructed. I mean, if the case were actually steel, it would probably weigh a ton! The trumpet gees with two generic mouthpieces in 7C and 5C. The 5C has an almost Megatone build and darkens the sound favorably. The valve action is very light and fast, and the first and third valve slides moves freely. The first and third valve slides have fixed rings for tuning adjustment. The third valve slide also has a screw nub in place to keep it from slipping off. The tuning slides (one for D and one for Eb), once greased, move smoothly. It's a clean, new instrument. I cannot tell whether the silver colored part of the instrument is nickel plated or silver plated. I'm thinking it is nickel plated because of the sound and the finish isn't as smooth as a silver plated instrument I have. It also gees with a polishing cloth and oil. The seller has a 30-day return policy, and you pay a 15% restocking fee.The negativesThe Berkeley Stradivarius D/Eb trumpet has some problems. The tuning slides for both D and Eb have a lot of jiggle when you try to replace them or as you are taking them out (toward the meeting of the tubes). This looseness might contribute to the sound, which is tin-like. But the sound is not the worst problem. The Berkeley Stradivarius D/Eb trumpet is not in tune with itself. Alternate fingering helps tuning to some extent. With some more design refinements, Berkeley Wind Instruments will eventually produce a decent horn. However, see the caveat at the end of this guide.Shipping positives and negativesOn the positive side, shipping was good: I received the package about five days after ordering.There is a major problem with the seller's shipping costs. Within the continental US, shipping is a whopping $59.99! I live in the same state as the seller (California) and shipping should be at most $20, unless one purchases insurance. I sent a $1,500.00 horn to somebody in Maryland, via UPS, and it arrived in about 4 days. It cost $20 to ship, but because I insured it for its value, insurance doubled my shipping cost. Even then, that's $20 less than the seller (okay ID: lucy4466). If you order the horn and realize you want to return it, you'll be down by $60 plus whatever it costs you to return it, plus a 15% restocking fee. Considering I ended up paying $152 for the trumpet, shipping is a hefty 28% of the total cost. Count more if you have to return it, plus the 15% loss if you request a refund. To be fair, it should be noted that on the Music1688.ge Yahoo store, the horn sale price is $550.00, and shipping is free. To bid or not to bid.Final gementThe Berkeley Stradivarius is a Chinese horn. I wanted to write this review in part because I have read some musicians' criticism of any instrument that gees from China, but their critical assessments are almost always based on hearsay rather than fact. They almost always have had no experience with the instruments themselves. It is neither here nor there where an instrument is made. What counts is whether the instrument works for you. (See my okay guide: Online Trumpet Buying). In this case, if you don't think the shipping costs are prohibitive, then the instrument might still work for you.Regemendation: Thumbs down with a caveat.My regemendation is not to bid or buy the Berkeley Stradivarius D/Eb trumpet online for any price: the horn is substandard in sound and construction. Unless you live near the store and can go in and try it out with your own mouthpiece, the bargain is not worth the hassle, particularly because of the shipping cost.Caveat. I gemunicated with another trumpet player and his assessment was more positive. In his view, a thin sound is to be expected from a higher pitched horn such as the Berkeley Stradivarius, and his observation was that poor tuning for certain notes was simply a given at first. His perspective was that the horn was an excellent deal for the price. He stated that it can take a year to get a higher pitched horn like a piccolo trumpet to get it to sound right.