Startone STR 25 Bb-Trumpet

I want to first say that I am a beginner and as such I haven't yet had the time to try out other trumpets and my review is based solely on expectations coming from what I have read and heard from other trumpet players about how their instruments behave.

The pedal tones below low C don't really slot much at all, you can almost lip slur your way through the whole pedal register, I don't think this is how it is supposed to be? And my low C likes to try slotting into a low B if I'm not very careful with my embouchure. The horn seems to otherwise play a little sharp, but nothing that can't be fixed with the main tuning slide, and that might just be my inexperience and still quite poor intonation control and not the fault of the instrument itself.

The valves worked quite excellent right out of the box, and maintaining them with Hetman Nr. 1 valve oil I have never had problems with sticking or anything of the sort. Some of the valve caps were very firmly screwed on when I got the instrument, and one of them was in fact stuck completely. Some careful application of force with a thick flannel shirt acting as protection allowed me to address the problem by adding some oil to the threading before screwing them back on again however.

The first and third valve tuning slides moved quite well out of the box but there was some black residue in the beginning which eventually went away after I wiped the slides clean of oil and applied some Hetman Nr. 4. Now they work what I perceive as flawlessly. The main tuning slide was very difficult to move, but again, nothing that a small amount of Hetman Nr. 4 couldn't fix, I would probably recommend using a thicker slide grease for this slide however but the Nr. 4 works quite well if that's all you have access to.

The included case is quite alright, the instrument wobbles a little inside in it's default configuration, but after using the included white gloves to form some extra padding where the leadpipe goes it now keeps my instrument quite secure. The plastic isn't super thick, but I think it should do it's job quite well for most normal impacts, just try not to drop it while riding down a hill with your bike or driving over it with a car... There isn't much room for accessories inside the case, but there is enough for me to keep my bottles of Hetman Nr. 1 and Nr. 4, a cleaning cloth, a clip-on tuner, and the included mouthpiece. if I wanted to bring something else with me I would need to pack it inside a separate bag.

All in all I am very pleased with the surprisingly decent performance of this instrument for the very small price tag, if you are willing to spend the time and effort to maintain it and you can live with it's quirks I think you have a very decent beginner instrument in the Startone STR 25.