My son LOVES this trumpet. He has used borrowed expensive ones from the school and also nearby music stores and he actually likes this one the best. The music store trumpet had to keep tightening the valve holder and he got very frustrated. He said this one, once he oiled it, he was able to set it just where he liked it, used an app on his phone that helps tune trumpets and he is first chair in his middle school advanced band. He has had no problems with it and loves that he finally owns his own trumpet. I am sure as he gets older, he may want to purchase a more "expensive, quality" trumpet but for what it is and what he uses it for now, I think it sounds very clear, clean, and is very much worth the purchase. His music teacher said it sounds very good quality, so perhaps he got a lucky made one that an employee happened to take pride in his job with. I don't know but I and my son are very happy with the purchase. He would know more about the technical terms of tuning and keys but he has done nothing but rave about it and loves all the extras it came with. Thanks so much! It was a winning Christmas gift!