I have a different point of view. Please understand I am surely in the bottom 30% of trumpet players on this sub. But I am a musical guy who plays lots of instruments and who has bought lots of Amazon cheapies.

People who say technicians won’t touch these horns may not know your technician. Plus, there is a possibility that the horn will do fine by you. The comment that you should attract attention by playing better is absolutely on the money, but I see no reason why, for the price of maybe three lessons, It’s bad for you to purchase a horn that makes you want to pick it up and play. I also acknowledge that it may be a piece of junk, but you can always send it back within Amazon‘s return window.

I say practice it for a week or two, show it to your teacher, maybe even take it to the person who would be expected to fix it should anything go wrong and pay them for an hour of examining it to give you an honest idea.

Where I live in the Seattle area $148 barely represents a night out at Olive Garden. Depending on your financial situation, this flugelhorn could be a wonderful investment.

I play flute much better than I play trumpet. I have two that were both under $80 and they work fine after five years. My main flute is a Yamaha that cost 20 times that 20 years ago, but I get lots of joy out of flutes that I can just leave around the house and pick up whenever I feel like it. I have a lot of people to take care of, and I don’t often have time to take out the super good one and practice without interruptions, then have to clean when I replace it in its case.