A+ customer service. If you're looking for a company who really cares about the products they sell, you've found the right place. This company is family owned and operated and will go out of their way to make sure you're satisfied. I bought this trumpet for my son last fall for middle school band. It was his second year playing and he had struggled all last year with the school's instruments that were always breaking so we decided to get him something better. When we had an issue with the middle key making a small clicking noise, we called customer service and they helped diagnose the problem over the phone. We thought it might have been an overly oiled valve causing the pad to compress (my son had overly oiled it as you could squeeze oil out of the pad--our fault). They mailed new felt pads to us free of charge. It seemed to help but did not completely solve the problem so we called back in. They sent a pre-paid shipping label to us, had us send the instrument in, then called when they had received it and diagnosed that it had a bad valve to let us know what the problem was and how they were going to take care of it. They could have just replaced the valve under warranty, or given us a refurbished model, and we would have been satisfied, but they went above and beyond and sent a brand new trumpet, case, mouthpiece, and gave us new valve oil as well and paid to ship it back to us. The new trumpet works flawlessly and my son is ecstatic to be taking it to band today. There are very few companies today who stand behind what they sell in the way LJ Hutchens does. Thank you Jesse Effren for your kindness and awesome work ethic!!!Don't waste your money on those knock-off pieces of junk, buy from a company who values your business and will be around in case you do have a problem (they return ALL messages, even if left on the weekends or evenings). This trumpet is very nice looking and when exchanged after a school year of use, still looked brand new--the finish was perfect with no visible wear or dings and I have an overly active boy. This is an excellent student trumpet and we will definitely be doing business again with LJ Hutchens when my daughter upgrades to an intermediate flute this next year.

Purchasing professional instruments for children is a ludicrous proposition.That is where this product comes in. For my oldest son we purchased an intermediate Trombone. He did not appreciate and has treated it poorly. Now I am left with angry feelings everytime I see it. We purchased it used from a local music shop that rents to students. They gave us a payment plan but charged us nearly full price for it, something we didn't realize at the time.My wife and I decided after this that we would pay less for a first instrument, and if they liked it and stuck with it, then later purchase an intermediate when they would appreciate it and know better how to care for it.After that experience we started looking online for instruments. I was very nervous at first as there are so many ways this can go wrong. However, it didnt exactly go right buying locally. For my next child we bought a flute off of Amazon for a very low price. It has worked pretty well, but had some problems. We probably paid too little for it. That said she has played for three years on it and it continues to work well.This trumpet was purchased for my 2nd son and I am very happy with it. Having played trumpet myself I am quite satisfied with its quality. The valves have excellent movement and it makes good sound. I prefer my Selmer student model to this one but they are quite similar and you cannot purchase the same Selmer that I had 20 years ago, they are now made in China like this one. Seating of the valves is a little tricky in the Hutchen but once seated they are good. A key has stuck on a couple of occasions, but with some oil this is not a problem.The case was very nice and sturdy and provides ample protection with some storage for accessories. I would and have highly recommended this trumpet for a first trumpet to any who would listen. I definitely recommend buying online for the first instrument. The local rental shops take advantage of students and their parents. Online can be the same, but at least the total bill is less.If the student sticks with it they will be able to make an informed decision later when it is time to buy an intermediate instrument.-- Update 3/2013 --It has been almost a year now and the trumpet is working beautifully. My son's teacher has gone out of her way to comment on multiple occasions about the quality of the sound from this horn. My son was a little dissapointed at first, he wanted a black one(come on who paints horns black), but as he has used it and learned about it he has completely changed his mind and is quite proud to have it.-- Oct 2013My son manged to do some pretty substantial damage to the bell on this horn, it is still functional, but not nearly as pretty. Best part was I didn't have to kill him for destroying a $600 horn. Should he decided to continue, which I do not expect, I am sure that he would treat his second horn with much greater care.My youngest son will enter Jr High next year and start learning and instrument. I have asked him which one he wants to play and it looks like I will be buying another trumpet. I have no hesitation in saying it will be another LJ Hutchen Trumpet.