Startone SSH-15 Bugle

This was a great find. I had been looking for a bugle for quite some time, but could not find anything within my price range. As I was mainly interested in having the horn as a decorative piece in my home, this model was a perfect choice: it looks great atop a mantelpiece/piano and is a lovely addition to any living area.

In terms of how this thing plays; it isn't superb. The mouthpiece that comes with it is pretty much useless - I had to replace it with a normal trumpet mouthpiece which does not fit perfectly but does the trick. The response is OK but as far as the tuning goes, this horn is quite poor.

With this in mind, I would only suggest purchasing this bugle for decoration purposes, if you want something for good sound and playability, I wouls strongly suggest spending a bit more..

Given the price, this startone bugle is itself not bad, however if you really want to get any sound ouf of it, well, it's bad. It is out of tune with any scale, the intonation itselft is also completely out of tune in any measurable way. For eg you can not play a bugle call for example since the tones it produces are so far off, all of them. Bought is for my youngest son (4yo) to get in touch with brass instruments and to learn to produce sounds out of it, well, it just barely functions to that end.

However: It's only around EUR 15,00 so what to expect. It's a fine toy or decorative, it makes trumpet-like sound/noise and fairly loud also. My 4yo son likes it, it looks like a musical instrument and because of the price you don't have to worry if it gets scratched of damaged.