I no longer recommend this instrument: degradation within one year.

The Berkeley C/Bb trumpet
Berkeley Wind Instruments sells a C/Bb trumpet in both gold lacquer and silver (nickel?) finish. I bought the gold lacquer model and first posted this review/guide almost a year ago and had some mostly good news back then. Please, kindly pay attention to past tenses at this writing.

This trumpet does not have the Music1688.com letters on the bell, but other Berkeley instruments do--for example, the D/Eb trumpet. The seller ID was lucy4466, then it was greatbuilder. It has changed again. I don't know what's up with that.

I evaluated mainly the C configuration. The horn was designed as a C because, according to Julius (the musician behind Berkeley instruments), you must pull out all the valve slides a little when you swap in the Bb tuning slide.

I compared the Berkeley C/Bb to the Kanstul Signature Series ZKT 1510A Professional Trumpet in C (silver plating). I sold my Kanstul C to a happy customer, so what I said in my Online Trumpet Buying guide applies here also. The price on the Kanstul C when I bought it in 2003 was $1,545.00. The Berkeley C/Bb wound up costing me $153.00, or about ten times less, in 2007. You don't always get what you pay for in either case.

Positives
The Berkeley C in gold lacquer is a beautiful, clean, new instrument. The exterior seems to have been made well overall. It has a thumb saddle for the first slide and an adjustable ring for the third slide. Valve action was excellent when I got it, certainly faster than the Kanstul's. The first valve slide moves smoothly, and the third valve slide used to move reasonably smoothly. Used to.

The case provides enough room for two mouthpieces, valve oil,  a cloth, and the Bb tuning slide. I can insert a K&M 5-leg trumpet stand in the bell and the fit is snug but good because the bell cavity in the case is plush cushion whereas the rest of the inside of the case is plush but covering hard foam plastic. The light, textured ABS case is a hunter green with black trim. It has a handle and two latches. Don't put it in the cargo. It got a chipped corner its first time out.

The Berkeley C/Bb comes with a generic mouthpiece, perhaps a copy of a Bach 11C, but no markings of any sort are on it. Mine came with a dent at the end of the shank (easily repairable). Lastly, the third valve slide has a screw-in nub to keep it from falling out when oiling the third valve or on a stand. It did not come with a cloth or oil.

I was able to produce satisfactory tone and it was mostly in tune with itself, certainly doing that at least as well as the Kanstul C. The Berkeley is much easier to keep in tune than the Kanstul. The third valve slide moves easily enough to adjust C# and D, which are slightly sharp on Bb trumpets but more so on C trumpets. The Berkeley did at least as well as the Kanstul in slotting. Middle E is slightly flat in the open position, but it is right on with valves 1 and 2 down.

Neutral
I have to place this as a neutral because the beauty of sound is in the ear of the hearer. For me, the horn is a little too bright---almost on the tinny (tin-like) side. For others, it might be perfect. Bear in mind also that mouthpiece cup depth and rim diameter influence the color of the sound. When I use a larger, deeper cup the sound is warmer.

Negatives
Remember I said the piston action was fast. The previous version of the guide advised not to leave the trumpet in the case for more than a week without lubricating it. I found that it could get pretty stuck if you didn't oil the pistons at least once a week. I bought some H2Oil from the Brass Spa (Bob Reeves), and it definitely made a difference in how often you have to lubricate it.

HOWEVER, the valves and/or the pistons are not responding well with age. Someone somewhere (here on eBay or on trumpetherald dot com or maybe somewhere else) said that these instruments break down after a year. They did not mention that they had experience with the horn, so I was skeptical. By personal experience, I have to confirm that the pistons are sticking, and when I oil them, they are difficult to put back in the valve casing.

Another musician told me that the metals used are such that they do not interact well with condensation and saliva. Certainly my experience is evidence that this might be true.

The first thing I noticed was that the C tuning slide is a little difficult to pull out. Greasing improved it substantially, and adding tuning slide treatment gave it the finishing touch. However, it sounded grainy when I was trying to spread the slide grease. That sound mostly subsided when the slide grease was spread out over the tube surface evenly, but I also had to rub some Brasso on the ends to get better, smoother movement.

HOWEVER, tuning slide movement is now very difficult.

The next thing is that the third valve slide has no water key. Some trumpets do not have it, including, for example, the Benge 90.

The design of the third valve adjustable slide ring is almost a tight fit. Now, I don't have big hands so I found that surprising. The rod for the adjustable slide ring is not standard, so I couldn't just swap in another one. The first valve saddle design is too far from the first valve casing. However, there is a plus in a minus here. The Berkeley's first valve saddle is not hardened. On a warm day in the heat, it will be somewhat pliable. It turned out to be the solution to the wide saddle. I was able to bend the saddle toward the first valve casing.

The tuning slide water key looks like it could easily lose the spring because the part of the spring that presses against the tuning slide moved slightly off to the side though it is amenable to adjustment. The seller says he has parts, and that is a big thing music teachers seem concerned about in the event of the eventual (though not necessarily inevitable) part breakdown.  

Shipping positives and negatives
Shipping cost is very expensive, but on a return for a cornet I bought, the entire cost including shipping was refunded. Good customer service, but slow turn around time.

Recommendation with caveats
Even though this Berkeley horn did at least as well as a Kanstul when I first got it and for the first months thereafter, the Berkeley C/Bb is only a good deal if you want your kid to try it and you're not able to discipline him/her to practice.

I NO LONGER RECOMMEND the Berkeley C/Bb trumpet. It is a decent instrument for about six to 9 months. I will contact the seller and see what he has to say.