More than a thousand dollars cheaper than Yamaha custom line piccolos, this is really a bargain: perfectly finished, intonation is good, resistance well-balanced and the sound is sweet and nice. Like with all piccolo trumpets you should choose your mouthpiece with great care. Louisville leadpipes (for sale at WWBW) darken the sound a bit and intonation will be even better, but playing the instrument as it is, will surely please you already! In this price-range it is by far the best you can buy and it can compete with some of the more expensive piccolos on the market. Suitable for the occasional piccolo-trumpeter, student and even professional.

Completely in tune, even with the 4th valve, unlike the Shilke. Great, even, all-round sound and easy to play, especially for those who are not used to pics. Similar sound to the Scherzer (especially in A), less bright than a Bach (personally I prefer a more mellow tone), but better tuned. I've played lots of pics, but this is unbeatable.

The Yamaha 6810S is my first piccolo trumpet. I'm not a pro, and don't play picc often enough to justify the price of a Schilke, but I am quite happy with the 6810S. Its intonation is better than I expected, and the tone is not too bright. I also found it easier to play than a Scherzer picc I tried. Only one minor drawback: fourth valve sticks easily unless it gets plenty of valve oil.

I bought this as my first piccolo and as I got better at playing it I started to find it's limitations. But, it was always reasonable in tune and not terrible difficult to play. I found the response a little tight and the tone a little bright(not brilliant, which would be good, but bright and thin).However, 4 months ago, almost 2 years after I bought the horn, I tried the GR mouthpiece system with this horn and it plays like a different instrument. Take the time to find the right mouthpiece for this horn because if you do you'll probably find it's an excellent value. Use whatever works but I highly recommend GR.