Mendini By Cecilio Eb Alto Saxophone Kit for Beginner - Black Silver

Bought this sax 3 weeks ago, first time sax player, a few observations.. 1 The sax itself is absolutely beautiful, mine is purple with gold keys. The sound is sassy and warm, the keys seem to be snug where they should be and and move when they shouldn’t. 2 the reeds that come with it are very rough, didn’t use them, got a different brand. Work much better. 3 the mouthpiece looked like a honey badger was using it for a toothpick, there were nicks in the bed, it couldn’t pass a pop test. Got a Yamaha 4c. Plays much better. 4 the case is quite functional for a soft case, the inside is form fitted with hard foam to hold the sax quite firm. Overall it’s a great starter for anyone leaning to play. Oh, and I’m 61, am tone deaf, and partially deaf in both ears, thank you Uncle Sam! And can’t read music. But I’m learning!

First things, I was worried that the color of the black and gold sax wouldn't look as good in person. I was wrong because it looks so much better. I have been playing sax for over 30 years. My primary instrument is a pricey tenor. I also own a soprano that I am not a huge fan of. So I decided to add an alto and this alone had good reviews both on this sight and YouTube, where a professional saxophone player compared it to his personal sax. The first time I played, it sounded great, even though it is an alto - inside band joke - it didn't scream nor screech. Because the ambouchchure is different on the alto as compared to the tenor, I thought it would take some time to bring it back. But it so easy to do with the 2.5 reeds. I intend to go up soon after playing it more. But this instrument as a whole is perfect for a beginner. My one issue is with the neck strap. I may be a bit picky, but the included neck strap feels like the scratchy, thin, canvas-like material it is. After giving it a try, I immediately ordered three leather neckstraps for an unbelievable price her on Amazon. I also have found the shoulder straps to be way too short. They would work if you carry the case on your back, but yuck. If you have a child who is just beginning and don't want to pay monthly fees or for an expensive instrument this one is great. I also love the soft case which is light enough for a child to carry. I would buy this all over again.

My beginner is in 4th grade and well on the way, so I feel I can accurately report, now having worked over the instrument several times. The neck is the greatest and most immediate problem, as notes below A in the upper register will squeak if that neck valve opens on a press of the octave key. It is clear that nobody at the store bothered to set it up, and you or someone at school will have to figure it out. I don't fault the supplier much, though, because you are going to have to get used to things going wrong. When I was a kid, we didn't send out instruments: there was a senior student in charge of tinkering. So take satisfaction in joining a time-honored tradition! The next thing that went wrong was, pieces of cork mysteriously coming unaffixed from the linkage. It seems that some connections are doubly cushioned unnecessarily, with cork AND a silicone grease fitting. The grease dissolves the contact cement that keeps the cork attached. So if you would prefer the cork, get on that right away. I missed the opportunity, but the instrument seems no worse for wear, after mopping up the mess with some alcohol and cotton swabs. One silicone cushion had to be trimmed with an X-acto knife, because it was hitting an adjacent valve, in the right-hand palm keys. Lastly, my young player tried to stand the instrument with the neck hanging over the back of a chair, and dropped the whole thing, knocking in the right-hand pinky keys and putting the adjacent linkage out of whack.The teacher was going to send it off (I guess she felt responsible for poor supervision and instruction, in this case), but I got out my tools and had it up and running the next day. Just coat posts with hot-melt glue to protect them, before cranking on them with pliers. I also found a C-clamp useful, to compress the posts toward each other, and with blocks of wood make a vise for the bail of the neck valve. Screws were all good quality, handled with my pecision slotted screwdrivers. So my child is honking away happily, and we're both proud. This horn sounds great compared to supposedly better instruments, and has a great look with the Nickel option. Value justifies the effort.

I ordered this saxophone for my 5th grade daughter to use in her school band class. I'm not expert enough to speak to other situations, but if you're considering purchasing this saxophone for a young, beginning player, I highly recommend it. Two reasons: #1 I'm familiar with other instruments but know/knew next to nothing about the sax, so I asked my daughter to have her teacher give me an honest opinion. The music teacher said that for a beginning musician, this sax is more than adequate; he felt that it was probably good enough to last a musician into high school band. Again, while a serious, experienced saxophonist would probably want a better horn, the "Mendini by Cicilio" is fine for a beginner. #2. The cost as compared to renting from my local music store. Obviously this will vary from place to place but I live in Utah, where things tend to be comparatively inexpensive. That said, to rent my daughter a sax would have been $55 a month. We could return it any time, or after paying $1100 we would have owned it. But at a minimum we would have needed the rental for nine months--one school year--for a total cost of $495. That's about $300 more than it cost to purchase a sax outright. Yes, the rental was a better quality Yamaha, but see "reason #1" above for why that doesn't matter. The only benefit to renting was free repairs, but unless someone is seriously careless with the instrument that's not going to cost anywhere near $300. In other words, as counter-intuitive as it seems, it was much cheaper to buy this saxophone than it would have been to rent one for a single scholastic year. This doesn't even consider the 10 free reeds (they run about $2.50 each, retail), or the tuner/metronome (like the sax--not top quality but certainly good enough to get you started; probably a $15-20 value). The only hardware I'd suggest upgrading immediately is the neck strap: the one included is uncomfortable and has actually come unhooked a couple times just by the weight of the instrument. To sum up: this is a very decent saxophone for a very low price, much lower than anything else I could find. I am extremely satisfied with this purchase, as is my daughter, the nascent saxophonist. It still sounds like an angry goose when she plays, but her teacher assures me she's doing fine, and that she has a good instrument to learn on.

I played flute in high school. I always wanted to try saxophone. I ordered a Mendini violin a few years ago. It was nice, for what little it costed. I watched the reviews, so I ordered a Yamaha mouthpiece and a legere synthetic reed. I tried playing it twice with the provided mouthpiece and reeds that came with it, first. It took a LOT of air. I got dizzy fast. The new mouthpiece and reed came in today and it was so much easier! The fingerings are similar to flute. I was able to play a c major scale and some basic songs in 30 minutes. I love my new saxophone with the minor adjustments! ❤️

I bought this for 10 YO daughter (4th Grade). She just started band this year, and we started out renting (rent to own) a sax from a local music store. I started doing the math on the rent to own, and realized that we would spent about $1200 before we owned the sax - which was used, and in rough cosmetic condition. I started looking around at different purchasing options, when I came across this on Amazon. Since this is my daughters first year, we knew there was a good chance of her losing interest, so we didn't want to sink a fortune into a new sax, so we decided to give this a try. For $240, the risk was low (we would have spend that in 8 months renting). First impressions...this is a gorgeous sax. We opted for the nickel finish (I always wanted a nickel sax when I was playing). I took it out of the box and tested all the keys. Everything feels well built and high quality. We put it together and played it side by side with the rented sax (which was an Antigua) - the sound quality was equal to, if not slightly better than, the rented sax. I played sax through high school, so I feel like I'm qualified to judge the sound quality. But as further confirmation, her music teacher has also commented on the quality and sound of this instrument. I can't tell you how happy I am with this purchase. We could replace this sax 5 times for the same cost as a rental...but I really don't think we will need to. If my daughter decides to stick with this into High School, we will think about upgrading...but for the next few years, I have no doubt that this sax will serve her well.

100/10 worth it if you are willing to be just a little patient!! I have prime and received the sax within only a few days. Upon receiving, the mechanism in the G# was broken and the sax was completely unplayable. I requested a replacement because I’ve seen reviews of this brand and it’s legit. I received the replacement (before even actually returning the original mind you, they did want backup payment in case i didnt return it in time which is understandable.) just only a few days after the first saxophone. The second one is perfect and I am so happy! I have wanted to play this instrument for so long but always saw it out of my reach. I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to play saxophone but cannot afford over $1000 sax. Pic of how happy i was to play it and a video of my bf who normally plays tenor

DO NOT buy this poor quality instrument!! I have a bachelor's (Indiana University) and master's (Arizona State) degree in saxophone, and I sounded like a beginner when I played it. It looks nice, but here are some of the reasons that I returned it: -intonation is horrible -the mouthpiece tip is not even the same shape as the reeds -the ligature screws do not loosen enough to get the reed in without completely unscrewing them, and then they are impossible to get back in -the neck moves no matter how tightly you tighten the screw -key placement is awkward I ordered this for my 6th-grade son who was beginning saxophone last month. He HATED practicing and it was very difficult for him to even get sound out of it. I had no trouble getting sound out, but the intonation and tone made ME sound like a beginner. So when I decided to send it back, I let him use my Selmer SA-80 II. Of course there is no comparison between the two instruments, and I was obviously skeptical of a saxophone under $300, but I thought, "How bad can a saxophone be?" Well I got my answer--VERY bad. It looked cool and the case and accessories were appealing, but that was the only positive thing about it. Beginning saxophones are more expensive than most other band instruments, so I understand that parents may not want to--or be able to--pay more to get a better quality instrument. However, beginners already have enough of a challenge learning a new instrument, getting used to practicing, etc., and having a poor quality instrument can be very discouraging. My son wanted to quit after just 2 weeks while using this Mendini saxophone. I guess if you just can't afford a better instrument, you could make do with this one, but realize that you really are getting what you pay for. Amazon return policy was great.

Fue un regalo que hice y él esta FELIZ!!!, todo en tiempo y recomiendo ampliamente al vendedor porque cuando quería apoyo de rastreo siempre estaba al pendiente!!, gracias!!! (

MY Granddaughter wanted to play the saxophone , i signed her up for it at school. the music store was there to offer rentals for the year.. wow in the tune of $530.00 for 10 month rental. so when i got back home i looked on amazon and found this one. i emailed it to her teacher and she approved it and could not believe the crazy price 200.00 cheaper then renting not to mention its hers to keep.... HANDS DOWN I WOULD BUY ANOTHER ONE, came very well wrapped gorgeous instrument and my 7 year old granddaughter is the talk of the school owning her own. the teacher passed this around to a few of the parents, but wanted the music store to profit as well.. this instrument you will not be sorry .. amazing thank you so much .. sorry took so long to write review i wanted my granddaughter to have some time on it. and the price maybe inexpensive but the unit itself is defiantly not a cheap unit.. TOP DRAWER. AND WILL LAST HER FOR YEARS HER INSTRUCTOR informed me... kudos amazon seller... your awesome..I was looking for the picture to upload of my granddaughter with the instrument .. she loves it.. Nana wins

Bien

I experienced difficulty playing because R5 does not close properly. There was no "replace option" only "return." The problem with return is that I will only receive back 50% of my money. They shipment will also be charged to me. I think it was a mistake to purchase this from amazon. From Psychodeer - Amazon マーケットプレイス (この度は当店をご利用いただき誠にありがとうございます。 返品のご依頼ですが、当店は並行輸入ショップでして、説明にもありますように、キャンセルはできません。 どうしてもと言う場合は、amzonの返品ポリシーのより、下記のとおりとなります。 お客様都合の返品・交換 開封済みの場合： 商品代金（税込）の50%を返金します。 更に、この商品は海外並行輸入品ですので、返品する際は、国際手数料（アメリカ合衆国ネバダ州の倉庫まで、4100円）を差し引いてご返金いたします。ご了承ください。 国内において転送の処理を致しますが、商品がお客様に届いた際は、元払いの発送で下記の住所へ返品をお願いいたします。 送り先は、下記までお願いします。)

Great beginner sax and sounds pretty good. Excellent value too with the kit it came with! Definitely recommend Quickly shipped too :)