Mendini By Cecilio Tenor Saxophone - B Flat Black Golden Lacquer Saxophone for Beginner Musicians with Hard Case, Tuner, Mouthpiece, 10 Reeds, Polishing Cloth, Cleaning Rod, Gloves, Strap

I am a professional musician. For the last 25 years I've played an EWI (Yamaha's WX5 with a VL-70m synthesizer). Recently, I was asked to play sax in a local theater production of "Lobby Hero": I've got four weeks. I have not played a single reed instrument in 50 years, and never a tenor sax. My choices were--say no; borrow an alto of unknown quality; buy a sax, but money is tight. I saw several videos on Youtube demonstrating inexpensive Chinese saxophones with good mouthpieces and reeds. I was impressed! I bought the Mendini Tenor. Out of the box, it did not play. The reeds it ships with might work as kindling (I'll try in the fall when it's cooler outside) or cat toys (I won't try this, I don't want them to think reeds are fair game). I had the foresight to order a box of good reeds, when I ordered the sax. With a good reed, I got a couple of notes. The octave key would not seat properly, so I bent it a tad, it was off by about 1/32" (it could have gotten bent in shipping). I had six notes. Suspicious of the no-name mouthpiece, I went out, and bought the only named mouthpiece available in town (Prescott, AZ), a cheap Rico. I got two octaves . . . so I ordered a good mouthpiece. On day four, I got in an Otto Link Metal #7, and a Legere 2 3/4 plastic reed, just to try one. On day five. I had a solid, in tune, responsive and expressive, 2 1/2 octaves. Altissimo notes will, of course, take time, although I've got F#, easy-peasy. Several YouTube videos talked about the cheap feel of these Chinese saxophones, "the rods bend . . . feels tinny . . . hit something with it and it could break . . ." It feels solid to me. I pick it up by the bell, and I try to avoid walls, doorways, tables, and chairs when I move around with it. I treat it as if it cost $6,000, as one should. Will it last years? Will it give me altissimo notes? Will I sound like Ernie Krivda (look him up) in a month? I don't know . . . okay, I know I won't sound or play like Ernie. But for $500 (horn and mouthpiece), I have an instrument that I am confident in . . . and I have few weeks until the show goes up. Last night (day 9) was the first rehearsal where I played. Good enough, the director wants more. September 20: six weeks in and I enjoy the horn more each day. I had to tighten the roller screws for the Eb and low C keys. The lacquer on the thumb rest and the octave key is flaking off a little, but practicing 4-6 hours a day might well do that! We've had eight performances and people love the sax.

I don't understand why people don't like this line of saxophones. This is my third one from Mendini / Cecilio and I am once again more than happy with it. I also own the alto and soprano from this company and those two perform without fail! However, let's clear the air about this line of saxophones. These are NOT top of the line, high-end instruments. If you are looking for that, you need to look further. With that being said, this saxophone performs quite well. The sound is bright when it needs to be and dark when it needs to be! It can easily hold its own when playing with a band or in a church worship team. All of the keys were in perfect working order and the only adjustment that was needed was with the thumb rest. The accessories that come with it are good as well. The only thing that you will need to replace is the strap that comes with it. The strap is nothing special and cuts into your neck after a few minutes of playing. Do yourself a favor and get a padded strap!! The reeds that are included are not top of the line, but they still sound okay for what they are. If you know how to prep a reed, you can make it work for you. Overall, this saxophone (as well as the other Mendini / Cecilio horns I own) is a great horn that is perfect for beginners or someone looking to try the sax before spending major money on a high-end brand! Happy playing!!

For the money very good. Sounds good. For the beginner very good. Let's be real here. This tenor saxophone is really really good for what it is. Everything you need in one box. Not bad at all. Mine had no problem right out of the box. I'm really happy. Got some money let over. If you not a professional and just what learn and have fun. This is the way to go. Some advice. If the pads fall off. Just replied them. I even saw replacemen pad set on wish. What I'm saying fix this your self if simple and possible. The reed aren't good. The only real problem i had was tuning this tenor. The little note wasn't clear or me not understanding it. Alot of people had problems with tuning and not getting it right. I went on line and learned what I did wrong. You tune you tenor saxophone c button to b flat on the tuner. Don't ask why it just the way it is. I hopened this helps

Upon opening, I found the neck tightening screw had fallen out and was loose in the case. No big deal. However, the instrument was too tight at the top end to receive the neck being inserted. The neck would not go in. It was a simple matter to encourage the the horn opening below the neck to be slightly wider, but it obviously had not been tested with this particular neck before being shipped. Either that, or the vibration during shipping head somehow caused the top end of the horn to be slightly bent together. The thumb octave key has too much free play in the pivot mechanism that alternates between opening the neck pad and the top octive pad on the body of the horn. The thumb octave key has to be pressed too far down to be comfortable. There's no adjustability between the two different octave keys/pads on the neck and the top of the horn to make a correction adjustment intuitive. If I keep the horn, I plan to build up the top of the thumb key with Sugru to make changing octaves maybe more comfortable on my thumb. The high D key below the left palm is far too low. It will have to be built up at least 5/8 of an inch, perhaps more, to comfortably be operated by my palm without having to Kink my wrist. The high f key is also too low for my , and will have to be built up half an inch or more. On the other hand, all pads are level and correctly closing over all the key holes. There's a satisfying thunk thunk thunk sound, with obvious tone changes, as you close the keys one at a time, especially with the right hand, while not blowing. The horn is remarkable for such a low price. The metal does not feel thin or soft. I think with good care, this horn could stand up to years of use. Even better, it plays in tune from the high F sharp to the low B flat. That's a new one on me. I realize they are all supposed to play in tune right out of the box, but I've played many saxophones over the last 50 years and this one makes a very good impression for intonation without needing adjustment.

I bought this for my daughter for an early Christmas present. Her bad instructor at school has switched her from an alto saxophone to tenor, and the school loaner is old and on its last notes. Found this one, read the reviews, most are very good, so thought this had some promise for being a good instrument. It not only lives up to its promise, it vastly surpasses it. Superior beauty aesthetically, sound is deep and rich. This is a wonderful instrument for a beginner and intermediate player, would very likely be wonderful for advanced and professional players. This came with reeds, a tuner, cleaning supplies, and a screwdriver, and instructions. Highly recommend.

I am a music educator with over 60 years knowledge of saxophones. I bought one of these tenor saxophones to use as a daily practice instrument, and by my experience with it, I can not recommend it. Your experience may be better than mine. If you buy one and are new to the saxophone, have a knowledgeable player evaluate it. If it doesn’t work from top to bottom, send it back as soon as possible to get your refund. The tenor sax I received was not playable due to 3 flaws immediately evident. One: The octave mechanism on any saxophone is the area to most likely have issues. This one was not even close to working correctly. Two: The G key was sluggish and would not recover properly. Three: The top pad/key was not seating correctly causing an air leak. These problems may be fixable. However, most repair technicians will not touch an instrument like this, as the time to repair all the issues is simply not worth it. I also noticed that the ergonomics of this instrument are unlike most modern saxophones, meaning that the keys are not quite the same or in the usual position. Instead try a Jupiter saxophone. They makes a good instrument at a good price. The good news: The case and accessories are acceptable. I saved the shipping materials and packed it up to send back. Return UPS shipping was free. Amazon and KK Music accepted my return and after 2 weeks I received my refund.

This is a great quality sax for the money. I'm always skeptical with cheaper instruments but the craftsmanship and finish is pretty solid (some of the rods feel flimsy, but work fine). Also, it is inspected by the seller before it comes to you, so you can be sure it works unless it's damaged in shipping. As for the sound, it is GREAT. Disregard other comments claiming that it plays out of tune because it doesn't! The sound and intonation is all in the player and mouthpiece/reed setup. The key action is nice and quick too. I'd recommend upgrading to a larger mouthpiece for more intermediate and advanced players as the stock tip opening is pretty small and chokes the sound somewhat. I temporarily switched to a 3.5 synthetic reed and it really opened up the sound and intonation, but will be getting a #9 mouthpiece for it soon. All in all, great sax for a great price. Fast shipping from seller too.

I started playing saxophone in band in 1973. I had an alto sax and was looking for to buy a tenor sax (which I played both in high school and college). After reading the reviews from previous buyers and mostly positive ratings I decided to give this Mendini by Cecilio a try. The instrument came well packaged and protected. As with other comments about the case it is not a hard case but will do the job that I need it for. As far as the instrument itself, I was pleasantly surprised at how heavy the instrument was. It seems to be a well built instrument. Again as with other comments on the mouthpiece, neck strap, and reeds, they are very low quality, but I had the foresight to have ordered a better mouthpiece, reeds, and neck strap. I ordered a Selmer S-80 C* mouth piece, an Adorence padded Saxophone Neck Strap, and Vandoreen reeds (I like #3). The tone of the instrument was amazing and using the enclosed tuner the instrument played amazingly well in tune after adjusting my mouthpiece. Having played saxophone for nearly 50 years in elementary, high school, community, big band era, and college, for the price this is an amazing instrument. So if you are on an limited budget or just wanting to see if this is an instrument you or a child would want to play it is well worth the money.

Beautifully presented, came with all the accessories (reeds case stand etc) beautiful soulful sound.would recommend to others to buy

THUMBS UP! GAVE IN GIFT AND IT IS A VERY NICE SAX FOR DEBUTANT!

To give my review some context, I played various saxophones for 7 years in school. After a decade away, I decided I wanted to play music again. For the price, this thing is great. Yea it's not as good as a Yamaha, but it plays just fine. What I paid works out to renting a better instrument for about 10 months, and as this comes with a 1 year warranty this seemed the smart choice. You probably wouldn't use this sax as a career musician, but if you're a student or someone who just likes to play every now and then for fun, this is a great inexpensive option. And it's gorgeous! You will want to buy something to use to swab out the neck and bell, and you might want a better neck strap. Pro tip-there's not a lot of solo music out there for tenor sax, it's generally a support instrument. If you want solo music, get music written for the clarinet-the instruments are in the same key.

Love this item. So beautiful. The sound is lovely.

I am a complete beginer on the sax so didn't want to spend a lot of money. I purchased this sax and it arrived way sooner than expected. It looks great and feels solid to hold and has some weight to it the case is great for what I need but if carting the sax around I would recommend replacing it for a hard shell. I liked that it came with all the extras the reeds are ok. BUT the tuner does not work ended up downloading a free app to tune the sax and that worked way better. The neck strap keeps coming unattatched during playing (plastic clasp) and is of poor quality so I have orderd a new one with metal clasp. The mouthpiece is poor quality so I am replacing that also. All in all so far sax is worth the money and seems like a good student sax if you accept that the extras are garbage and will need replacing right away.