Mendini By Cecilio Alto Saxophone for Beginners, E Flat Tenor Saxophone for Students Musicians with Tuner, Mouthpiece, Case, 10 Reeds, Grease, Cleaning Cloth & Rod, Gloves, Strap, Book (Black Gold)

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!

I received my Mendini Saxophone several weeks ago and was not sure what to expect. There are some buyers who complained about quality of the arrived item. I had no such problem and found the sax to be playable right out of the box! The tone is very good and all of the keys were operational including the very lowest. It has been an absolute delight!That being said, you get a lot for your money and there are several items to take more of! The case is well designed and carries everything I need. There were some who said that it fell apart after a week. That is why I say “You get what you pay for”. I treat all items very carefully like it’s gold and make sure to be gentle at all times. If you have a child who has their first instrument, you should stress that this is not a toy and teach them how to treat the sax and the case with care.Also under “You Get What You Pay For”, I found the neck strap useless as it kept slipping out of the strap loop, the reeds were not great and the mouthpiece was adequate at most. Plan on spending an extra $75 for a Yamaha 4C mouthpiece, buy a ten pack of Vandoren or Rico reeds and buy the Petift Cleaning Kit which includes a large cloth which can be put through the bell to clean it, a better strap to replace the one which comes with the sax, and a cleaning brush for the mouthpiece. All can be found on Amazon.Overall, with or without the included modifications, I would highly recommend this saxophone!An update 2 years later: during the pandemic this instrument got little play but I picked it up 21 months after first purchasing it and am playing it daily for 30-60 minutes a day. It is definitely holding up and the case is still in 1 piece! I had an incident with the G# key falling off but found the screw and have kept an eye on maintaining the sax. I recommend you buy a saxophone stand for it and keep it in a conspicuous area for the musician playing it since just looking at it makes you want to play more!

Until I bought this saxophone, I was playing a piece of junk that I had to share with someone in jazz band. I bought this saxophone and it was such an improvement. The mouthpiece came ready to play with the reed already attached. The tuner/metronome was a nice touch too. I ended up just giving away the white gloves because they just made it harder to play. The case seems really well made too, and it has a zipper compartment for music, which is extremely useful. It even comes with two extra straps that you can hook onto the case, so you can use it as a backpack if you want. The saxophone itself is very easy to play and has great tone quality throughout the whole range. I am able to hit the low notes much better than I was on my last saxophone.There are a few reasons I am giving it four stars instead of five. First, the mouthpiece is a piece of junk. Luckily I already had a higher quality mouthpiece. The neck strap was also very mediocre, but I had my own neck strap too so this was really no problem. As far as the saxophone itself, there isn't much bad I can say about it. The two straps that hook onto the case are really low quality too, and one of mine already broke. But unless you actually use those it shouldn't really be a problem. The only problems I have been having is that a. it goes sharp really easily, but that is just because I have a small mouthpiece, and b. the g-sharp pad and low c-sharp pad have been sticky.Overall, I think it is a great instrument for students/beginners. At $200 it is very reasonably priced. Just make sure you either own your own mouthpiece or get a better mouthpiece if you are buying this.