Mendini by Cecilio B Flat Clarinet for Beginner, Ebonite Bb Clarinet with 2 Replaceable Barrels, 10 Reeds, Stand, Pocketbook, Mouthpiece, Hard Case, Gloves (Pink)

My private music instructor tried this clarinet and said that it was actually really really good for the price and said he’d never played such a good beginner clarinet knowing how much it cost! The case has plenty of space and comes with a lot of great items. I would very much recommend getting a Yamaha 4C mouthpiece along with this, about $20, as it’ll greatly improve the tone immediately. Also, the reeds you should be getting are the Vandoren reeds for Bb clarinet. They’ll last much longer and sound the best. If you’re a beginner use reeds around size 1-1/2 or 2. Once you are ready to play “over the break,” or high notes, you should have 2-1/2 or even better, size 3 reeds. Which ever are more comfortable. You’ll move up to size 2-1/2 reeds pretty quickly, so don’t buy low sized reeds in bulk, just one box’ll do. Once you reach the level where you go to the highest few notes you can play on the clarinet, I’d recommend moving up to an intermediate or advanced clarinet or a really high-quality mouthpiece, as it’ll be hard to get this notes without being too flat. If you’re a beginner you won’t need a new clarinet for at least 2 years, more like 4 if you’re learning through a public school.

I purchased a Mendini MTS-L+92D Tenor Sax in August, which has proved to be a good horn. So I tried the Mendini White ABS Bb Clarinet (white because black was out-of-stock), which I've had now for two months. I anticipated that the mouthpiece would not be good, so I bought a Yamaha Clarinet Mouthpiece 4C and a box of good reeds.The clarinet has a distinctly steeper learning curve than the tenor sax, flute, etc, and compounding the problem, reed, ligature, and mouthpiece are all much more critical for the clarinet than the sax. My setup now includes a Benade inverted ligature (the ligature that came with the instrument (junk) and a BG L4 R ligature did not work well for me), a Pomarico Crystal Diamond M, and a Legere 2.0 Standard reed (I also tried VanDoren 2.5 & 3.0, Mitchell Lurie Premium 2.5, Royal 2.0). This setup works for me, and like all such things, perhaps for no one else.I saw a tutorial where the clarinetist used a strap. I've developed some thumb problems with the EWI I normally play, so I purchased a Neotech 5001492 C.E.O thumb rest tab, and use a strap. An inexpensive accessory that has saved my thumbs.This clarinet: some of the keys are stiff when it is cold in the house (it's November), but they loosen up quickly when the room warms. The register key pad was a little sticky and came off (easy peasy to remedy). The swab got stuck once, so some care when cleaning is important (I didn't know there were two tubes extending inside the body of the instrument). None of this is a surprise or disappointing: instrument repairmen work on high-end instruments because stuff happens.Once I found a setup that works for me, learning the clarinet has gotten easier. Several days ago I got up to G above high C, and I rarely squeak (when I do, it has been my fingers that are the culprit). I am working my way through the Rose 40 Etudes for Clarinet and the Klose Daily Exercises. The overall performance of this clarinet is good enough that I'll probably be using it in performance within a year.I cannot compare it to any other clarinet. But for under $100, it's hard to go wrong, and I am more than a little pleased!

Obviously not the best clarinet in the world, but definitely the best clarinet in the world for under a hundred bucks. A serious instrument for a beginner, not a toy. Action on the keys is good and like more expensive instruments, tone is nice, and the reeds they give you are actually quite decent. My 4th grader wanted to try the clarinet, and he is really enjoying it and fully engaged. Definitely more than sufficient for a kid to give the instrument an honest try. If they're any good, then you can buy them a more expensive one later. And if they're not any good? The price didn't break the bank. I'm pretty impressed to be honest---there's no way when I was a kid I could have gotten an instrument like this for this price, it just didn't exist. I had bought a Mendini trumpet and was somewhat less impressed; the clarinet exceeded my expectation.***Just a follow up, October 2019. Son is STILL using this clarinet as his main instrument--swears that this instrument plays better than the clarinets the school rents out to students, etc. Not one thing has been out of place on the clarinet--no repairs have been needed, everything is great.**** Another follow up, about a month after the above. A pad or two came loose from the keys. Brought the clarinet in to the local grandmaster instrument repair guy. He fixed it right up--told me the pads aren't great on the Mendini's anyway. Everything else was fine, he was surprised at how nicely the instrument plays. If I could do this whole thing over, I'd buy my son this instrument again as his first instrument. No question.