Features:

  • Gold lacquered body and keys Eb with high F# key alto sax
  • Large bore, ribbed construction, quality leather pads with metal tone boosters, contoured keys with faux mother of pearl inlays
  • Includes: Pro-deluxe durable hard-shell case, mouthpiece, neck strap, a box of 10 reeds (Size 2.5"), cleaning cloth & rod, and a pair of gloves
  • Bonus: Cecilio 92-D chromatic/string tuner with metronome & pocketbook
  • 1 Year Warranty Against Manufacturer's Defects
Absolutely Beautiful Look and Sound

I have the Nickel Plated instrument, silver keys and body. Out of the box it is the most beautiful sax I've ever held. It came ready to play with 11 reeds, ... one ready in the mouthpiece. As for sound, so far so good. I am an older jazz saxophonist and I find variation of the reed and mouthpiece necessary to test different sound qualities. I took it through the paces, all the scales, some improvisational play w/ two different mouth pieces, 7 different reeds. One pad was sticking, so I put a little oil on it. The reeds aren't the greatest (the Glory reeds are much better). Other than that, it plays fine. This is the third low-cost mainland China sax I've tried. A lot of the great sax players were dirt poor when they started, and these low cost instruments may be all the future musicians have initially. My first test was an Antigua student model rented for my son, then a Glory and the Mendini off Amazon. They all are manufactured from a similar/identical CAD design based on a high end Selmer Paris (built with lower quality materials). The Mendini is the best of the three I've tried so far. The key springs were more stiff and the sound less bright than my higher end Antigua pro, but that may be due to the newness of sax. With a good mouthpiece and seasoned reed, the Mendini has been really nice to play ... and it looks and feels great. I had a Bundy and Vito when I was a kid ... this is nicer. FYI, I ignore sax reviews that aren't from verified purchasers. The most popular negative review seems to be from someone who never bought this sax. Also, be cautious of reviews from new sax players playing with a new reed. Reeds need moisture and get better with use. They also need a well trained lip to really good sound.

Good Value

I have been a musician for 57 years. I play multiple instruments, but just decided to take up the saxophone. I bought this one by Mendini (Nickel) because I am on a fixed income and it is inexpensive. I have had it for nearly a week and so far I am not disappointed. All the advice I read said I should pay $500 minimum for a beginner sax. This one proved them wrong. It is solid (even a little heavy), has a good tone and plays in tune. (I play clarinet, so I am accustomed to adjusting my embouchure). Here is how I see it: PRO's: The case is better than expected. The Mouthpiece is usable, although I will replace it for my preferred Yamaha model. The instrument is beautiful. I love the Nickel finish and the touch pads are made of a faux mother-of-pearl that is much better looking than I expected. It is solid, not flimsy. It is reasonably easy to blow. The key action feels very nice and there are no leaks. CON's: The mouthpiece cap does not fit. I drops right off if the mouthpiece is pointed downward. The reeds are horrible. I bought a box of Rico replacements. The ligature is flimsy and barely usable. I will upgrade to a new one soon. There is no swab included. I am currently using a clarinet swab, but it really isn't big enough, Buying a swab for alto sax ASAP. I would recommend that the manufacturer keep the gloves and put a swab in the case. OVERALL: I heartily recommend this one for purchase as a beginner sax. For the money, I can't see how you could do much better.

Nothing to REGRET about this purchase, Actually very impressed!!

First of all this is a review from a saxaphone player that just picked it back up after 15 years. I have a Selmar Bundy II from back then. I played it and it needs repading and the octive key is not functioning. I really wanted to get practicing and learning again but was not going to pay over $500 for a new or used sax. My Bundy is only worth 250. I purchased the Mendini Alto black and Nickel. I was impressed to say the least at the details and full sound if the instrument. Its great to be able to play again and not break the bank. This seems to be an updated version of the alto considering some different keys and anatomy from the 90s. The neck strap is poor as are the reeds it comes with. However the Sax is a SUPERB VALUE!! The Black and Nickel was actually not at Black expected but more of a charcoal..still beautiful. HAPPY PLAYING.

I usually hate cheap horns that my students get

For the price you simply cannot go wrong. I usually hate cheap horns that my students get. I have seen some of these Taiwan / China horns literally fall apart in kids hands. But after reading the reviews of the Mendini I decided to give it a go for my daughter when she wanted to join band. Well... my beautiful old 90 year old Conn Chu alto is on the shop for a total overhaul and for the last 3 days I have been borrowing my daugher's Mendini to practice on... and WOW. For what I paid!? It's silly. The instrument is heavy (quality metal) and the thing rips. Sure, it doesn't sound anywhere as near as good as my Conn, but nothing does, and this thing is remarkably good given the price tag. It seals unbelievably well, low Bb's speaking with ease. It feels durable in my hands too. I can't imagine a repair guy having too much difficulty getting parts for the thing. For "cheap" asian horns, this thing is really amazing. And if your kid decides to drop band you won't be out a small fortune either. If my kid drops I am going to use this as my backup alto... it's that good.

Mendini by Cecilio MAS Good Saxophone

This Mendini Alto Saxophone MAS will be a great backup saxophone and settles my curiosity. Just purchased about the middle of March. I haven`t had a tremendous amount of time with it yet, but here is my assessment. I disagree with the above review telling you not to buy a Mendini Saxophone. First off there are only a couple saxophone models made in the United States anymore. Silver Eagle sells for around $10,000. Blessing was going to start making saxophones again, but I don`t know what has happened since the articles were posted. Also maybe Cannonball made is in the US, The rest of the saxophones are made in Taiwan or China. The big brands, their lesser models, are made there, with maybe Yamaha still making some models in Japan, and some models of Keilwerth still made in Germany and Selmer Paris in France. Mostly the very exspensive ones. As far as buying a so called old good student name brand saxophone, they usually are junk by now, so derelict as to need a very expensive repair. This can run $350 for a repad job on a Alto Sax and $450 for a Tenor Sax repad job. The old USA student saxophones had a terrible tone. The ones I heard were horrible. I`m referring to the ones made in the late 1950`s and early 1960`s. They had a cheap sound. Some were the deadest sounding horns you had ever heard. They where awful. Terrible accustics !!! Mendini is a good buy for what you get. It has a decent sound. Lacquer finish is excellent. You could put a Mendini Saxophone on a table alongside a name brand of the big four brands and not be able to tell the difference. The quality of the sax, that was sent is very good. Springs are dark blue. Blue springs are prefered by some saxophone players. It doesn`t matter to me, stainless steel springs are okay as well. Adjustment screws 8 screws, this is a professional feature. Screws are good size. The Yamaha YAS 61 has 8 adustment screws for key adjustment. Screws are small. Mendini pearl inlays fake faux, feels good. Thumb rest is thick. Mouthpiece is long shank, looks just like a Selmer S-80, has fairly good tone and is sufficiently good enough, for all the way through high school for concert band, and marching band, and jazz or dance big band applications. The tone of the Mendini Saxophone is good with the right mouthpiece and reed. I prefer Lavoz med soft or soft reeds. Metal resonators are a feature first installed on professional saxophone models. Engravings on bell and bow are simple compared to expensive instruments, but the engravings on the Mendini saxophone are really a nice accent. Many of the old USA brand name student saxophones didn`t have any engravings on the bell, but engraving for the name only and stamped serial number. Mendini sax has the name and serial number embossed on the horn. Spring tension could be a little lighter on the Mendini. Springs could have the tension reduced a little more for a quicker action. I can do that if necessary. I`ll play it awhile first to see if they`ll break in somewhat. They may limber up with playing time. Weight of the Mendini is heavy as you will find out when you wear it on your neckstrap for a while, so it`s not thin. I still have my micrometer from my working days. I did some measurements with my micrometer. Mendini sax bell thickness behind the lip about 6 o`clock position is .024, neck socket thk..057 Yamaha YAS 61 bell thickness same approximate location as the Mendini sax, Yamaha YAS 61 bell thickness is .020 neck socket thickness .049. Buescher Aristocrat Big '"B " same spot, bell thickness .041 neck socket thk. .049. Thumb rest .040 thk. Mendini sax thumb rest .108.thk. Yamaha YAS 61 thumb rest is plastic .210 thk. As a side note, the thickness for Simba Tenor Saxophone purchased in 2007, bell thk. .031 and neck socket .061 thk. The Martin Tenor Saxophone 1958 bell thickness is .021 and the neck socket is .051. This should dispel the claim that Chinese saxophones are too thin. I tried five mouthpieces on the Mendini Alto Saxophone MAS, The one supplied with the Mendini is long shank and the Mendini saxophone neck cork is fitted for this mouthpiece, and it fits like a glove. I played this mouthpiece for an hour with Hal Leonard play along books and CD`s and it was good if you leaned into it and it had nice light response as well. I will have fun experimenting making a spoiler or baffle out of stainless steel with a little bend at the end near the chamber for this mouthpiece, to see if I can get a louder and brighter sound as I have done for my Selmer S-80 C** mouthpiece for my C-melody saxophone. The Lavoz mouthpiece just didn`t give good high register peformance. The E. Rousseu JDX 6 gave a much brighter sound, but I have to find the right reed strength for this mouthpiece. The Rico Metalite M5 is one I liked on the Mendini sax. Bamber Jazz sounded good too. The Mendini mouthpiece is nice as well but is a little softer playing. The reed that was on the mouthpiece gave a strange sound, so I took one of my Lavoz reeds med soft and it made the difference I was looking for. The Mendini Mouthpiece works. I never favored the Yamaha 4C mouthpiece. If you don`t want to experiment with modifying the Mendini mouthpiece with a removable baffle or metal spoiler, then get a E. Rousseau jazz mouthpiece for about $69.99 or a Rico Metalite M5 for $20.00 to $30.00 it will make this Mendini sing, and also work on your embouchure as well. All in all a Mendini Alto Saxophone is a good horn. Good lows and good highs through the range of the register. Maybe it`s not as bright as the my Yamaha YAS 61, but it`s very acceptable with the right mouthpiece and reed. Mendini Alto Saxophone has reasonably good intonation as checked with the tuner. Five stars for this horn. This saxophone should last if taken care of, for your son or daughter, untill they are out of high school. After that they most likely won`t play it anymore. Don`t listen to the repair techs. If they don`t want to repair these saxes, it`s probably because they want to push sales of the overly expensive instruments. Suggested reading are articles by Stephen Howard, shwoodwind and The Saxophone.com. There`s a lot of good information on these sites. There you go, you can buy four of these saxes for the price of a big brand name student sax, and have a saxophone that took it`s design from a professional model after it`s patent had expired. You`re getting pretty much of a professional saxophone copy of an older model that was very good, and a lot cheaper with new pads and springs. Treat it like it`s fine jewelry. Do not abuse it. You should be okay with the Mendini Alto Saxophone.

Great introductory saxophone

We purchased this for my son when he was in 7th grade. He is now in 11th. For the price, the Mendini is a great deal for a new saxophone. It is a beginner sax and is a great price for under $300. My son used it for four years and progressed in his saxophone skills to the point we needed to upgrade. The Mendini doesn't hit all of the highs and lows, with the ease and clarity that a Yamaha provides, however, the Yamaha is 9 times more expensive. My son learned a life lesson about a beginner's tool, versus a master tool. If you start out with the $2500 instrument, your child would never appreciate it what you have spent. The same way a person appreciates their first new car by buying their first used, beater and after a few years upgrading to a new car. The Mendini is a great buy for the price for an intro sax. If your child progresses, start saving your money when you buy the Mendini and upgrade in a few years when they will appreciate a more masterful music tool.

Great product without the cost!

Taking it out of the box and assembled was amazing. Product quality was great and it comes with everything you need to start playing. The case is fantastic and very durable, the only issue was with the neck strap didn't have cushion and the strap rubs on you neck. Other than that it's a great starter to intermediate instrument.

Nothing wrong with this horn!

I've been playing sax close to 40 years. I have a very nice Yamaha that I have always loved. This Mendini is noting short of fabulous for the price. I just got it this morning so I havent had much time to tinker with it, but so far I love it. Very minor intonation issues, and those may work themselves out with different reeds or mouthpiece. Big, rich, full sound. This is no Yamaha but for the small price, I am very well impressed with this horn. I bought this for my daughter who wants to start playing. I think this will serve her well and give her the big, rich sound I got out of it earlier. If something should happen and she doesn't continue to play, I will have a really nice CHEAP backup.

we are on the same page, why would anyone choose a death option?

I had a few years off but started playing the sax (an old, and much used Conn) in 1971. On extended deployments with the Navy, playing on the fantail after flight ops kept me relatively sane. After several sax-less years, I bought a Mendini Tenor, liked it so much, I ordered an alto, got it tonight, and it is great. good response from bottom to top, great tone, kinda dark, which I like. contrary to some reviews I've seen, a bit of touch up with 400 wet/dry and the reeds are fine, I couldn't be happier with it, and can't wait for the first of Feb. I will be ordering a soprano, to complete the family. Like the other reviewers, I found that the neck strap sucks, but I had bought a padded Selmer neck strap, so no problem. I think I know why there are so many reports of broken keys, bent rods etc.... the ups driver literally threw it onto the porch. I heard him stop, and stepped outside just in time to see that. Fortunately, nothing was damaged, and she plays beautifully. the fit and finish are flawless, it is a gorgeous horn. My tenor is the black nickel, plays beautifully and is just beautiful. I'm not crazy about the stock mouthpiece, ordered a Yamaha 5c from Amazon, already have one on my tenor. I also recommend them highly. I have a Brilhart 4* and a generic 6 lay for it also, so I can go from concert sound to duck call in 10 seconds. Anyway excellent horns, and I have read enough reviews/comments to know that Mendini customer support is very proactive. Great buy.

So far, so good

I bought this because my son wanted to continue to rent his sax. The music store wanted an extra $1000 on top of the rental fee of almost $400 that I paid in the beginning of the year to keep the one he's been playing!! H³ll no!! I purchased this with a grain of salt and it sounds great and my son says it's easier to play certain notes than the other expensive one. I did purchase a new strap with padding for him because the strap hurt his neck, but that was like $20 so why not? He is happy with it and so am I.

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