Mendini by Cecilio MTS-PL+92D Purple Lacquer B Flat Tenor Saxophone with Tuner, Case, Mouthpiece, 10 Reeds and More

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.

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

When I got the sax that they sent me, it was a beautiful horn. It had one problem with a screw protruding out of its holder. It would have required experienced hands to get to the screw (it was under a key, and I didn't feel qualified in removing a key assembly) and tighten it. So, I sent it back to get an exchange. Unfortunately, they were out of Tenor saxes at the very moment that I needed the exchange horn. They told me that I could wait until they got more in to get the exchange horn. I opted to not have them hold onto my money. I got a refund. They did the refund without a hassle, and they did it fairly quickly. So, I think that this is a good company. I just happened to get a horn with a small defect (that I worried about increasing over time.) But, the overall horn looked good, and they get pretty good reviews. If they'd had a replacement horn I would have gone with that. So, I'd say that these guys are OK. I gave them five stars because of that. By the way, I never played the sax that I got from them. I simply looked at the workmanship and discovered the screw. However, having owned saxes before, the overall workmanship looked good.

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 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.

My order came in and had a strong odor to it, you know the kind that starts to show up after playing a Brass instrument and has accumulated a little moisture? There were two boxes it was shipped in, one was already cut open. The sleeve the sax was in was torn, indicating this had already been removed once before. The keys had no cork stoppers, again another sign of previous use. Fingerprints were present throughout the horn and more. I bought this new, not used. I have to assume that someone bought this and realized it was unplayable in its current condition and returned it. The store then sold as new......... The Sax was also unplayable below middle G. This would not suit a beginner player whatsoever as most of the notes a beginner would play are on the lower side. It would be impossible for a beginner to know if it was something the player was doing or if its the horn (based on their knowledge). Extremely bad leaks, I counted 4. I don't understand how you can supply an instrument with the understanding that it more than likely wont work and will require some adjusting, and not adjust it. As a service to your customers and to protect your companies profits I feel it would be in your best interest to ensure the item works, to help eliminate returns and negative reviews. If this is truly a music store as it leads you to believe, adjusting a brand new horn shouldn't take more than 15-30 minutes of your time. Then again I guess you could always create a new account or change your name, that's probably about the same time frame. I would also suggest not reselling used equipment as new. To put things into perspective I own a Kessler and Sons Dark Handmade One Soprano sax. These guys grabbed the horn I purchased and tested it prior to shipping it to me. Even left a thank you note and assurance of testing and playability. I didn't need to return the horn because it worked and does so flawlessly.

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!!

Bought this about 3 months ago. I had never played before, and knew virtually nothing about saxophone. 3 months later with 1-4 hours of playtime per day, I am improvising and flying through scales like a madman. Tone is good. Intonation is pretty good with exception of low Bb (25 cents sharp) and can’t speak for altissimo. Key action is smooth. For what I payed for this first saxophone. I couldn’t be happier with it performance. A lot of people complain about these budget Amazon saxs, but I personally feel like it is well worth what I payed. Will defiantly want to upgrade when I start to play out or record, but for practice it is just right.

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

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.

Great product. Great price. That being said, you are buying a student grade instrument. I am a music teacher and I have recomended this product to a few of my students. I have one myself as well.

Company gives great support, the sound is impressive, esthetically pleasing to the eyes, however poor quality build. I'm not able to transport it due to the shoddy craftsmanship. I left the house once with it and something fell off. It needed to be serviced within the first 4 months. I had trouble finding someone who would service this brand. Mendini does not have a good reputation. Good for home only. Try to pay less if you can.

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