Mendini by Cecilio Violin Beginner Kit With Hard Case

El violín está lo que sigue de HERMOSO!! Excelentes acabados y el color precioso. Trae todo lo que se muestra y se nota que todo es de muy buena calidad. Excelente precio por el contenido. Me emociona saber que mi hijo estará encantado con su nuevo violín.

[Scroll to the bottom for Feb2020 Update]

March 2019 – First time Review

Overall, amazing. This violin sounds amazing. Clear, crisp, and does not sound like a toy; which is what I thought it would sound like.

Lets get into the details.

What’s good: Body and Bridge, Tailpiece, the Case.

What’s bad: Pegs, Chinrest, End Pin, The bow.

The Body is solid, the paint coating seems to give the violin a slightly mellower sound which is good if thats the type of sound you are looking for (like me). The paint job is not the best, but its not like anyone is really going to see it.

The bridge is actually very well done. Although, I wasnt a huge fan of how high the feet were. I cut a new bridge with an old Aubert bridge I had from 2008. It certainly enhanced the sound more than the original bridge, but if I had no option, I’d be perfectly happy with the two supplied bridges it came with.

The bow was unfortunately useless, dont use it unless you want to get turned off from starting the violin. Not straight, barely any arching, but at least the hair is nice. you can probably use it for parts.

The chinrest and endpin were no good either. Rough, and will probably give you a rash on your chin because its like putting your chin on sand paper. I replaced it.

The tailpiece is good! The tailpiece is not alloy. It is plastic. Although I truly prefer plastic over metal for a tailpiece. I was never a huge fan of 4x fine tuners though, so I replaced it as well. But you can bet that I’ll be keeping the tailpiece to use on another violin.

The pegs are usable, not much to say, but I’ll replace that eventually. I still have to test them to see how they will work for me.

The rosin, despite what everyone says, is actually usable. Mine came as one piece.

The shoulder rest seems to work. not as comfortable as a wolf secondo, but if you dont have a shoulder rest, it is usable.

The case is the best I’ve seen for a budget violin outfit. it seems snug and i feel confident it will keep my violin safe.

The strings also get a bad rep. They are great starter strings, don’t throw them away, they are playable. I’m not the biggest fan of steel strings and they are too thin for my liking, but if you set up your violin properly (specifically the bridge) then they will sounds crist and clear and bright. A bit too bright for my taste though.

Mods:

I spent and additional 17 dollars to replace the chinrest, end pin, Tailpiece, and bridge (bridge was free, i had a spare uncut bridge lying around. That i ended up cutting myself to fit into this gorgeous violin)

With only a few mods and maybe 30 min of cutting a bridge + setting up the violin, I ended up with an amazing violin i’m super happy about.

February 2020 Update:
The sound didnt open up as much as I hoped it would. I guess the paint makes the sound restricted. At this rate I would not recommend purchasing this if you are hoping it will sound better later. I made some major mods on it. I replaced the fingerboard because it isnt real ebony. Upgraded the tailpiece, chin rest, and pegs to planetary tuners. It is more enjoyable to play but again, the sound is taking forever to open up.

I bought this violin back in July 2018, Mendini MV300. I am 63 and purchased it for myself. I did not want to spend a lot of money on a more expensive one and find my old body could not hold and bow it properly. I was able to.

At first I wasn’t too impressed. I was hearing professional violin sounds in my mind (no, not senility!). I was hearing the tone, not talking playing quality, I wanted in my mind, but the sound from the violin was not it, it was rather scratchy and weird, and empty. I read up and purchased Pirastro Tonica strings for it and used my cello rosin instead of what came with it. Wow, 100% better. I really liked it.

Then we, my husband and I, found a viola for sale rather inexpesively, about an hour away, so we went there to have a look. We bought the viola, it suited my purpose. While we were there, we were shown a Windsor violin outfit. It sounded pretty good (for a non-violinist test) and we bought it. I put the Celilio strings I removed from my Mendini onto my Windsor and it immediately improved in tone, but was not anything like the Mendini with the Pirastro Tonicas. Did not expect it to be, but it did sound better than the no name strings that were on it. It was a little brighter and little bit of a hollower sound than the Mendini, basically, not as good, but playable and gave a different sound.

I wanted a better violin, and in my mind I am thinking a bright violin. So we went to a violin shop an hour away and purchased a way better quality violin. After I purchased a violin that had a bright tone, I decided that bright was really not what I wanted in a violin. I brightened my cello, but that has a deep sound anyway, so there was a difference that I did not think of.

Now, this is the reason I have mentioned all of this and how it applies to my Mendini MV300. I am trading my bright good violin for a mellow dark toned violin next week, at the violin shop I purchased it at. I was curious, though. What was the difference in the sound between the three? I have learned “English Country Garden” and have it memorized. I played it on all three of my violins, and recorded them. I used the same exact bow, the one that came with the Mendini (I like it better than the carbon fiber one I purchased for the more expensive bright violin). After listening to all three, this is what I found:

Naturally, the more expensive one had more depth, tone, etc. The Windsor sounded pretty good but was weak. The Mendini with the Pirastro Tonicas sounded very clear, and has as nice sound. It is hollow, though, but it is robust. That is not a complaint. It did NOT cost a lot of money and the wood is not the age and quality of the more expensive violin.

This surprised me. It is hard to tell when you are playing it and it is right up against your ears. What I did change on the Mendini is the Celilio Strings, that were on it, to Pirastro Tonicas. I purchased a chinrest at our local music store that is more comfortable to me. It is not a center mount, it is side mount chin rest. I have no idea what brand it is. I also do not use the rosin that came with it, I used my Jade cello/violin/viola rosin (although I now use violin rosin I bought with the more expensive violin).

Now, about this Mendini. I actually like this violin. I will be using it for songs that really need a brighter sound, after I get my mellow darker toned violin. I am not going to just put it away because I have a better more expensive one. It plays well. It is very comfortable to hold. It appears to be solidly built, just not the good quality aged wood of the more expensive violins. It is definitely worth the money and is definitely a quality that a student can learn on and them step up from.

I really recommend changing the strings before using it for lessons. For some reason, from what I learned, sometimes an instructor will tell students that they need to get a better violin. They do not always realize that maybe the student can’t afford a better one and a whole can of worms is opened when (s)he tells her/his parents the instructor said I need a better violin. CHANGE the strings first! You will not believe the difference. Like I said, I did research and for what I wanted, the Pirastro Tonicas are beautiful!

I use a washcloth folded in half for a shoulder rest. I do not use the shoulder rest that came with it. I had purchased a should rest, but found that for me, the washcloth folded in half on my shoulder up by my neck, with the chin rest I purchased, is extremely comfortable. I don’t use the one I purchased. This is different for pretty much everyone, so if there are issues holding it, etc, check out your chun rest and should rest options.

This violin is simply wonderful for a beginner, and a little beyond, actually.

The look (the least important factor as far as I am concerned). I have read where people are complaining because of the satin finish, not the shiny varnishy finish. It states in the write up and shows in the photos that it is a non-shiny satin finish. I really like it! I think it has charm and is so different from other violins.

The bow. I love the bow. I love the weight of the bow. I purchased a carbon fiber bow to go with my more expensive violin that I am trading for a mellow dark tone violin. It is too light for me. Probably after I get lessons and get bow control, the lighter carbon will be nice. Right now, the bow with this violin is simply fantastic.

The case: the case is great, but there is one issue, that I just let slide by. There is a slot for two bows. One of the slots is unuseable in my case. The black clip turns to hold the bow in bow in place on one was broken when I got my violin. The top of the clip was lying in the case beside the violin. Thought I could snap it back in, but it was not just unsnapped, it was broken. That is not a deal breaker for me. It does not change my rating or feeling about this violin. It is still worth more than I paid for, in my opinion.

Bottom line, if you are a beginner or just want to see if you can actually hold and bow a violin, buy this violin. It is well worth the money and with the string upgrades and getting the shoulder rest and chin rest that fits you, using better rosin, you will have an inexpensive violin (not cheap – there is a difference) that will actually get you quite far into your violin learning. It has a great sound, although hollow due to the wood, and projects great with that string upgrade (that is key). The bow is perfect!

It’s the best 🎻 for beginners and the music emanating from this is at par with other costlier 🎻. Thanks for delivering at the given time and the response by the person at the customer care was a pleasant experience. Thanks a lot.