I got this piccolo for a starter instrument. Something new. Something exciting. Something that would make me feel alive again. The first day I got it I was so hyped. I hadn't felt so excited for a looong time. I opened the package desperately awaiting the sight of my new instrument. It came nicely in a case with a cleaning cloth and crisp white gloves (one was a bit torn.) It also had some cork grease. The moment I made a sound I fell in love. The next day I practiced on getting a great in tune sound. I was pumped. Throughout the entire day my family could hear my piccolo upstairs. In the afternoon, I left it on my desk. I came back only to realize that the lowest note in the first two octaves would not come out. By this time I had a nice crisp sound on the pic, and felt like my sound could not have been the reason it would not come out. Then I realized a spring had already popped ON DAY 2. I was angry. I returned the piccolo that day, with a broken heart and an angry conscience.

This piccolo has helped me out tremendously on learning the instrument itself, I bought this piccolo 2 years ago now and I actually STILL have it! And its still in good working condition! It is definitely a beginners piccolo. I play on a professional piccolo now normally and going back to playing this one I can obviously tell the price and the beginner sound of it. But it plays at a GREAT quality for the money I paid. Definitely recommend this to beginners on piccolo!

(The picture is a recent picture of it-two years later)

This is only the second piccolo I have played. I bought a "Glory" pic from Amazon about a month ago for about the same price and decided to try a "Mendini" pic for fun and to compare. This "Mendini" pic has a better response. For the record I play sax and flute. I've played in community college jazz band and concert band. I don't know if this pic would be acceptable for a school band or ensemble playing. I'm not confident enough in my evaluation of the intonation of the instrument. I suspect a rental might be a better way to go for serious study if a "name brand" purchase is out of budget range. From going over many reviews it seems at least some band directors consider these non "name brand" instruments anywhere from unreliable to just plain junk and can be harsh in their assessments. I didn't want to spend hundreds of dollars and find out the piccolo wasn't my thing and I didn't have a convenient rental option in my area so I decided to try this low price route. This "Mendini" pic has a fair enough tone to my ear (I've only been dealing with the 1st two octaves). Key action seems okay. I'm no technician so only time will tell as far as durability but as someone who has played a number woodwind instruments over the years it feels pretty good. If it lasts for a few months I'll consider it an okay one time "try out" purchase. I've only played it four of five times so far. I doubt whether I would even consider taking this pic into a shop for repair of even one spring or one pad (I've heard some techs won't deal with these low price instruments and an hours shop labor is close to the price of the instrument in my area). The pic looks great and does not look "cheap" to my eye. Bottom line for 50 to 60 bucks right now I'm happy with the purchase.

First off I'm a clarinet player and I just wanted a instrument to challenge me. I ordered this because it has great reviews and seemed very high quality for the price. It came in 2 days with amazons lovely prime shipping. Once I opened it up i quickly tried to play a note. By surprise I made a sound even though I have no flute or piccolo experience. The case is the only thing to complain about. It is very cheap but the piccolo is amazing. If you are looking for a instrument to mess around with; this is it. I highly recommend!

Very good for pep bands and marching band