Mendini Pocket Trumpet Review and Guide [2022]

Summary: This Mendini Pocket Trumpet Review and Guide will explain the good, bad, and ugly about the Mendini pocket trumpet and if it is the right fit for you. 

If you are interested in playing a pocket trumpet or have a family member interested in a smaller trumpet, the Mendini pocket trumpet is a great option.

I recommend it for all ages, and I personally have a great deal of fun playing this trumpet. Mendini makes many reliable instruments for students, especially brass instruments like trumpets and trombones. 

Bottomline Up Front

This Mendini pocket trumpet review and guide help you figure out if the Mendini pocket trumpet is a good fit for you. I considered the quality, ease of play, accessories that come with it, and customer reviews, and overall, I think it is a great pocket trumpet for beginners. 

Mendini Pocket Trumpet Review and Guide

This Mendini Pocket Trumpet Review and Guide knows that a lot goes into choosing an instrument.  That is why I think it is important that you try multiple models, talk with other players or your teacher, and figure out what works for your situation. So let’s start with a review and then a guide on choosing the right instrument for you. 

Firstly, let me clarify that a pocket trumpet is a legitimate instrument. Many people wonder whether the Mendini pocket trumpet is a gimmick, or a joke, like a toy violin for children.

It is small (and frankly, adorable) and affordable, but it is a legitimate trumpet that is certainly not a novelty. You can use it in a professional environment or for casual performances. It might be much smaller than standard trumpets, but it can produce the same sound quality.

Review

The Mendini Pocket Trumpet is a small, fun instrument to play. It is something you can play whether you have some experience with other trumpets or no experience whatsoever. 

Pros

• Good valves
• Good balance, even for larger hands
• Has basic accessories with it
• Warm, round sound

Cons

• Cheap quality

This is a nickel-plated trumpet tuned to B flat. If you are a beginner, this is precisely what you want. The build quality is not the best.

To be clear, when you hold this particular trumpet in your hand, you know you are holding a beginner model or a student model. This does not mean it is bad; it just means that it is more affordable quality, so it is something that does its job but is not going to blow you out of the water in terms of the quality of construction.

It is a small trumpet that cannot fit in your pocket but can undoubtedly fit in your hand. And when you hold it in your hand, you will probably notice it has good balance. I have one adult student who is a very tall man with very large hands.

This particular trumpet is a little small for him, but he is 6 ft 5 in, and his hands are about 8in long and quite thick. I do not know anyone else who has problems with the balance. It is just fine for most people; it works well for me and is especially great for children. 

I highly recommend this pocket trumpet for beginners and students because of its responsiveness in particular.

It does not take a lot of effort or endurance to play this specific instrument, so a beginner who might not be able to play a full-size trumpet can start with this smaller, pocket trumpet and develop the endurance, lip strength, and breathing techniques they need before they transition to something more difficult. 

Specifications

• Nickel plated
• B flat 
• 7C mouthpiece
• 3.75-inch bell size
• 0.46 inch bore size
• Comes with a chromatic tuner
• Comes with a hard case
• Comes with a polishing cloth and beginner valve oil

I like this model because most cheaper trumpets have many problems with the valves, but I didn’t find that to be the case with this model. I really like how well the valves work and what they feel like.

The valves are relatively quiet, so the audience will not be focused on the mechanical sound of your springs but rather the sound you produce. The springs could benefit from additional tension, but that is not a problem for beginners, so, again, this is a good fit for a younger player or someone new to music. 

I love any instrument that comes with accessories, especially if the instrument is meant for beginners. There is nothing more frustrating for myself or my students than trying to buy a new instrument and finding out that you need to purchase five or six other things before you can play.

So, I greatly appreciate for myself and my students that this pocket trumpet, like many Mendini products, comes with accessories like the hard case in which to store the trumpet, the polishing cloth, and valve oil, as well as the Chromatic tuner. 

In terms of the sound, I really like how warm and loud it is. However, there are some problems with the tone when you go down to any note below low C. Anything in the middle register, or upper register will sound just fine. For beginners and students, this will not even be noticeable. 

In the video below, you can hear what it sounds like:

Now that you have a better idea of why this particular model might be well-suited to beginners, there are a few other things to take into consideration. The second part of this Mendini pocket trumpet review and guide will explain that. 

Guide

Before you run out and buy the Mendini pocket trumpet, I would advise you to follow this guide for picking a pocket trumpet or any other trumpet.

Have a Budget

The Mendini pocket trumpet fits into a lot of people’s budgets because it comes from a company that specializes in providing affordable, beginner instruments. But you should still have a budget when you set out to buy a new instrument.

I recommend knowing how much you’re willing to spend and taking into consideration the features and accessories you get from different companies.

There might be a reason one company costs a little bit more than another. That additional upfront investment could be worth the accessories or the higher quality production you get.

Know Your Skills

You have to know your skillset. If you do not know much about music, and you do not know what your skills are, then at the very least, you know you are a beginner.

If you have a couple of years of practice with a trumpet, you are probably at an intermediate level, especially if you have been taking music classes or music lessons. It is good to know your skillset because that will help you decide if Mendini is a good fit for you.

I recommend this Mendini pocket trumpet for beginners and students as well as intermediate players. So if you know that you are a beginner or you know that you are an intermediate player, then you know that this trumpet might be a good fit for you. I do not recommend it for advanced players or professionals.

Try Multiple Models

Even if the first Mendini pocket trumpet you try sounds excellent and works well for you, do not be afraid to try a few more that fall into whatever your budget or preferences are.

You might very well end up choosing the Mendini pocket trumpet, but it is always useful to know what other options you have before you make that decision.

Similarly, you might discover that you actually like a different trombone better than the first one. Comparing different options, so long as they fall within your budget, can give you the best chance of picking an instrument well suited to your musical needs.

Tip: When you try different models, always play the same song on different instruments. You do not want to try three or four different songs on three or four different instruments because you will not compare each of them properly.

To really pay attention to the sounds, the tonal qualities, the higher registers, or lower registers, you need to play the same thing each time. Do not be afraid to record yourself as well. Most people can easily record audio on their phones, so do that.

If you are at a music store, just make sure you ask them ahead of time, but in almost all cases, they are happy for you to record yourself so that you can hear the differences during your evaluation. 

Talk to Other Trombone Players or Teachers

Suppose you are on the fence about buying a pocket trumpet in general or about purchasing the Mendini pocket trumpet.

In that case, I recommend you speak with other trombone players, with friends you have who have played a pocket trumpet, or with music teachers. If you have a music teacher or take music lessons, talk to them about what they recommend, given how much they know about your musical experience.

Be Patient

Deciding to buy a new instrument is a big deal. It can be far too easy to want something right away. I have plenty of students who come to me asking if they should get Instrument X or Instrument Y, and they want an answer right away.

They do not want to evaluate or consider their budget or hear about the pros and cons of each; they just want to be told what to do so they can have an instrument immediately.

Try to exercise patience and not be afraid to take your time, and not purchase the first instrument you look into or the cheapest instrument just because it is the cheapest.

FAQs

Bottomline

The bottom line is that this Mendini pocket trumpet review and guide gives the Mendini pocket trumpet to thumbs up.

If you are looking for a great pocket trumpet for a beginner or an intermediate player, this one is a lot of fun to play. It has good sound, particularly for the middle and higher registers, the valves are good, it is easy to play, and it comes with basic accessories like a polishing cloth and a hard case.

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