Mendini by Cecilio 5-Piece Junior Drum Set Review

The Mendini by Cecilio 5-Piece Junior Drum Set is a fully functional and adjustable drum set. It is designed to be a quality starter drum set for any young drummer.

A drummers first drum set is one of the most important drum sets they will ever own.

This is because, if it makes them want to play, it will encourage them. Making them want to practice and improve. If however, it doesn’t make them want to play. Their drumming future is over.

But does the Mendini 5 Drum Set fill this important role in the development of any drummer? Read on and find out…

Our rating: (4.2 / 5)

Check Price on Amazon

I’m not a drummer, which drum set do I choose for my child?

Choosing the best children’s drum set can be very difficult. Especially if you’re not a drummer yourself and have no drummer friends.

If you get the choice right, your son or daughter will have a lot of fun. And may go on to greater things. If you get it wrong, the drum set might just end up as a big lump in the corner of a spare room.

Drum Sets designed for children, tend to fall into two categories. At the cheaper end, you have drum-set shaped Toys. Great for banging on to get rid of some stress, but not, in any way musical.

At the other end of the scale, you have smaller versions of proper adult drum kits. These look, feel and sound a lot closer to the real thing. The Mendini 5-Piece Junior Drum Set is one of these.

So now that we’ve established that its a mini version of a full size ‘real’ drum kit lets get into the details…

Is the Mendini 5-piece Drum Set suitable for my child?

The Mendini Junior Drum Set is fully-adjustable. And is suitable for children between 2.5ft and 5ft tall. But an important consideration is how many years will your child play this drum kit.

I would suggest that it is a far better kit for smaller children. Who can enjoy it and grow with it over the years.

Taller children may not only outgrow it very quickly. They might also find it restricting to play as they get bigger.

To play well, a drummer has to have space. If they can not play freely, because the size of the drum set is limiting them, they will not play well.

And more importantly, not enjoying playing, may make them lose interest in the instrument.

I would advise taller children within this size range (anyone over 4 foot tall) to get a full-sized kit. Such as the Mendini 5-piece Adult Drum Set and let them grow into that. Even if they struggle with the size a little early on.

What’s included with the Mendini junior drum set?

There is one feature that sets the Mendini junior drum set apart from its competitors. It’s the fact that it actually has all the same basic parts as a real drum set. And they are almost all set up in exactly the same way.

This has two advantages. Firstly, when its time to move on to a bigger kit, most things will be in exactly the same place.

And secondly, and most importantly. When your child sees a famous drummer behind their drum set on TV or on the internet, their drum set will look the same.

This motivates children. Because they see their drumming heroes hitting a similar looking drum kit to theirs. Not a plastic toy drum set.

The Mendini junior drum set comes with everything you need to start playing right out of the box. These include…

The Instructions and Assembly

The instructions are brief but comprehensive. They do, however, assume that the person putting the drum set together knows something about drums. Which is understandably not always the case.

If you don’t know your way around a drum kit. Watch a few Youtube videos about setting up a basic drum set. It will make the assembly process a lot easier, and familiarise you with the terms used.

But what does the Mendini junior drum set sound like?

This is always the hardest part of any instrument review. Because it is so subjective and the price has to be fairly considered.

Let’s start by being completely honest. If you’re expecting the Mendini to sound like a top of the range Yamaha, Gretch or Ludwig. You’re going to be very disappointed. A snare drum alone for one of those kits could cost four times the price of this entire drum set.

So ignoring the sound of high-end drum kits. For the price, the Mendini junior drum set sounds very good on the whole.

The snare and all the toms producing a great sound for the price. The bass drum, unfortunately, isn’t as good. But is still usable. The cymbals are also a little cheap sounding, but still OK for the price.

But remember this is the opinion of someone who knows what quality kits sound like.

Children usually don’t care that much about the sound. They are much more interested in hitting the drums and having fun.

Your child will obviously care more about the sound as they develop as a drummer. But, by then they will have outgrown this drum set anyway. And moved on to bigger and better sounding kits.

Another point worth mentioning is that even the best drum kits I have ever worked with, need adjustments. This also applies to cheaper kits.

If you have a friend who is a drummer, invite them over and get them to tune the Mendini for you. You won’t believe the difference. While they are there, get them to dampen the kick drum with a blanket and tape up the heads.

Better still, get them to replace the snare drum head and kick drum head with higher quality ones. Your reasonably priced drum kit will now start sounding a lot more expensive.

If you haven’t got a drummer friend, check out Youtube. It has loads of videos on drum tuning, dampening, how and where to tape up drum heads, etc.

Build and Color Options

As mentioned, the Mendini by Cecilio 5-Piece Junior Drum Set is not a toy. It is manufactured from sturdy, durable materials, mostly wood, and metal. And isn’t easily broken by even the roughest little drummers.

All the drums have replaceable heads. Every drum head will either wear out or break over time. When they do, just replace them. Preferably with higher quality heads, therefore improving the sound.

It also has a good quality drum throne, that should last many years.

It comes in six different colors. These are Metallic Bright Red, Metallic Wine Red, Metallic Black, Metallic Blue, Metallic Green, and Metallic Silver.

Warranty

The Mendini 5-Piece Junior Drum Set comes with a 1-year warranty against any manufacturer’s defects.

Pros Of Mendini by Cecilio 5-Piece Junior Drum Set

Cons Of Mendini by Cecilio 5-Piece Junior Drum Set

Conclusion – Is the Mendini Junior the right Drum Set for your Child?

The Mendini has everything you need to get set up and playing in no time at all. It is perfect for any young drummer that is too small for a full-size set.

If your child wants to enjoy the experience of playing real drums, not a toy. Then this is the drum set for them!

For the price, the Mendini junior drum set is an amazing deal. This drum set will bring your little drummer a lot of fun. Which is actually the most important factor when starting out.