Ibanez no.170 ?

[Jean Nicolas poulin]

Hey i'm looking into an old ibanez from the 50', no strings on it so can't try it, just wondering if it'worth buying. Asking price is 95 $ no bridge no strings. Just want to know if Ibanez from the 50' were good players. the one i'm looking at is the 170 model . Any of you people ever tried one ?i'll try to post photos though i dont know how..

[allenhopkins]

No Google hits for M170 Ibanez mandolins, and I'd be more than surprised if Ibanez was making mandolins in the 1950's. The Hoshino Gakki Co. in Japan didn't begin manufacturing guitars until 1957, according to the Wikipedia article on Ibanez. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibanez)

I'd be dubious about paying around $100 for an Asian-made mandolin with no bridge or strings; you could get a discounted Rover RM-50 (http://www.instrumentalley.com/Rover-RM-50-Mandolin-All-Solid-A-Model-p/rm-50.htm?gclid=CMTg1v_pzs8CFQMehgodnyAMNA&Click=21214) for about the same price. It would come with a bridge and strings, though you'd probably need to get it set up if it came from a low-end discount store. And it would be all solid woods, and (machine) carved.

You might get a gem, and if you're not risk-averse, and don't mind possibly throwing away $95 -- but it'll cost you more than half that to get a bridge, strings, and a set-up, even if you have a friend who does set-ups at cost.

[darrylicshon]

I agree i haven't seen or heard of any form the 50's , but if you can post a photo, we might be able to help identify it

[Jean Nicolas poulin]

Thanks for the reply. Hey how can i ad photos from my android cell ? i do not find any way to make it happen...As for the Ibanez, as much as i'd love to get it i could not get the seller to lower his price and i just found out the tail piece is broken. Too many fixes to be worth the trouble... Anyways i ll try to post photos if some gentle soul shows me how to...