newest f style mando from ibanez compared to epi /fender

[goldfox]

i have a chance to buy one for less then half of the cost for a new one,,was wondering if anyone out there has played these,and how they compare to the fenders/epi/morgan m for sound ,i understand they have a solid pressed top,,thanks

[mandroid]

Just sayin' Mass produced things made of wood by humans , will have variations within the product run..
so if you have a chance to visit a warehouse full of hundereds of them , Great !
play a bunch and take the one you like best, Home.

[Mandobart]

I have an Ibanez F (Model M522S) that I bought two years ago for about $ 300. Not a bad mando to learn on, however, not a high quality instrument. One of the tuner knobs cracked in half shortly after I started playing it. The nut also chipped off a corner a while back. I don't know how it compares to other low end mandos, since I haven't played many. One local shop carries epiphones, but they are so poorly set-up (straight out of the box, no attempt to set the intonation or even tune) that it is hard to compare them. After fitting the bridge and adjusting intonation, I added an armrest and a toneguard. This is now my camping/learning luthiery instrument now. I made a quick demo video to give an idea of the sound, after being played pretty hard for the past two years. I'm going to be replacing the nut, then doing another video to see if the sound improves.

moNWz4cAvis

[goldfox]

hey,that looks just like it,,thanks for the demo,ill be happy if the one am getting sounds like that

[ibanezae]

So would you recommend the ibanez over other mandolins in the 300 price range?

[raulb]

I don't know about the newer Ibanez models, but I have a '78 F-style (Model 524) that I bought new and I have never found a Gibson, Weber, or any other brand, that I liked the quality, sound or feel of better!!! Although a Collings did come awfully close!!

[Mandobart]

I have NFI in any of these, but if I wanted to spend ~ $300 - $500, I would look at these from the classifieds and skip the Ibanez:

Kentucky KM505 (http://www.mandolincafe.com/cgi-bin/classifieds/classifieds.cgi?search_and_display_db_button=on&db_id=43724&query=retrieval)
Mid Missouri M-4 (http://www.mandolincafe.com/cgi-bin/classifieds/classifieds.cgi?search_and_display_db_button=on&db_id=43618&query=retrieval)
Loar Mandolin Lm-500Vs (http://www.mandolincafe.com/cgi-bin/classifieds/classifieds.cgi?search_and_display_db_button=on&db_id=43458&query=retrieval)

My Ibanez is a decent enough instrument, but as I get better quality handbuilt instruments I see the shortcomings in tone and build quality all the more. I think you will get a better quality instrument through the cafe classifieds for the same or a little more $$. I wish I had found the cafe BEFORE I bought my Ibanez. Anyway, it is my camping/practice luthiery instrument now.