A few days ago I pulled my Ibanez 524 out of its case, tuned it and and played it. I haven't played it for a long time since I've been playing my Weber Big Sky these past 18 odd years.
I bought the Ibanez brand new as a 16 year old. It took forever to come in, i mean months. I flipped a lot of Big Macs to pay for it. Back in the day I was so proud of my new mandolin and thought it was the greatest (maybe because it looked like a Gibson). After I bought my Weber years later I really could hear the difference.
After playing it these past few days the Ibanez has seemed to open back up. It has a narrow flat fretboard,really great highs, but the bass is really lacking. If you look at the wood thickness of the top you can see its pretty thick on the bass side and thin on the treble.
The Weber on the other hand is a cannon. It has a radiused fretboard, X Braced and its really loud. It has great bass and really great treble as well. I've replaced the Brekke bridge with a Cumberland Acoustic once upon a time as well.
There definitely is a difference in the $600 1977 Ibanez and the $3500 Weber. Its interesting how much the binding yellowed on the Ibanez. Its also picked up a crack sometime in the past below the tailpiece. Its still pretty. Now I need to break out the old Harmony Monterrey I learned on as another fun check!
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