This mandolin is built on the teardrop with A-style. Ibanez M522 F-style mandolin The M522 F-style instrument provides musicians with a great amount of volume and tone, while also serving an elegant cosmetic appearance. Prime members enjoy FREE Delivery and exclusive access to music, movies, TV shows, original audio series, and Kindle books. Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Ibanez M522S F-Style Mandolin Dark Violin Sunburst at Amazon.com. You can still see all customer reviews for the product. Ibanez’s M522SBS F-Style Mandolin is a high-quality and easy to play instrument. I had purchased a low cost, low quality mandolin from another site. The clear coating is uneven and there are places missed and very sloppy. In terms of playability, the M522S has a quick, flat fingerboard and nicely dressed frets, enabling fast tremolo picking, chording, and all the bluegrass pull-offs you want. For the price, I expected far less imperfections. Ibanez M522 F-style Mandolin A classically designed F-style instrument inspired by the first run of Ibanez mandolins in the 70s and 80s, the M522 offers serious tone and volume, along with an elegant design straight out of history. I purchased the M522 Dark Violin Sunburst for the looks and Ibanez brand name. Info: ibanez.com. In fact, this instrument is so affordable, it could be included on our review of the most affordable classical guitars. */ Throughout our studio and live tests, the M522S proved itself a rock-solid budget performer and possessed the kind of value for which Ibanez is known. I am new to playing Mandolin. If you want to dip your toes in the F-style pool for a very modest investment, the M522S will do the job. The flat, bound fingerboard is rosewood with pearloid block inlays and 24 frets (nut width is 1.18″). I am very disappointed in the appearance of the instrument. Their mandolin was not very sturdy and would not hold tune. I have had other Ibanez products and have always been satisfied. It was also a third the price. But for $300 it's not a bad mandolin. Ibanez M522 F-style Mandolin A classically designed F-style instrument inspired by the first run of Ibanez mandolins in the 70s and 80s, the M522 offers serious tone and volume, along with an elegant design straight out of history. It’s not the sweet sound of a well-aged vintage piece, but it’s also not the trebly squawk of some budget mandos we’ve heard. Great cheap mandolin pickups for acoustic and electric mandolin. Overall Rating – 4.3 of 5. The chrome hardware enhances the appearance of the mandolin making it more attractive. Ibanez M522S F-Style Mandolin Dark Violin Sunburst. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. On a weekend of gigs, it held like a champ, requiring only minor adjustments over two nights of performances. Its hardware was acceptable, especially compared with those very low-end mandos that are challenging to keep in tune. #mc-embedded-subscribe-form .mc_fieldset{border:none;min-height: 0px;padding-bottom:0px;}. I bought this as a gift and I'm embarrassed. Certainly, pear-shaped “A-style” instruments are more common in the under-$300 category, but for folks who crave that archtop Florentine design (bringing to mind Bill Monroe and the venerable Gibson F-5), the appeal here is obvious. No regrets here. Michael Kelly MKLDFAVS Legacy Dragonfly Flame Mandolin #mc_embed_signup{clear:left; font:12px Arvo,serif; width:100%;} I can get one for ~$200. It only sounded good after new strings were installed but the bright tone of new strings faded quickly. Keeps in tune, no matter the weather. Even, since the turn of the 21st century, the mandolin has seen a rise in popularity. List of best mandolin pickup reviews. Reviewed in the United States on October 12, 2020. There's a problem loading this menu right now. Have owned an Ibanez 5 string banjo for over 30 years and it has served me well. After changing out the crappy strings to Elixir medium gauge and getting a professional set up, I believe I have one fine entry level mandolin. The Ibanez products I am very familiar with. Strings are cheap, three of the tuning pegs are no good, will have to replace both sides of tuners, scroll wasn’t even finished, and if that’s not enough it didn’t even come with the picks and clip on tuner, not happy... After viewing product detail pages, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in. Very nice instrument. In fact, quite a few in the audiences at the live gigs commented favorably on the clear, chiming tone. For three bills, you get a sweet-looking F-style with a fast neck and reliable tuning. #mergeRow-gdpr fieldset label {font-weight: normal;} Post was not sent - check your email addresses! If you’re a guitarist looking to make the mando move, we can give this entry-level model the thumbs-up. Please make sure that you are posting in the form of a question. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. In hindsight I probably would have spent a few more hundred and gotten a higher quality. Very nice instrument. Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2019. How good are the Ibanez mandolins? Received well set up with no bridge adjustments needed. I will keep trying to get the instrument that will work for me. Selecting mandolin can always be a challenge. Now, let’s go through a few mandolin reviews so that we end up picking the best! Thanks to acts such as the Avett Brothers, Mumford & Sons, and the Punch Brothers, the mandolin is suddenly hip again, particularly among guitarists interested in expanding their stringed horizons. #mergeRow-gdpr {margin-top: 0px;} So that’s for we provided a buyer’s guide and list of the best f style mandolins in this review. The body featured cream binding and its back and sides were richly flamed. Discover the best pickup brands for mandolin like K&K, Fishman, LR Baggs, etc. While the construction that’s on this mandolin isn’t of the best quality, it does provide musicians with the ability to purchase a decent quality F-style mandolin without having to drop a whole lot of extra cash. Another great choice in mandolins is the Ibanez M510DVS Mandolin. Built in China, the M522S has the level of construction and detail one would expect for a street price of $299. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. And I have to say it's a very handsome F-Style mandolin. Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2017. Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users. While the lower-end mando market is pretty crowded, the Ibanez M522S is one of the few F-style instruments in the price range. Be notified when the next “Overdrive” and other great offers from VG become available! I'll probably be replacing those. The Ibanez M522 is a high-end F-style mandolin for the beginner who wants the best in terms of quality and sound. #mc-embedded-subscribe-form input[type=checkbox]{display: inline; width: auto;margin-right: 10px;} Makes learning fun. The low G string slipped its gear on a few occasions during tune-up, requiring more ginger peg twisting, but once there this eight-string stayed solidly in tune. Intonation is spot on. It is designed to be affordable as well as professional. Reviewed in the United States on August 16, 2017. This article originally appeared in VG August 2016 issue. This page works best with JavaScript. I'm debating right now what kind of an aftermarket pickup I want to install on it. Obviously, a mandolin is not a guitar. Ibanez’s M522SBS F-Style Mandolin is a high-quality and easy to play instrument.