M510E Acoustic-electric Mandolin - Dark Violin Sunburst High Gloss

I bought this instrument to complement my band's live performance sound. It does exactly what I want it to do: it sounds great amplified. The sound from the magnetic pickup is rich and bright, and the pickup height can be adjusted on each end to bring out more bass or treble. It doesn't sound half bad unamplified either, but really, if you want a good acoustic mandolin, go for one with a solid spruce top with no pickup (or pickguard, hand rest, etc.) to weigh it down or mute the soundboard. I had no trouble setting the bridge and the intonation. The fret spacing is correct and the neck is true. There is a truss rod, which I haven't had to touch. And some reviewers have issues with the tuners, but for me the stock tuners are doing fine (see below). Setup: * The bridge will make better contact with the top of the instrument if you contour it: hold some sandpaper under the feet and move it back and forth in the spot you want it to be (typically between the flared midpoints of the f-holes). * Adjust the intonation by checking the 12th fret harmonic as you move the bridge. The harmonic should match the frequency of the note you get when you play at the 12th fret. * I set the bridge at the lowest possible setting. Some people even take the threaded posts out of the bridge and saw them shorter to achieve lower action, which I may try at some point. If I mess up the bridge, oh well -- it was probably a $5 bridge. There are nice ebony bridges on Amazon for ~$20, which I may upgrade to at some point. * The tuners worked fine for me once I tightened the small screws in the middle of the gears. (They were all quite loose.) With new strings, wound several times at each post instead of once, it is staying in tune quite well. I'd consider upgrading with new tuners from Stewart-MacDonald, but this is fine for now. * Check the thin hex nut that holds the 1/4" output jack. Mine was quite loose, but once it was tightened, the jack felt good and solid. Note about mandolin picks: If you're like me, you started on guitar and didn't realize mandolin picks existed. Turns out they are pretty nice. A small investment here will improve your sound. Unlike guitar picks, they are stiff, rounded, and glossy. A stiff guitar pick can come close, if you play with one of the rounded corners and not the point. I use a Jim Dunlop Stubby 2.0mm, but also recommend Golden Gate MP12, or Grisman Dawg. If you have more to spend, I recommend the Blue Chip TD35; the speed bevel works amazingly well, and it sounds clean and clear. It might sound strange to invest $30-40 in a pick, but it's an instant upgrade to all of your plucked instruments in one swoop.

For $200…? What are you expecting? This thing is solidly built. Why fret boogers are worth the five minutes. Sounds awesome amplified. Tunes to fourths very well. Plays great. :)

Amazing deal for the money. I needed a mandolin for a series of shows and I didn't want to hassle with installing a pickup. This fit the bill perfectly. Played well right out of the box. Has an adjustable truss rod, but didn't need to adjust it yet. Tuners did their job, never needed to re-tune during a show. My only quibble would be the output level of the pickup. It was not loud enough at first. I raised the height of the pickup and that helped. Still the volume is too low; I really needed to crank up the gain on my sub mixer. I'm going to explore acoustic instrument preamps to try boost the gain, and get more EQ options. Otherwise, highly recommended!

go tones, stays in tune, and sounds good through an acoustic amp. Ive played a few gigs with it and it has been a solid instrument.

The instrument looks good, ut is not set up, as sweetwater and other venues include. The sound is not great after my attempts and I will need to take it to a luthier at added expense to get it (hopefully) sounding better.

Ibanez once again delivers a great instrument that’s comfortable, set up perfectly with good action, stays in tune, easy to intonate. I was a fan of Ibanez guitars and wanted to learn Mandolin. I had another mandolin but it was a piece of junk from a flea market. When I saw this I had to have it. For the price, this is a very good instrument, and the fact that it’s also electric is an added bonus. I’ve already performed at church with this thing and I like it a lot. I play it often. Bluegrass and Irish folk.

Good quality instrument. Keep in mind that this is factory fresh...meaning that the last hands to touch it were at the factory... So a basic set up is required... Not too difficult if you are familiar with the mechanics of stringed instruments... If not then take it to someone who is. Acoustically the supplied strings are terrible so replace them at set up. The pick up has a nice full sound to it.

It has a great sound well constructed a real value at that price! I’ve seen mandolins they were nowhere near this nice at a much higher price

Quality poor. Playing very difficult on the very narrow neck. Sound quality poor. I would definitely try and get more cash to put towards an Ozark mandolin. This Ibanez is rubbish.

This can be ordered elsewhere for less - I paid the price advertised as it was supposed to include a case - it did not...