Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited. For three bills, you get a sweet-looking F-style with a fast neck and reliable tuning. Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2017. Now, let’s go through a few mandolin reviews so that we end up picking the best! A beautifully made mandolin in its price range. The body featured cream binding and its back and sides were richly flamed. In hindsight I probably would have spent a few more hundred and gotten a higher quality. Info: ibanez.com. I purchased the M522 Dark Violin Sunburst for the looks and Ibanez brand name. For the price, I expected far less imperfections. The strings it comes with need to be replaced, I was hoping for better tuning pegs. It only sounded good after new strings were installed but the bright tone of new strings faded quickly. I like it especially an F style mandolin. 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. The Ibanez M522 is a high-end F-style mandolin for the beginner who wants the best in terms of quality and sound. (looking for first mando on pauper's wages...) Thanks, Nick In fact, this instrument is so affordable, it could be included on our review of the most affordable classical guitars. Intonation is spot on. No regrets here. 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. I will keep trying to get the instrument that will work for me. Have owned an Ibanez 5 string banjo for over 30 years and it has served me well. Great cheap mandolin pickups for acoustic and electric mandolin. #mc-embedded-subscribe-form input[type=checkbox]{display: inline; width: auto;margin-right: 10px;} Built in China, the M522S has the level of construction and detail one would expect for a street price of $299. 4.0 out of 5 stars Ibanez m522s f-style mandolin Reviewed in the United States on January 14, 2020 Color: Brown Sunburst Verified Purchase I liked that this mandolin was in great shape overall. Makes learning fun. I figured I got what I paid for and knew I needed an upgrade. 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. For all the pro musicians who are looking for the best F-style mandolin under 500, Ibanez has a gift! I'm torn between the LR Baggs or a Myer pickup. And I know this mandolin will do the same. It was also a third the price. The M522S has gold hardware, including eight open-gear tuners and a tailpiece with an adjustable wood bridge. Overall Rating – 4.3 of 5. You won't regret it. 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. (The M522S is also available in Dark Violin Sunburst.) #mc_embed_signup{clear:left; font:12px Arvo,serif; width:100%;} 1. 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. This works for now. Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2019. #mergeRow-gdpr {margin-top: 0px;} Michael Kelly MKLDFAVS Legacy Dragonfly Flame Mandolin On a weekend of gigs, it held like a champ, requiring only minor adjustments over two nights of performances. Reviewed in the United States on October 12, 2020. I had purchased a low cost, low quality mandolin from another site. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. It also analyzes reviews to verify trustworthiness. I bought this as a gift and I'm embarrassed. I am partial to Ibanez guitars, but have no idea about the quality of thier mandos. If you’re a guitarist looking to make the mando move, we can give this entry-level model the thumbs-up. Keeps in tune, no matter the weather. I'm debating right now what kind of an aftermarket pickup I want to install on it. Had to change the strings because I am a beginner. If you want to dip your toes in the F-style pool for a very modest investment, the M522S will do the job. You can still see all customer reviews for the product. /* Add your own Mailchimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. Discover the best pickup brands for mandolin like K&K, Fishman, LR Baggs, etc. 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. When you look at the price scale, you get what you pay for. Selecting mandolin can always be a challenge. I liked that this mandolin was in great shape overall. How good are the Ibanez mandolins? Obviously, a mandolin is not a guitar. CHECK CURRENT PRICE . Reviewed in the United States on April 16, 2018. Your recently viewed items and featured recommendations, Select the department you want to search in, Reviewed in the United States on June 17, 2018. That’s for mandolin looking to branch out their first instrument should all give the mandolin a try. Reviewed in the United States on August 16, 2017. I am very disappointed in the appearance of the instrument. Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2018, Reviewed in the United States on December 27, 2019. Though it should be noted Ibanez makes A-style mandolins of equal quality for even less money, such as the M510 and the electrified M510E. */ 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. This page works best with JavaScript. This article originally appeared in VG August 2016 issue. But again, many regard the archtop F-style as more desirable, which helps make the M522S so notable in this price category. The chrome hardware enhances the appearance of the mandolin making it more attractive. Even, since the turn of the 21st century, the mandolin has seen a rise in popularity. Great sound, easy to play. Very nice instrument. Rating and Reviews: Ibanez M522S Mandolin This beautiful F-style mando boasts a solid spruce top and flamed maple back and sides, for a sweet, melodic sound that bluegrass and folk fans will love. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. Again, we’ll note the tuning-peg issue, but you have to compare price to features. It is designed to be affordable as well as professional. Prime members enjoy FREE Delivery and exclusive access to music, movies, TV shows, original audio series, and Kindle books. While the lower-end mando market is pretty crowded, the Ibanez M522S is one of the few F-style instruments in the price range. Their mandolin was not very sturdy and would not hold tune. The M522S has a maple body, a solid spruce top, and a mahogany neck with a 13.78″ scale. Reviewed in the United States on January 14, 2020. Tune its paired strings to traditional G-D-A-E (low to high) or the more guitarist-friendly G-D-A-D, and off you go. Ibanez’s M522SBS F-Style Mandolin is a high-quality and easy to play instrument. The clear coating is uneven and there are places missed and very sloppy. But for $300 it's not a bad mandolin. There's a problem loading this menu right now. I am very disappointed in the appearance of the instrument, Reviewed in the United States on April 28, 2017. Disabling it will result in some disabled or missing features. Be notified when the next “Overdrive” and other great offers from VG become available! Ibanez M522S F-Style Mandolin Dark Violin Sunburst. The pictures of it looked great, but after several hours of trying to get it to tune, I lost all interest in it. It makes the Ibanez Mandolin strong and sturdy. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. In conclusion, if you're looking for a fine entry level mandolin and you can't part with $5400 for a Gibson than I highly recommend the Ibanez M5222SBS mandolin. 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. Ibanez’s M522SBS F-Style Mandolin is a high-quality and easy to play instrument.