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Ibanez M510E A-Style Acoustic-Electric Mandolin

Ibanez mandolins are built with quality components and offer pro features & construction, without the high-end price tag. The Ibanez M510E mandolin is an acoustic-electric instrument with a single coil magnetic pickup with Volume & Tone controls, a spruce top, a mahogany body and chrome tuners. Learn More...

    • New $179.95
    • free ground shipping
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Overall User Ratings

Overall:
* * * * * * * . . . 7 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * * * . . . 7 out of 10
Quality:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Value:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
I Want It:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Ease of Use:
* * * * * . . . . . 5 out of 10
Support:
* . . . . . . . . . 1 out of 10

Individual User Ratings

Overall:
* * * * * . . . . . 5 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Quality:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Value:
* * * * * * * . . . 7 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * * . . . 7 out of 10
Ease of Use:
* . . . . . . . . . 1 out of 10
Support:
* . . . . . . . . . 1 out of 10

Feature:
It's an electric mandolin, which by construct makes it more feature-rich than most mandolins.

Quality:
Other mandolins I've tried in a slightly lower price range used the term "laminate wood" to basically refer to cardboard. The structural integrity of the body is no solid-wood masterpiece, but it's more than reasonable for the price.

Sound:
Sounds better than a $100 mandolin I bought previously, and not as good as $300 mandolins I tried at stores. Basically an appropriate level of sound quality for the price.

Ease of Use:
I find it outright deceptive on both the part of Ibanez and ZZounds that nowhere in marketing materials is it even mentioned that this instruments ships with the bridge not installed. A customer is expected to install the bridge with no guidance, which can only lead to problems with intonation and action. Absurd, but more importantly very deceptive. Shame on both of you. This is not a mistake, and the bridge did not fall off in shipping; it comes wrapped in foam and ready for me to install. If I knew how to properly set up a mandolin, would I really be buying a $180 mandolin?

Support:
No word from Ibanez on how I should go about installing the bridge. I also find it slightly annoying that the Ibanez web page on this product, as of June 2008, lists a "piezo pickup", which is of course incorrect. The deceptive picture makes it quite clear that the pickup is magnetic.

Overall:
A solid instrument for the price, other than the fact that your intonation and action are pretty much a crapshoot since a beginner madolinist is expected to install the bridge.

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Overall:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * . . . . . 5 out of 10
Quality:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Value:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
I Want It:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Ease of Use:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10

Feature:
Strings sucks as in most cases, must change them asap.

Quality:
Considering the prize, one gets a top mando!

Value:
I´ve played a lot of other brands, must say Ibanez beats the competition.

Sound:
Regarding the prizetag, it´s a bargain!

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