• Ibanez M511SEDVS Acoustic Electric Mandolin

  
  As reviewed by J Jensen on 10/20/2011

  After trying several mandolins I liked this one for the price. Got it for the little lady's anniversary. I decided on the acoustic/electric because sometimes momma plays in front of a small church crowd or friend's "get-together" group. The fit and finish are great, neck is straight, & sound is sweet. It can certainly compete with more expensive models. The original strings seemed a bit tarnished so I got a new set thrown in as a package deal. I let the staff set it up and be sure to remove the packing foam strip under the bridge on initial set up. The bridge is adjustable so you can fine tune the action to your liking. I've played it for a few weeks now and it sounds perfectly fine. Great to learn on. It does have a single coil pick up. It works and the volume & tone control function fine as well. It doesn't have the punch you might expect from a hot guitar, but it retains the purity of the mandolin sound through the amp I use. Initially setting it up it would go out of tune virtually overnight. Once the strings have stretched it has remained pretty well in tune through several moderate playing sessions over several days. I do recommend this one to consider as a start up mandolin especially if you want electric amplification as an option. If you value the instrument like I do then get a hard case with it. Get new strings. Pretty good product and definitely a great value for the price if you're new or still learning the mandolin.

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• Best bang for the money to start

  
  As reviewed by James Bridges on 2/15/2012

  I purchased this little jewel to learn on a few months ago. It was inexpensive, holds the tune well with minor tweaks to get back into after a few days. The sound is clean and crisp, the pick up works great. This A series being inexpensive and pretty was easy on the pocket book till i was sure I wanted to continue to play. This remains a favorite however my newer F style is awesome and the sound is unique on both models although I had to shovel out a hunk of change for my new f series. Face the more money the better the quality and tonal sound. This little jewel blows other out of the room that cost twice the price. For the price I say this was a good pick and investment for a learning mandolin and is now my trusty back up for my expensive mandolin. It is a hard instrument to give up so not, I am keeping this one for my extra mandolin. You will be impressed by the sound that this little jewel can pump out.

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