Ibanez M700 Mandolin - Antique Violin Sunburst High Gloss Reviews
If you're looking for a great-sounding F-style mandolin, you'll love the Ibanez M700. Built from gorgeous flamed maple and topped with solid Sitka spruce, this mandolin provides you with a loud, bright, robust voice that balances a tight, crisp high end with plenty of warm lows. At Sweetwater, we found that the M700's rosewood bridge and fretboard add a subtle warmth and richness to this remarkable F-style mandolin's tone. Topped off with gold tuners with acrylic buttons and a rosewood pickguard with binding, the Ibanez M700 is a powerful testament as to why the mandolin's unique, crisp sound has graced music since the 17th century.
Earn $28 back in Bonus Bucks† OR pay $23/month with 24 month financing*
$28 Earn $28.00 back in Bonus Bucks† on this purchase when you use your Sweetwater Credit Card without financing. Select your offer in checkout. Terms
As low as $23/month
with 24 month financing*
See all payment options
Customer Reviews
Customer Added Media
Share Your Thoughts
Help other music gear aficionados by sharing your opinions of gear you've purchased.
Questions about the M700AVS?
Or call us at (800) 222-4700
Sweetwater's Sales Engineers are regarded as the most experienced and knowledgeable professionals in the music industry, with extensive music backgrounds and intense training on the latest products and technologies. They are available to offer you personalized product advice any time you need it.
Highest Rated Reviews
First time buyer
The product is beautiful and the service from Nick has exceeded expectations, I'd recommend sweetwater to anyone who is looking to pick up an instrument for the first time
happy
For the money I don't think you could buy a better maddolin that the Ibanez M700-AVS. With a proper setup it will a very good instrument and a few tweaks to hardware and Bridge.Thank you Sweetwater.
Mandolin above
My Son was so happy to see and play (of course) his new mandolin.
Great instrument IF...you get it set-up first.
I entered the Mandolin market clueless about them.
Did not get it set-up and was not enjoying it.
Sweetwater saved the day as they worked out deal for trade in.
*These Mandolins require proper set-up.
Dave D. is the man to make things right!
A super great, beautiful instrument you can feel great about entering the world of the mandolin with
Being brand new to the world of mandolin I enjoyed researching all the different makes and models, and listening to people's opinions of various instruments - up to a certain point. After a month of reading generic marketing copy on-line retailers seem to simply copy and paste from one web site to another the message was clear: like every other piece of merchandise there seem to be three main categories: the low-quality 'get your foot in the door' models, the famous and favorite name'd stars, then the middle of the pack. Not wanting to throw money away buying the low end of the pack, nor wishing to waste money buying 'the sound' my untrained ear can't really appreciate because, hey - I don't know what I'm doing (yet) anyway - I found this beautiful, sold as 'used' but looks brand new Ibanez M700S-AVS. Unable to find any real reviews of this instrument, I decided the fact it was beautiful and sounded great was enough for me to finally pull the trigger. All I can say is, holy mackerel, what a gorgeous instrument! And the sound...? Without a $2K instrument to compare it to, sounds pretty darn good - like a mandolin should. He will require a good 'set up,' something the previous owner apparently didn't do. Few mandolins are at their best when you take them new from the box. Things like the height and position of the bridge all impact how the mandolin sounds. So I have an appointment with a local Luthier to get him dialed in, and anticipate once properly set up I'll feel like I just scored the deal of the century. Don't be unduly swayed by the big name fans. There are many fine instruments on the market. Despite a marketeer's glowing praise, an item doesn't need to be a Mercedes Benz or Rolex to be way better than good enough. For someone starting from Zero and wanting to invest in an instrument they can potentially grow into for years to come - without taking out a second mortgage on the house, this was a great purchase. I'm extremely pleased with my Inbanez M700S-AVS, and even found the proper Ibanez case on-line. But I'm just learning, so don't put too much stock in this review. Try a few different mandolins for yourself and see which one speaks to you, then just do it. Have fun.
Ibanez M700 Mandolin
I think this a fine Mandolin.I can find no flaws in the finish nor in the body.I think the price is very fair and this is a keeper.
Ibanez M700 Mandolin
First off, I'm not an experienced mandolin player. Got my M700 and absolutely love it. I chose the Ibanez fo several reasons. It got descent reviews, was in the price range of what I was willing to spend and it's absolutely beautiful! I had read some reviews complaining about the quality of the tuners. My mandolin was no different. Within a week, the knob on the top G string tuner stripped and left it unusable. Three of the other tuners were extremely difficult to turn and I felt it was a matter of time before they also failed. Total junk. Sweetwater to the rescue! I worked with Ryan Watson and found a replacement upgrade that Sweetwater had in stock. I got the Grover 409FN. Sweetwater gave me a 50 dollar credit so it still cost another 90 dollars out of my pocket. Totally worth every penny. They turn smooth as silk and have an 18:1 as opposed to the stock 16:1 gear ratio. Ryan also arranged to ship them overnight with no charge to me. That is great customer service. Chose my replacement, arranged the credit and had my parts in hand the next day. Thanks again to Ryan and Sweetwater for your excellent customer service.
Beautiful instrument
As a guitarist of 40 years I decided to learn to play a mandolin. This mandolin is beautifully constructed and is fun to play. I gave it only four stars as I believe for the amount this this mandolin costs, Ibanez absolutely should have provided a gig bag with it.
Good instrument, but required some serious attention
Perhaps my expectations were a bit high for this price range. I struggled over whether to return this guy and spend more on a, perhaps, better one or sink some money and effort into this one. I settled on the latter or "the devil you know." Right out of the box this mando was almost unplayable. I lowered the adjustable bridge as low as possible and it was better, but still too high. Fortunately I have a luthier friend who does work for me in exchange for my helping him in his shop.
These were the issues:
1. The original tuning machines on this thing were crap. Very stiff/hard to turn--practically needed vice grips to turn them. Plus they had a poor gear ratio. Replaced them with a set of $60 Klusons with higher gear ratio and much smoother operation. This made a huge difference. Had to ream the holes in the head stock and redrill the screw holes, but it was worth it.
2. Sanded down the under side of the bridge and the part just above the adjusting knobs. This fixed the action problem but...
3. The 12th fret was too high and had to be filed down because of horrible buzz playing at 11th fret.
4. The F holes were barely sanded and showed some raggedness just inside of them. Probably almost no one would notice, but it bugged me. Five minutes with super fine grit paper did the trick. This could have been done at the factory without adding to the cost of the instrument.
All that said, I am pleased with the end result. I ended up with a really lovely instrument that plays and sounds great! If I'd had to pay for the labor that went into it, I don't think it would have been worth it.
A decent mandolin, but.
I had initially purchased a Washburn Mandolin from Sweetwater but returned it because it would not stay in tune. Sweetwater has a great return policy, that was easy and well handled. This mandolin is a bit better made but also has some tuners that are better than the Washburn mandolin. However, the A string slips a bit like on the Washburn. The E string drifts off some too. I have tightened the set screws with some success. I have played Mandolin for over 40 years, a poorly constructed tuner is annoying. For that reason, I cannot recommend this instrument highly. But I'm a fan of it overall.
But the tone on this instrument is good, at initial play it doesn't seem it would punch through a group, but it does quite well! The finish on my instrument is flawless, the Washburn was not. It is constructed very well, and I can see this mandolin holding up solid through the years.
