Ibanez ukes

thinking about buying a new uke.

found alot of Ibanez ukes but i've never heard of them.

is it a good brand?

I heard they are very pretty, but the sound they generate is underwhelming. I too was interested in them for a while, but had a hard time finding any info about them. The only stuff I did find wasn't too flattering.

Mike

Played a few in a local shop. I don't care for them. Heavy, not great on fit & finish, and the tone is poor. Again, just my opinion.

They do look pretty, but unfortunately the fancy wood is actually a thick laminate with about 3 pounds of finish over it. Ibanez is very new at making ukes and it'll probably be a while before they get the formula right. For around the same price, check out Kala, Lanikai, or Kamoa (in the UU store).

I played the spalted mango one.. It looked really good. I didn't see any blemishes or problems with the finish and the spalted mango was really pretty. Intonation on that particular one was good. It was heavy though. I liked the tone okay but it was pretty quiet. It had ghs strings on it, so if those were swapped out it might be louder. IMO there are a lot of better sounding ukes for the money but it ranks pretty high in the looks department for that price range.

Ibanez makes a lot of guitars and they are very popular in the lower-priced rock and roll market. There are also lots of middle-priced guitars in their lineup. I had one of their acoustic guitars, but, I have never been a big fan of their "necks" (on guitars). The ukes I saw were actually nicely done. They are laminated.

I own a spalted mango. Yes it is a laminate, a bit heavy and doesn't sound as nice as my Ohana soprano. But I am by no means a great judge of quality so I'll leave that to others. I will say that it is my favorite to play. I have it set up with worth clears and it sounds exactly the way I want it, a bit bright on finger picking, and smooth on the strumming. I recommend buying one if you like it.

How was the action out of the box?

smithpaul60 said:

I own a spalted mango. Yes it is a laminate, a bit heavy and doesn't sound as nice as my Ohana soprano. But I am by no means a great judge of quality so I'll leave that to others. I will say that it is my favorite to play. I have it set up with worth clears and it sounds exactly the way I want it, a bit bright on finger picking, and smooth on the strumming. I recommend buying one if you like it.

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I also have the Spalted Mango. It looks great, the setup is outstanding. It's very easy to play, nice low action. It is not very loud though. I am not the least bit unhappy with it.

Pippin said:

I had one of their acoustic guitars, but, I have never been a big fan of their "necks" (on guitars). The ukes I saw were actually nicely done. They are laminated.

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I bought an Ibanez dreadnought acoustic while in college in West Virginia (late 70's) - the tone and playability were superb - but then, that's what I would have expected from a $200 guitar in 1977-78. Neck was great - and then along about 1988, back in upstate NY, the neck separated near the heel.

I brought it to the local music store, because I'd been dealing with them for years, and knew the owners, and and had it fixed. (I'd had a bad experience at one of the other music stores in Saratoga Springs who supposedly had an incredible luthier, so didn't return there.)

About a year later, the neck separated in the same spot. I loosened the strings, put it in the case, and have left it in the upstairs bedroom since - I replaced it with an Epiphone Jumbo, and an Ovation shallow body.

I still loved the tone on that Ibanez, so when I saw the Ibanez ukes on display at another local music store, I joyfully pulled one down and played.

Then I tried another one. Then a third, and a fourth.

I tried all 6 they had, and there was no joy to be found. They just felt as if all of the life had been sucked out of them.

I'll try again next year.

Maybe.