Im not going to lie, this is an interesting instrument. Only one pickup and one tone knob is a little tough to work around to tell the truth, and with no truss rod, it makes up its own mind, so you can get false notes sometimes. But In all reality, Ive owned this for a little over a year and this is my final conclusion. Good beginner electric mandolin. Yes, there are hundreds more out there, Fender has several solid body models from the 70s and you can still buy then, but this is a very good beginner electric mandolin. I would give it a 10 on looks, just because I am I a firebird junkie. Sound, gets a 6, the tone is very hard to work around, and the distortion makes up its own mind some times, it takes a bit of tinkering to get it just right. But Im a perfectionist, so this was a big downfall here. Sounds very nice with some heavy overdrive, and I can say I have tried a pi little big muff on this and It sounded, different. This thing can take a big hit from distort, and really flaunt your style, but its mainly a practice and beginner mandolin. In all honesty, Im going to sell mine, and get a Fender FM-60E if I can, but this little mandobird spawned many good times and many lessons. If I dont sell it though, Im just going to mount it on my wall. Over all, 7/10

I got my mandobird about five days ago. It looked great, and the action was pretty good. I plugged it in(I didn't know it came with a cord!) picked a couple songs and then played a chord. Intonation was way off. Thankfully, it came with instructions for setting the intonation. I set that up earlier today, and now it sounds great! Can't wait to record with this!

Pretty cool mandolin. The black satin finish shows a few flaws. Well made with a great sound. If you are having trouble finding strings, you can use guitar strings. I used Ernie Ball Power Slinky's, only the 11-14-28-38 strings. The 38 guage string helps with the intonation on the low g.

The Epiphone Mandobird IV is an awesome mandolin! It sounds great clean or distorted and is a perfect instrument for hardcore players or those looking to expand their musical horizons!

Got my Mandobird yesterday. It is such an attractive little thing that it would be worth purchasing it just for the novelty of it. HOWEVER, it's a full-crafted instrument as well. I will use it for special effects in my home studio. With effects, it sounds much like a regular electric guitar in it's lower register, but if you have hands like "Tinkerbell", it will be great for those high squealing notes in a special effects setting. If you want a real mandolin or are a mandolin player, I wouldn't recommend it except as an attractive novelty, but if you want a special little instrument with a very attractive presentation , or if you own a real Firebird guitar ot Thunderbird Bass, you definitely want one of these little babies as it looks like the larger version literally had a son (LOL)