View Full Version : Kentucky "Dawg" Mandolas
krishna
Feb-23-2005, 9:26pm
I'm getting more and more interested in these animals. I've been wanting one now for a few years and am wondering aboutany of you who may have purchased one. How much should I pay? Any pics? What about the instrument itself? Any coments appreciated!...Kerry
delsbrother
Feb-24-2005, 12:54am
Are these similar to the Dawg mandolins (with the big lobster claw scroll)? Carmel Music has a KM1300 mandola, but I don't know if it's in the same series. I thought I read somewhere the "Dawg" Mandocello looked like a K4, and not like a Monteleone m'cello.. Is this correct?
http://www.carmelmusic.com/stocklist/scanned%20photos/Kent_dola1300_1984_FB.jpg
siren_20
Feb-24-2005, 1:17am
This would be the Dawg in question... http://musician.dyndns.org/dawgtop.jpg I've played two and they were different as night and day, very good mandolins... one was very light and responsive, the other was very loud and powerful but thicker sounding. Wonderful instruments, though.
Edit: sorry, my mistake, didn't see you were looking for mandolas...oops!
Desert Rose
Feb-24-2005, 8:05am
Sumi still has the tooling and fixtures for these instuments.
He made a mandocello last year, (not Dawg) and its now played by the mandocello player in the Creeking Tree String Band in Canada
Scott
Lemme poke around for some pics of my former A-model Dawg mandola. It now resides in italy with the new owner. I'd put it in the light responsive category. The F-holes were very narrow, nothing at all like the pic above. It had a 16" scale.
kudzugypsy
Feb-24-2005, 8:16am
you mentioned the Dawg MANDOLA....well on my old Kentucky brochure (1985?) with Grisman on the cover, it shows an A STYLE as the Dawg Mandola. i have never seen one however. i would scan it in for you, but i gave the old brochure away when i sold my KM-DAWG.
GTison
Feb-24-2005, 10:18am
some one posted some pics of one last year. You might search that here. I think the mandolas were Not an "F" style instrument. They were an "A" style w/ f holes and the "Monte" headstock.
I've seen the old catalog photos. I am 99.9% sure the Kentucky Dawg Mandola was available F and A. #Search the photo forum under "dawg" and you'll find the KM1000 thread; my photos are in there. I probably have more that I never reduced. A PM will bring them to you.
Jim M.
Feb-24-2005, 11:05am
Check out the article posted by Charles Johnson at Mandolin World Headquarters:
http://www.vintagemandolin.com/kentuckyarticlepage1.html
It mentions both a DAWG mandola, and a KH1300 F mandola, which is what I think is pictured above. There is a picture of an A mandola with a Monteleone style headstock. I believe Vintage Instruments had a DAWG F-style mandola last year some time, but it seems to have sold and I can't find any pictures.
krishna
Feb-25-2005, 7:50pm
There WAS an "F" model.I saw pics of onev for sale last year,but can't really find out any more. Also looking for prices. Thanks all!...Kerry
GTison
Feb-25-2005, 8:14pm
I looked back at my catalogs and price list from 1984, 1988, and 1992. the only mention of the mandola was a KH600 (not the dawg) in the 1992 catalog, Of course they exist. A pickin friend of mine owns one. It is the A style. maybe somone else has some old saga catalogs.
f5loar
Feb-26-2005, 2:51pm
I had the KM1300 as pictured above (heck that might be mine as they didn't make many!) and what I remember is there was not a Kentucky version of the F Dawg mandola but Montelone made one as an F. Only 2 mandolas are shown in all the price lists I have from those 80's years at Kentucky and one was the Dawg A model the other patterned after the Loar H5 as the F 1300 model.
Jim M.
Feb-26-2005, 2:53pm
I'm pretty sure Lowell Levenger, at
Vintage (http://www.vintageinstruments.com)
had one for a while because I remember thinking about buying it. You might contact him and see what he knows about them.
krishna
Feb-28-2005, 8:16pm
It's weird. I have never heard of him or his site before last week, and now (before this thread) I've had to contact him 3 times. He bought a 100 year old Howe Orme guitar shaped mando that I owned ,off ebay 5 years ago, and put it in his museum.I had no contact with him at that time, but I just found pics of it on this site last week. Anyway, I just got an email from him saying that he has had 2 of the "F"s come through his door in the last 2 years and they both sold for $3500.00...Kerry I asked him for pics but he did'nt send any...
Knucklehead
Jan-12-2011, 12:31am
I'm pretty sure Lowell Levenger, at
Vintage (http://www.vintageinstruments.com)
had one for a while because I remember thinking about buying it. You might contact him and see what he knows about them.
I recall Players Vintage having two of the Kentucky K-4 style mandocellos at the same time about 3 years ago on their website. They looked like exact replicas of the venerable Gibson K-4 and were priced around $3K apiece. They must of sold very quickly as after I thought about it, and wanted to buy one, they were gone. Seems like all the builders want around $10K or more for one these days.