Michael kelly mandos

[EdtheSquid]

Been looking for a new lefty mando under $1000. What are these Michael Kelly mandos like for tone, playing, construction, etc.?

thanx

Ed the Squid

[big h]

I really don't like them.I would try a Eastman.I played a MK and a Eastman 505,and the 505 put the MK to shame.

[gnelson651]

My Eastman 805 puts to shame my MK Legacy Deluxe. With all the hipe about MK when they first came out, they were truly disappointing for me.

BTW: A local music store down the road from me carried MK for a short time. The owner told me he dropped the MK mandolins because he had quality problems with them.

[DryBones]

FWIW,my first purchase was a MK, it was also my first sale. my last purchase so far was an Eastman and it's almost a year old.

[Don Christy]

FWIW, my first mando was a MK. As I came to appreciate tone, I thought it was definitely lacking. Then I had a good setup done on it and it actually sounded great.

I still have it in addition to my Ratcliff Silver Angel. While there's not much comparison between them IMO, the MK nevertheless sounds good now and has great playability.

I doubt I'll get rid of it since for what I could get for it used it's too good a player.

BTW, Joe Mendel in St. Louis did the setup for me and it sounded like a different mando (and a fine one at that).
Don

[moku9]

Playing is excellent on mine. Construction is good, no complaints. Tone is somewhat lacking but if you need playability+construction+tone you can expect to be up in the 2k range unless you get lucky.

Why not get a Glenn student? Search the boards, people rave about them....search for mandovoodoo (spelling?) on the boards as well

MK's are a great value for intro to intermed players.

[VictorLouis]

Of the four through my hands, only one needed no set-up to realize it's potential. I still have two, and miss one of the two I sold. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif

That said, I've played at least a dozen others. Only a couple which were set-up at a great dealer impressed me with tone. All of them f-hole models. Both of my oval holed models were boomers.

Comsemtically, you might expect to find a few nits to pick. The only things I've seen that I personally wouldn't accept were on florentine head-stocks. One in-person, and one on a net dealer's which photo inventory. In both cases, the tuning gears were not installed parallel with the necks. Thus, the string courses were all kinked to one side of the head.

[Keith Erickson]

I'm going to tell you what I told Chad on the General Discussion Board:

I have an MK A+ that is a keeper. It's loud with a nice chop.

I will never get rid of it!!!!!

[Jason Holmes]

I tried a couple of MKs among a handful of other similar instruments a while back, and I wasn't particularly impressed. I ended up buying an Eastman from Gianna Violins, with which I am particularly impressed. I'd highly recommend an Eastman, as I haven't yet encountered a MK that I would consider trading my Eastman for.

[Ssilvers]

I played some Eastmans at the Mandolin Store and wound up buying the MK Legacy, it had a woodier tone and a nice chop right out of the box, now with a string and bridge upgrade it really sounds great. You really have to play several of the import mando's, even from the same manufacturer, before deciding on one. My MK is even cosmetically superior than the more expensive Eastman's I was looking at.

[TheMandoShop]

I sell both Michael Kelly and Eastman so I have the opportunity to hear a bunch of different people play them side by side, play them alone and play them with other instruments. Here is my experience. The Michael Kellys I am referring to in this discussion are the Legacy Dragonfly Flame and the Legacy Elegante compared to the entire Eastman line. The big pluses on the Michael Kelly side are the jumbo frets and much more radiused fingerboard. Some very good players have described them to me as a race car compared to a street car in playablility. With the jumbo frets you can more easily play on top of the frets and a greater percentage of people that have tried them in my shop have said the more radiused fingerboard and larger frets are easier to play. On the Eastman plus side is the clear as a bell tone. Especially when playing with other instruments the tone of Eastman is clean and clear. And the Eastman does have a radius fingerboard although it is only slightly radiused. Now you take all that and you have one person saying that the Eastman sounds clear and the Michael Kelly sounds muddy and then another person says the Eastman sounds thin and the Michael Kelly sounds full. Once they are setup properly, I have heard both sound great and felt both play great. I think they are the best two brands of mandolins in their price range and beyond that it is personal perference. I'm glad we have two great choices and hope to remain open to the fact that the same choice is not right for everyone.

Kyle

[johnwalser]

Kyle,
You have stated this comparison between th MKs and the Eastmans as clearly as is possible. Many of the Eastmans I have played sounded thin to my ear and many MKs have a fuller, if a bit duller, sound. I was lucky to get an MK Firefly Flame four years ago that is full, rich and has a bell like tone that will hold it's own with just about anything out there. I'm sure there are a number of Eastmans that also share this luck of the draw when it came to someone picking up the exact pieces of wood from the pile that just wanted to become a great instument and not a rowboat.
John

[DryBones]

One thing I found when purchasing a LEFTY was that the MK and Morgan Monroe I bought both came with right hand bridges and the nuts weren't cut for a lefty either. The Eastmans on the other hand came correctly, bridge and nut. So if you have to replace a bridge and nut you are probably looking at dropping over $100 on top of the purchase price, unless you can get the seller to do it as part of the sale. YMMV and let's not get into the "just flip the bridge" debate again.

[Greenmando]

,,, and let's not get into the "just flip the bridge" debate again.
But it is compensated! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[DryBones]

,,, and let's not get into the "just flip the bridge" debate again.
But it is compensated! # http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif
Tom,Tom,Tom,...I know you are just pushing my button but ok, let's go over this one more time... if you look at the E string on the bridge of any mandolin left or right it should be compensated towards the neck. the G towards the tail. If you flip the saddle end for end the compensation will still be the same(sort of). but if you take a righty saddle and put it on a lefty mando the compensations are going to be opposite on all strings. Remember they are all in opposite locations. Do I need to draw a picture? I even had a discussion with a popular dealer on this site who didn't realize the difference until I got him to look at a lefty Eastman next to a righty Eastman and he saw the difference immediately.
ok, I am done with the rants of a Wayfaring Lefty #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

Edit: Kyle, I noticed that my Eastmans were a bit tinny and weak when I first got them but after awhile they REALLY opened up and sound great. I would never hesitate to buy another Eastman based on how it sounds off the rack.

[Stephen Perry]

Comparisons only seem valid to me with equivalent setup, equivalent breakin, and clear criteria. Given that some prefer warm and comforting and others crisp and intense, I suspect the criteria will give the most arguments. Also, with construction character. I tend to look inside to make judgments. On the outside, some like thin finishes, rustic workmanship, etc. Some don't. And the design. Some insist on flat fingerboards, some on highly radiused with big frets. Which are better, apples or oranges? I also suspect regional variations in what's considered "standard" - just things to keep in mind in such discussions!

[robearp]

My lefty MK Dragonfly started great and has gotten better.Though I probably didn't need them, I was talked into a bone nut, upgraded ebony bridge, and expensive strings. Over time, the MK has opened up considerably to have a loud, crystalline character. More Zeppelin than Monroe. The day will come when I try to find a mando with a woody, Gibson sound; but I can't imagine ever abandoning my MK. It is extremely well-built and head and shoulders above my starter mando, an awful MM-20 Epiphone conversion.

[Tim2723]

I think perhaps a lot of the differences are judged based on set up as received. But to be fair, every instrument requires proper set up before it can be judged; banjo, guitars, mandolins, fiddles, you name it. Even $5 tin whistles get tweaked for best sound.

My MK is a very nice mando for its price. It has a full sound in the first position, and since I play ITM, that's more important than crystaline highs way up the neck. If I were playing Bluegrass, I'd probably feel differently.

The fit an finish on mine is excellent, although varying experiences abound. There's a common complaint about a poorly finished headstock scroll, but on mine it turned out to be some polishing compound that hadn't been cleaned out. A damp rag and a little elbow grease solved that and it looks as good as any mando I've had before.

[Mandolusional]

I play a lefty MK Dragonfly, the 2006 model, which has a lefty saddle, solid tailpiece, and what not. #It was quite nice when I first received it, but since I got it directly from the factory it was lacking in setup. #Of course, while it sounded nice and played fine, I didn't realize just how good things could be until I sent it away for MandoVoodoo and setup. #Stephen Perry does top notch work and when I got it back the difference was day and night in both playability and sound. #The MK has a laquer finish and I think it may have a thicker top than an Eastman, but recently it suddenly developed a deeper, woodier thump which I'm quite pleased with. #I'm very happy with my MK but have heard good things about Eastman in this price range as well.

[Folkmusician.com]

I am a little late to this thread... #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

I go through a lot of Michael Kelly lefty's and try to keep all three models in stock. #In response to Jason's post (DryBones)...


One thing I found when purchasing a LEFTY was that the MK and Morgan Monroe I bought both came with right hand bridges and the nuts weren't cut for a lefty either.


I have not personally seen this. #All the left handed Michael Kelly's I get do have a lefty version of the nut and bridge. #Maybe this is something that occurred on early models before I began selling them, but in the last few years, I have not seen a single lefty Michael Kelly with right handed compensation on the saddle. The Tusq nuts are specifically made as left handed nuts. You can see the molded string grooves.

It is great that there are quite a few choices of good mandolins in the sub $1000 range. Assuming a proper setup and no major issues with the instrument, you can go with just about any of the established brands and do ok. #I do feel the Michael Kelly line is one of the top picks for a lefty mando.

[DryBones]

Robert,
I sold my MK almost 2 years ago I think now because I was tired of dealing with MK support about the bridge and nut issue. At the time the told me they were getting a mold made so they could make lefty nuts and they said they always used the same bridge for both styles and that I was the first to complain about it. Seems they have rethought that and have corrected their ways. I probably should have kept it and broke it it more to see what it would have turned into but I just wanted to move on from them. BTW, I had a MK lefty F rectangular brown leather?case with a maroon interior that was excellent! I should have kept it when I sold the mando. You don't have one of those lying around somewhere do you? http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[Folkmusician.com]

I have no idea what I would say if someone was telling me they just used the compensated bridge from the right handed mandolin on the lefties as well and that no one ever complained. hehe That is just crazy. Now I can see not having a specialized nut as long as they had the spacing correct. So they actually just used the right handed pre-grooved nut and did not change the string grooves? I must have had my first lefties after they resolved all this.

Michael Kelly cases have been back-ordered for months. They did a slight change to the rectangle case. We had a couple of shipments of those and then they stopped production on it and are apparently changing factories. That was a few months ago and we have had wooden cases on back-order ever since.

[Dave Greenspoon]

I bought a barely used MK F-4 to use as a back-up for festivals so as not to risk my Rigel in the woods. The original owner had traded it in for an Eastman. After a local luthier did a major--and I do mean major--set up on it, I know why s/he traded it in. The truss rod needed adjusting, the frets needed major work not only for leveling but to clean up the ends of the wire that hurt the fingers sliding down the side of the neck, and the nut needed to be refiled.

Having said that, I have a great festival instrument that can pass for brand new that shipped with travelite case, longhollow strap, and along with extra setup expenses still was less than $700. The bottom end is simply booming, the high end beautifully clear, the neck extremely comfortable with the radius, and the sustain and chop both impressive. The deals I've seen advertised can put a new MK in your hand for less than half the cost of an Eastman. OTOH, a new Eastman (which can also have the set-up issues I described on this particular MK) does come with a lifetime warranty. IMO, this is truly a case of "picker's choice." Absent the chance to play them side by side (or listening to someone else do that for you over the phone), it's a gut call.


Good luck!

[Greenmando]

Tom,Tom,Tom,...I know you are just pushing my button,,
I do agree
In fact it is worse with a compensated bridge.
A mando with a reversed nut and bridge will probably not sound ideal. I think the best is a mando built to be a leftie, the tone bars are different on the g side than the e side. The nut has to be cut right not flipped.

[MikeEdgerton]

OTOH, a new Eastman (which can also have the set-up issues I described on this particular MK) does come with a lifetime warranty.

Lifetime warranties only matter if the company is still around for the rest of your life. That's not meant to be disparaging to anyone, it's simply a fact. That should be figured in to any consideration one gives to that as a reason to buy a brand.

Last night I was in a national electronics chain looking at a GPS unit. There was a one year warranty on the unit except for the touch screen. It has a 14 day warranty. I didn't buy. I'm checking further, either the sales person was out of their mind or the manufacturer has big stones.

[Dave Greenspoon]

<<Lifetime warranties only matter if the company is still around for the rest of your life. That's not meant to be disparaging to anyone, it's simply a fact.>>

Good point; this ia a fact that all us Rigel owners know!

[Soupy1957]

My second mando was an MK Legacy Edition. It had good tone, and I loved the inlays, but I didn't like the radius'd aspect to the neck.

-Soupy1957

[MikeEdgerton]

Good point; this is a fact that all us Rigel owners know!
A perfect example.

[Rick Cadger]

at the weekend played the first MK i have ever seen in the flesh. it was a Dragonfly. the owner also has an Eastman (not sure what model, but it's a fully bound F style with gold hardware) and a disappointing Gibson F.

both the Asian mandolins sounded better than the Gibson, but he said that was because the Gibson was not a good example. it is "from one of their wobbly periods" and he has a much better one (which i didn't get to see). the only reason he still has the "wobbly" one is because no one will give him near what he paid for it.

anyway, the point is the Dragonfly, which i think he said is a couple of years old, sounded pretty good. to my ears, though, the Eastman F had a pretty big lead on it for both volume and tone. if i was looking to spend a bit more than my current budget i think i'd go with the Eastman over the MK.

but that's just one Eastman against one MK. not a statistically important sample!