sumi km-1000 and km-1500

[tin ben dur]

I have played alot of gibsons and passernigs and the old sumi's are better tone and volume for a fraction of the price. I have a 1500 and my buddy has a sumi 1000.what is your opinion on this?

[jim_n_virginia]

Everybody hears things different my friend. I play Gibsons and Martins and you couldn't give me an import mandolin. But thats just me. :grin:

[RichM]

I agree with both posters above; different strokes for different folks, so "better" is a difficult term when discussing musical instruments. That being said, my Sumi-built KM-DAWG (which I sadly no longer own) was a very fine instrument that I would be pleased to play in any musical circumstance.

[kudzugypsy]

they vary quite a bit - i've owned 6 Sumi era Kentuckys 4 1500's, 1 Dawg and a GREAT Dawg mandola. The Dawg mandola and one '87 1500 were as good as you could ever want in a mandolin - the rest were just above average. so i would rate them about 1 in 4 as being really great mandos, about the same as most F5-L's i've played - maybe 1 out of 4 were really exceptional.
you dont see enough 1500's anymore to make any kind of comparison....unless you own one.
i will say, that the late 80's were the best years from my experiences. the ones from the early-mid 80's had some wild arching variances that seemed to have been dialed in by the late 80's.

[f5loar]

I got to pick my '86 KM1500 from a batch of 6. It took me about an hour to decide which one I would take home. I ended up being blindfolded because I didn't want the flame of the maple to influence my decision. It was IMO the best mandolin being made at that time for the money and probably as good or better then the current Gibson F5L. I sold it some years later but what I do remember is those 1500 were not close to being the quality and sound of the new KM1000s. These new ones are the real deal for the money. Much more bang for the buck then the KM1500/1000 of 20 years ago. The Dawgs were a cut above the 1500s and worthy of their name.