Michael Kelly Legacy O

[davestem]

I've pretty much decided I'm going to get a Michael Kelly. I'm now trying to decide which one. I play bluegrass gospel, but also a fair bit of folk, irish, old-time, and some swing stuff. How does the Legacy O fill the bill? I've heard lots about the Fireflies, Dragonflies, Bottleflies, etc., but not much mention of the O's. Do they sound sweet and warm? Do they have enough projection that I'll be able to play bluegrass, too?

[John Flynn]

I was similarly interested in the O when it came out, because I have been looking for a good oval to play old-time with. I played one at a store, though, and was disappointed. It really was not even close to the "oval sound" I was looking for. Both the Breedlove OO and the Eastman A oval tops it for tone in the same price range. Even better, I have seen some of the basic vintage Gibson A models in the same price range that top them all.

[davestem]

I was afraid of that. The silence regarding the Legacy O seemed...ominous.

[Professor PT]

I've played only one, and it too was a dog. You could see sloppy glue marks on the inside too. I have a Firefly, and it sounds great. I'm not sure what the deal is with the "O." It sure looks cool, but as you know, looks are certainly second to tone.

[Stephen Perry]

I would think the Eastman oval hole mandolins would be a better buy. I saw several at NAMM. They might be available. If you don't have a local dealer, drop me a line and I can check.

[bones12]

I recently gave my Weber Sweet Pea to my daughter's friend and replaced it with a MK Legacy O to be used as a "leave outside the case-travel anywhere with" mandolin. It is very impressive for $650.00 and aside from a thick finish, it has fairly good tone, balance, and playability. There are no messy, glue-oozing seams and the fit of parts is fine. The finish is thick, seemingly waterproof. For fun I took out the stable of F2, F4, A4 , A4 snake, and the Collings and compared them. It certainly sounds better than the Sweet Pea and the balance in your hands is superior. Although it lacks the 80 year old tone of my oval holes, it is suprisingly good sounding. I am not disappointed at all---remember this is an inexpensive mando to be used for those times when my vintage mandolins might be hurt. All in all a nice suprise to me. Doug

[John Flynn]

It certainly sounds better than the Sweet Pea and the balance in your hands is superior. Although it lacks the 80 year old tone of my oval holes, it is suprisingly good sounding.
I don't find those observations surprising at all and I am glad you like your MK "O". I just think when that model first got announced, people had really high hopes that the "price/tone relationship" on the MK ovals would be similar to that of the MK F-models. The MK F's seemed to sound more like a more expensive F-style instruments. The MK "O" I tried did not sound like a more expensive mandolin.

[Greenmando]

The MK F's seemed to sound more like a more expensive F-style instruments. The MK "O" I tried did not sound like a more expensive mandolin.
http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif I'd like to hear one that played that well.

The butterfly I had, never sounded remotedly like a low end Gibson. More like a epiphone, johnson, or a kentucky. The butterfly was well worth the $280 I paid for it and I received twice that when I sold it. They were a decent value for the money when they sold for their real worth.