Help a new player - damaged Kentucky KM 675?

[blue_stripe]

Hi everyone,

I am currently testing a 2001 Kentucky KM-675 from a private seller in my area. As I am fairly green in the world of mandolins, I am unsure if this sale is a good price or not. There has only been one owner and they are asking $525 for the mandolin and TKL hard case.

There are some issues with this mandolin that might lower its value:
1) There is a crack that has been glued on the head scroll. It was once knocked against a wall, and seems to have nearly fallen off and then professionally glued. See the picture for details.
2) When checking the action on the mandolin, I noticed that it increases significantly past the fifteenth fret. When looking down the mandolin, there seems to be a bump on the fifteenth fret; the angle of the neck changes at this point – I have tried to show this well in the pictures.
3) The mandolin is in intonation, but the bridge is way off angle for the intonation to be correct. Is this anything to worry about?
4) There is no tailpiece.

I have no idea how much the cracked head scroll lowers the value on this – what do you all think? Also, do I need to worry about the bridge? Do I need to worry about this bump on the fifteenth fret?

Overall, what do you think is a fair price for this mandolin?

Thank you very much in advance!

Picture Key:
1) KM-675 full.JPG
2) Cracked scroll front.JPG
3) Cracked scroll back.JPG
4) Neck close up.JPG
5) Neck long ways.JPG
6) Crooked bridge.JPG

[jefflester]

It has a tailpiece, it wouldn't work without it. It is missing a tailpiece *cover*. The neck hump looks troublesome to me, but I wouldn't know what caused it - improper adjustment of the truss rod? The broken headstock scroll is not that big of a deal, but does lower the value somewhat. And the bridge not straight, hmmm? Personally I would probably pass, too many maybe smaller issues that add up. Not a whole lot of concrete help there, but my 2 cents.

Good photos - they clearly show what you are trying to describe.

[Eric F.]

I wouldn't buy it with the neck problem - at least not without having a repair person look it over.

[woodwizard]

Looking at the pics of the florida dipping down llike that looks kinda strange. If the neck is straight then that part dipping is like having some pick clearance ... you know like scooping out the florida. You would have some built in help preventing pick click. Most don't actually fret in that area of the fretboard much. If the intonation is right with the bridge crooked like that ... something seems fishy. Some other experts could chime in on that. The repaired scroll is not a big deal and tail covers are not hard to find to relace your missing one. I don't think I would give $525 for it tho. If you really like it I would offer much less. IMHO

[Fretbear]

That downward drooping florida at least keeps the stupid and totally unnecessary thing a bit out of the way. The headscroll crack is common and well-repaired and adds character. If the fretboard plays in tune at every position, it doesn't matter what the bridge angle looks like, but that is a big "if"; that bridge looks like the standard Stewmac ones which don't sound that great either and should be switched out anyways for a CU or similar bridge for best response (add at least $100 for bridge and fitting.) Does it sound good and play well or not? If it sounds good tell him you will give him 500, if not forget about it, considering the issues. This is not a mandolin to buy to consider reselling for any serious amount of money anyways, so it is just about being of value for you to learn on. You have to consider and include the value of the good TKL case as well.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Let's begin with the basics - does the Mandolin,even in it's present condition sound good re.tone & volume to you ?. The fact that you are considering maybe buying it,suggests that it does.
a) The headstock repair is of no consequence other than cosmetic.
b) A replacement tailpiece cover can be found i'm sure,or even buy a new tailpiece complete.They're not hugely expensive.
c) Some folk do angle the bridge in the way that you've shown to aid the bridge compenstion. But that looks a bit too much - has the bridge just 'moved' ?.
d) The neck hump is a more severe problem,one that i've had recently with a Weber Mandolin.I part-exed the Weber for another Mandolin & the problem with the Weber has now been made good
by a competent luthier. Before you buy it,i would certainly ask that a luthier give the neck problem a good looking at
& give his opinion on what can be done to put it right. Personally,i don't think it's any big deal,unless there is a severe physical flaw in the neck,which i doubt. Possibly removing the frets,adjusting the truss rod & maybe planing the neck flat & replacing the frets (which is what was done to my ex-Weber) is all that will be needed.Well within the capabilities of a good luthier.
In fact a truss rod adjustment may be all that's needed,but it needs checking out.
e) As suggested above by our esteemed colleague Fretbear,if you do buy the Mandolin,a good bridge would be a good idea,maybe a Cumberland Acoustics bridge. I fitted one of those to a previously owned Mandolin with excellent results. If you get a luthier to put the neck right,he could fit the bridge for you, & along with a good set-up,i think that you'd have a really nice instrument on your hands,one that you could be proud of having 'made good' again.In fact it would possibly be better than it was when it was brand new,my old Weber certainly is,
Saska

[Rob Powell]

This hump is not uncommon. Here are some threads discussing it:

http://mandolincafe.com/forum/showth...highlight=hump
http://mandolincafe.com/forum/showth...highlight=hump
http://mandolincafe.com/forum/showth...highlight=hump

Seems the general consensus is that a plane and refret will cure this. There does not appear to be any serious bow in the pic.

The bridge doesn't look good from a cosmetic view but it's also not uncommon to see this.

The headstock break is again, cosmetically unappealing and affects the overall value but looks like a decent repair. Chris Thile played one of his Dudenbostels for a while with a broken headstock scroll so you woul be in good company ;-)

As a few have mentioned, the real story is how does it sound and play? What is the action like? Do you have the tools to measure the string height?

Does it intonate true up the neck? If so, the bridge is probably angled that way to fix intonation. That bridge issue might be fixed at the bridge or the nut. The story goes from what I recall that at least some Gibson Loars have one of the F-holes 1/16th closer to the fingerboard so that the bridge appears to be straight when in fact it's slightly angled.

In any case, if the action is nice and it intonates then what you have are cosmetic issues at the moment. The hump is going to need to be fixed at some point which might cost anywhere from $200-$300 though that could also cover any nut or bridge correction done at that time.

So in all, the mandolin is going to cost you more like $725-$825.

In that price range you can get a brand new one (with or without a case) with a warranty and properly set-up from one of the cafe sponsors.

I'd pass unless that mandolin has some serious mojo.

[Dave Greenspoon]

For what you are looking to spend you can save some bucks and get a new Kentucky 505 A Style and case, and enjoy the mfr/dealer warranty. For what you'd need to spend on it to include a good neck job, you can get a new Eastman F for another couple hundred dollars. So you can spend less and get a new A, or a little bit more and get a new F. I'd pass on this one.

[blue_stripe]

Hi everyone,

Thanks so much for your advice and help. It's clear that this isn't the right choice - I'm going to bring this back to it's owner and for now, I'll stay on the lookout.

MANY thanks!
-Chris

[mandozilla]

OOPS, my bone!

[mandozilla]

First of all blue_stripe, welcome to the Cafe!

Chris Thile played one of his Dudenbostels for a while with a broken headstock scroll so you woul be in good company

Big Mon's headstock scroll was broken for several decades...didn't seem to bother him...and for a mando at that price point it wouldn't matter that much.

For what you are looking to spend you can save some bucks and get a new Kentucky 505 A Style and case

I agree with Dave G. When properly set up these mandos are quite nice.

Personally, I'd pass on this one unles it has the tone, volume, and etc of a 1923 Gibson Master Model...which I doubt... Seems like too many issues to me.