Kentucky KM-1000: vintage vs new

[Capt. E]

Which might be the better mandolin, a vintage Japanese made Kentucky KM-1000 or one of the new Chinese made ones? The vintage ones have been known to sell for more than the new ones.

[MANDOSPURGE]

I think the old ones sound alot better.

[Capt. E]

Well, I do know the "Sumi" Kentuckys are prized. I am sure they were built with different woods as well.

[Nick Triesch]

It really all depends. If you find a great sounding old one then it will cost more than a new one. However, if you find a new one that sounds great, then you have a cool KM1000 for a lot cheaper! Depending where you live, I would try as many new ones as possible till I found the one that sounded the best overall. The Vintage Km1000 mandolins are hard to come by and it would have to be a buy sight unseen kind of a deal I bet. Nick

[fernmando]

I've got a new KM-1000. One of it's strong points is that it feels and plays great! I've offered it for sale before and truthfully, don't care if it sells or not. I love the side binding and the vintage look of the headstock overlay.
Mine has a very open, big tone, particularly sweet on the high end. The chop needs to come around, and it will. Red Spruce is a bit slow in development, but every time I take this mando out, it gets better. I would say that my KM-1000 would be particularly well suited for Dawg type music as it sits right now. It "acts" more like a Monteleone than a Gibson.
I haven't played many Sumi-era KM-1000s, but those that I have come across are great. I like the playability of my new one better, though, than the old ones that I've played.

[Bill Foss]

I haven't played one of the old Kentuckys. I had a new one but had to sell because I was low on cash. I wished I hadn't! It was really a superb sounding instrument, very "Gibson-y" in tone and feel. Excellent fit and finish. With a couple of years of heavy playing, it would have sounded even better. I really thought it rivaled some $5-6000 range instruments like Duff, Hilburn that I have played.

It's the one I let slip away that I regret!

[Darryl Wolfe]

I have had a new KM-1000 for about a year and a half now. I let my brother borrow it for about 6 months and he returned it yesterday The red spruce top is now coming around and it has changed dramatically. They definately need a better bridge which mine has. It sounds better than the old ones to me

[f5loar]

I've played both and to me the new ones are far superior to the old ones in fit,finish,quality and sound. At the time the old ones were hot they were equal or better than the ones XXXX made at the time. And today it's the same thing, they are as good or better then the ones XXXX are making now. And before you say you played a bad Kentucky , I've played some bad new XXXXs. But on the other hand I've played some super great XXXXs. If I was looking for a top end quality F5 style mandolin today under $5000 to be my no. 1 axe it would be the new KM1000. I'd probably get 4 of them and still be under $5000 !

[fernmando]

I mentioned my KM-1000 a few posts ago (Darryl, this is Roscoe, by the way...hi). I bought it thinking I might sell my 2000 F5-L and use the money for other purposes. I got cold feet about selling a really good Gibson and changed my mind. Here's the problem (hope it's the biggest one I ever have)... I can't sell the KM-1000 either. It shows signs of greatness everytime I play it, especially for a full set. I just have a feeling that the Kentucky is really going to be special as the Red Spruce comes into it's own. If I sell, it'll only be because I can't play two mandolins and give each the attention they require. I won't give up the Fern, but the KM-1000 has its own, equally attractive, personality. They're two different, great mandolins.

[Mike Scott]

I have only been at this for about 18 months, and my 2008 KM 1000 was the first mandolin I bought. When purchased it compared closely to a Weber Yellowstone that the store had (the owner played both for me so I could compare. The Yellowstone was better but not $2K better) I have since acquired a Bulldog and an Eastman 504 (oval hole experiment). All three of these are distinctly different. I continue to A/B the KM 1000 and the Bulldog. I think they are pretty equal although really different. The Kentucky has better clarity on the lower strings, while the Bulldog is cleaner on the E string. I really don't need both, but can't decide which one to sell, so..............I keep them both for now. I have had a lot of compliments on both. I haven't played one of the older KM 1000s, but must say that the one I have is pretty darn good.

[Danny Clark]

i agree with F-5 Loar and Darryl,over the years i have had 4-5 Jap Km1000s and 3-4 Km-1500's
never had one i thought was great,my daughter 8 yrs old has been learning on a F-9 ,she wanted something glossy, with a pickguard so i got one on approval ,i was floored by the tone ,volume and feel,they don't look ,sound or play Pac Rim,it s better than many mandolins i have had that cost 20 times more,very impressive,i find myself taking it out more and more.

[f5loar]

The newer KM1000 is a mandolin good for the blindfold test. Blindfold a pro picker and hand it to him and ask him how much he thinks this mandolin would cost based on the feel and the sound. I bet he says $10,000 or more.
And I'm not knocking the old Sumi ones (even if Sumi did or did not have anything to do with them) but many of those have had time to really be broken in for good sound today.
Do the blindfold test on an old one and a new one and I'd bet the new one would win out everytime.

[Ken Olmstead]

I was impressed by both newer KM-1000s that I owned and subsequently sold. Why did I sell? My Weber Fern that I owned at the time was a better sounding instrument and I found myself ABing the two to the exclusion of just playing music. So I sold them. Sometimes it is tempting to cut all the BS and stop thinking a great mandolin has to be expensive, the KM-1000 proves that it does not. I did a comparison video (click on the youtube channel in my signature if your interested. Or search KM-1000 on the cafe, there is several good threads on them) between the Weber Fern and the KM-1000 and they sound very close. The Fern had a little more "meat" on the sound but it had been pounded heavily for 2.5 years and the KM-1000 was weeks old!

[Capt. E]

Thanks for the comments. Exactly what I was looking for.

[MANDOSPURGE]

I have owned numerous old 1000's and 1500's the new ones just dont have the deep woody tone like the old ones

[Mike Scott]

As a follow up to my earlier post, I had a lesson last night. I usually take the Bulldog to the lesson, but opted for the KM1000 last night. At the end of the lesson I asked my instructor (he plays a Collings MF5V) if my mandolin sounded OK. He said he thought it sounded great. While no match for the Collings, I did think it sounded pretty close-at least from my not to good of an ear. It seems the more I play it the better it sounds. So.................a little feedback on the newer KM1000 from an unbiased source.

[lflngpicker]

The newer KM1000 is a mandolin good for the blindfold test. Blindfold a pro picker and hand it to him and ask him how much he thinks this mandolin would cost based on the feel and the sound. I bet he says $10,000 or more.
And I'm not knocking the old Sumi ones (even if Sumi did or did not have anything to do with them) but many of those have had time to really be broken in for good sound today.
Do the blindfold test on an old one and a new one and I'd bet the new one would win out everytime.

F5Loar, thanks for lending this opinion. As I await the arrival of my new KM-1000 -- it is getting a set up by the dealer before he ships it to me-- it is helpful to have your knowledgeable opinion posted so that I can be assured of the quality that I am buying in a Kentucky F style.

[Folkmusician.com]

From my experiences, the newer Kentucky's are the best yet. Maybe around 2007 on, they started improving the quality.

[almeriastrings]

I also feel the newer ones are excellent - and I would certainly not pay a premium for an older one. I don't really get the whole thing about the "Sumi Era", to be honest, in a present-day context. At the time, it was understandable.

[lflngpicker]

Thanks Almeria and Robert for your valued input. It reinforces my decision to go with the KM-1000. I appreciate your posts! This was an interesting old thread.