Michael Kelly Legacy Mandolin Walnut

[jlwiseman]

I have an opportunity to buy one of these for $499. What do you guys think?

I love the way it feels, the frets are big and the strings are easy to push down.

I'm currently playing on an Alvarez A800.


Thoughts would be appreciated :-)

here's a picture:
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...1t:429,r:1,s:0

[Greenmando]

Personally I think the Alvarez is the better mandolin.

MK's are known for thick finishes. Every so othen someone will claim their's sounds better than a Loar signed Gibson.

Eastman has a new no frills for $100 less. I would look at them first.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Well,you like the way if 'feels' - but how does it sound ?. My first instrument was a MK Legacy "Solid" (all solid wood - no laminate) & i thought that it was pretty good for the price (£350 UK).It was certainly good enough for me to keep it long enough to discover that i had the talent to play a Mandolin, & it was good enough to make me want to play it. The Walnut MK looks very nice & if it sounds good to you,go for it,but play it first & decide if it really is right for you,
Ivan

[jlwiseman]

I think the Alvarez is prettier in looks, but I've always had a problem with how tight it plays. The frets on the Alvarez are tiny and it really cramps my hand up when I play. When I played the mandolin I didn't really notice a sound difference (I'm gonna go back to the store and play it some more). I've mostly been a guitar player, and I've been playing around with mandolin for a few years so I know how to play but I'm not super fantastic..Only recently have I been seriously practicing and stuff. I'm just really digging how easy it is to play. Like I said, I'm gonna go back to the store soon and play it some more and really pay attention to the sound.

thanks for the replies :-)

[mandobassman]

I've had 2 MK mandolins and both of them were junk. The first was a Legacy Evolution. Pretty finish, but horrible compressed sound. Thought it was because it was new. Had never bought a new mando before and figured it needed break-in time but after a year I sold it. (It did have a very thick varnish finish). I later bought a used 1999 Legacy custom. MK told me this was the first model they came out with. I tried to convince myself that it sounded OK but it didn't take long before I sold it as well. I recently came across a player in my area that had a MK. I played it for a few minutes and it was terrible also. I keep hearing about how great some of these MK mandos are but I have yet to hear one. I agree with one of the earlier replies, check out the Eastman's. I've only heard one but it was excellent sounding and playing and it only costs about $600. I know they have models even less expensive than that.

[Keith Erickson]

It's been a while since we've seen an "MK Sux" thread

To be honest with you, I am a proud owner of an MK A+ for 6 years and wouldn't trade it for anything. It's my festival/ travel out of town mandolin.

If the MK you mentioned feels great that's a plus. If the sound is great, then your doubly lucky.

If it's what you want, then pull the trigger.

I for one don't care what other people think about my mandolins

[Steve Ostrander]

I would look at a Kentucky km505. MKs not high on my list, and I owned 2 of them.

[mandobassman]

[QUOTE=

I for one don't care what other people think about my mandolins [/QUOTE]

I'm certainly not implying that ALL MK mandolins are lousy. After all, I've only heard 3. I would encourage the buyer to look at everything he/she can. Generally, I think the Eastman's and Kentucky's seem to have a better overall quality rating than the MK's. However, all makers can produce duds as well as excellent instruments. Each buyer should play and listen to everything possible, including used, and make a decision based on budget, sound, and playability.

[Brent Hutto]

If you've found a mandolin that is well set up so that it plays easily and well for you and you like the sound, then such an instrument is probably worth 500 bucks. Since that was the question as posed I'll answer Yes.

Now if the question had been "Can you get a better mandolin than this nice-playing walnut MK for 500 bucks" some of these responses would make more sense.

For my part, personally, I'd have less qualms about buying a F-style MK mandolin per se than about buying from an unknown (to me) Google "B-stock" dealer with such a generic eBay-ish advertisement. But I'm more leery than most, perhaps.

[NAS]

I think the Alvarez is prettier in looks, but I've always had a problem with how tight it plays. The frets on the Alvarez are tiny and it really cramps my hand up when I play. :-)

Or you could get a good Luthier to set up the Alvarez, I'm not convinced fret size makes that much difference, but getting the frets level and the nut and bridge action correct do.
I would not be horendously expensive, I have no idea of US pricing but I charge around £60 ($100'ish) to do a basic setup, more for significant fretwork.
It's remarkable the comments you get from the owner when they have a decent setup done. So many instruments sold by volume outlets have horrible setups, that render them next to unplayable.

Neil

[allenhopkins]

I think the Alvarez is prettier in looks, but I've always had a problem with how tight it plays. The frets on the Alvarez are tiny and it really cramps my hand up when I play.

I'm not sure how "tiny frets" result in "cramping the hand up." It's the distance between the frets that governs how far fingers have to stretch, and there won't be much difference between the two mandolins you're comparing. A smaller diameter neck on the Alvarez might lead to that "cramped" feeling. Before spending $500 on a mandolin that's no improvement in terms of construction, appearance or sound over what you're playing now, I'd drop less than $100 on a professional set-up on the Alvarez, and see how you like it afterwards. Alternatively, I'd pass on the MK, continue to save up buxx, and look for a better instrument in the $1K range –– preferably from a nearby dealer where you might get a trade-in on the Alvarez.

The fact that you asked for Cafe advice, rather than immediately falling in love with the MK and snapping it up, indicates to me you may have doubts about the wisdom of spending $500 just to get "bigger frets." If you've optimized the Alvarez's set-up, and you still don't like the way it plays, that's one thing; "churning" through equivalent-level mandolins, at $500 a pop, is something else.

[Folkmusician.com]

If you played the mandolin and you like it, I think $500 is a good price.

If it is the particular instrument you just linked to, I only have one comment.

The seller is advertising the instrument as a "B" stock.

NOTE: There is a "2" stamped on the back of the headstock to designate it a B-stock instrument.

"B-stocks are marked with a "B". The "2" indicates the mandolin is a second, not a B-stock. When dealers get these from Michael Kelly, we buy them as either blems or seconds. We are told what we are getting. Blems have a one year warranty and cosmetic flaws, seconds have no warranty and can have cosmetic or structural flaws. I wouldn't automatically avoid a second (many are fine), but I would question a seller that sells seconds as blems when they should know the difference.

[Rick Cadger]

Thanks Robert. I just learned something there.

If I were the OP, that discrepancy alone would make me a little wary...

[jlwiseman]

Hi, it's not actually from that link that I plan on buying it. That was just to show everyone what mandolin I was talking about. The one I want is used at the local music store.

[Fiddler3]

If you've played this particular instrument and it sounds good to you, don't worry about the name. I have had 2 MK and both I had a chance to play prior to purchasing. Matched them up against Eastmans at the store and liked the MKs better. Still have one for my backup mandolin. And setup is key on those.

[CES]

I recently had a chance to play a number of Eastman, Kentucky, MK, Loar, and J Bovier mandolins at a local-ish shop. My first mandolin was a Kentucky, my current favorite is a Silverangel Econo (used for 900). There's a tremendous difference in how these two feel to my hand, though both are set up well. The neck profile and I think the larger frets and radiused board on the SA make the SA play much more easily in my hands.

At the local shop I was a little disappointed in the MKs, Kentuckys, and Eastmans. I was quite impressed with the Loars and Boviers. The MKs were lower end models, to be fair, and there wasn't anything inherently wrong with them. I think my beef with both Kentucky and Eastman is the neck profile; I switch from radiused to flat pretty easily but find that I like a little beefier profile than those two offer. Hence my enjoyment of the Loars and Boviers...though both models I played were more than 1000 bucks. I was pleasantly surprised by the Gold Tone Rigel copy they had...it just sounded much better than I thought it would.

So, the point of the rambling...If you still like the MK that much better on your re-visit, then the price isn't bad and I think it's definitely worth it if it improves your enjoyment with playing and motivates you to play more. And NAS's comments above are very valid, but I do like the feel of my SA better than my other mandos, which are well set-up, so I get where you're coming from there. Allen's point to get a set-up and save for a little longer is sound, too. I've generally been a little disappointed in my lateral moves (all bought online, without playing first), but have been very happy with the 2 "nicer" mandos I have, ie the Silverangel and a Flatiron pancake (< 500 used). Had I been looking to buy in the store that day I would have probably left with that Gold Tone (as it was better than my current A/E import, I wouldn't have wanted to spend the bucks for the Loar or Bovier, and it was the best sounding one to me in that range), though the flat board and thin profile may have deterred me.