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View Full Version : How good is supposed to be a kentucky 150?



Lucas Leroy
Mar-10-2016, 9:11am
Hi everyone,
I bought a Kentucky 150s on Amazon (the only place where i could find one in France :disbelief: ) and i just received it. I play guitar and i have two nice guitars, but i've never owned a mandolin before so i don't know if mine is correct or not, i'll explain. When i looked at the neck to see if it's straight or not, i realized that there was a little bump on the G string side (not on the other side of the neck) so some frets are slightly higher. As i know it's a mandolin for beginners, i as wondering if it was normal? I just know it wouldn't happen with a guitar which costs 300 but i have no clue for mandolin. Can someone help me? Thanks :)

hucklebilly
Mar-10-2016, 9:48am
Hi everyone,
I bought a Kentucky 150s on Amazon (the only place where i could find one in France :disbelief: ) and i just received it. I play guitar and i have two nice guitars, but i've never owned a mandolin before so i don't know if mine is correct or not, i'll explain. When i looked at the neck to see if it's straight or not, i realized that there was a little bump on the G string side (not on the other side of the neck) so some frets are slightly higher. As i know it's a mandolin for beginners, i as wondering if it was normal? I just know it wouldn't happen with a guitar which costs 300 but i have no clue for mandolin. Can someone help me? Thanks :)

I love my KM150. Played great right out of the box. Sounds like yours has a problem. I would contact Amazon. (I bought mine from Amazon too).

Lucas Leroy
Mar-10-2016, 2:20pm
I called them they're sending me a new one. :)

Northwest Steve
Mar-10-2016, 2:43pm
I have one and there was no problem. Have not heard any others either.

EdHanrahan
Mar-10-2016, 3:02pm
... I just know it wouldn't happen with a guitar which costs 300 ...

Yeah but... When comparing a $300 archtop mandolin (or a $300 archtop guitar, for that matter), you're looking at the equivalent of a $150 flat-top guitar. Even at that, a fretboard bump is most unusual. A $150 guitar / $300 archtop may have unpolished frets and miserable string height, but at least the fretboard is usually flat.

colorado_al
Mar-10-2016, 3:25pm
Glad that Amazon is sending you a new one. I had the same problem with a Kentucky KM-650 that I bought from them. They replaced it, no questions asked.
Once you get one with a flat fretboard, do yourself a favor and contact Rob Meldrum for a copy of his mandolin setup guide:
http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/showthread.php?119058-Mandolin-Set-Up-Ebook-and-Mandolin-Users
Let us know how it goes!

Lucas Leroy
Mar-11-2016, 5:27am
I love this forum :D
Thanks to all of you !

cayuga red
Mar-11-2016, 7:48am
I love this forum :D
Thanks to all of you !

We are here to help. If your new Ky-150 is properly set up, you will be very pleased with your purchase . Good luck!

Lucas Leroy
Mar-17-2016, 12:15pm
Hello, so i just received my second kentucky 150s from amazon, i just did the basic setup for intonation and the height of the strings.
I'm pretty happy with it, a lot more than the first one, the neck looks really better but there are still a few things that trouble me. I put a picture, the thing is that i don't know how this is called so i don't really know how to describe my problem (english isn't my first language) but you can see that that thing is outside of the wood, it does it more or less in a few spots, if you can see.
144534

Also, when i fret around the 17th fret, i'll have a buzz on the low G string and on the E string all the frets after will have the same note. I don know if it's normal because i suppose this is not the part of a mandolin you play the most :) I used the Measurement Charts from Meldrum's ebook which recommend 0.059 inch between the string and 12th fret, i'm slightly above that, should i higher the saddle a little bit or am i fine ?
Thanks a lot, i know it's a lot of writing ! :)

colorado_al
Mar-17-2016, 12:31pm
You should be able to push the bushings in to make them flush with the headstock. They are just a press fit. You might be able to do it with just finger pressure.
As far as the intonation and buzzing on the high frets, that indicates that your saddle might need to be raised. It could also be an issue of truss rod adjustment, however that is beyond most inexperienced in setup. I'd try raising the action a bit and see if it resolves.

Lucas Leroy
Mar-17-2016, 12:48pm
Thanks a lot, i'll detune it and try to push on the bushings (thanks for the word :) ). I'll try to raise the saddle.
Just a short line to say I already love mandolin very very much.

Mark Gunter
Mar-17-2016, 3:35pm
. . . on the E string all the frets after will have the same note.

This is not good at all, and could be an indication that you have problems with unlevel frets or neck relief - assuming that the action is truly better than .059 inch at the string and the twelfth fret. It may be good to have this checked out by a luthier if your fiddling around with the action does not help.

Also, I notice a small crack in the headstock when viewing the image you posted, hopefully that's just a hairline fracture in the finish rather than through the wood.

144545

kkmm
Mar-17-2016, 3:44pm
Also, when i fret around the 17th fret, i'll have a buzz on the low G string and on the E string all the frets after will have the same note.
This could indicate fret#18 is a bit higher than other causing this problem. This should not be an issue if you do not play at these high frets (I never do, too small !!!). It could be fixed easily too.
The crack in the head stick could be simply a finish crack.
I have bought 2 KM-150 used in the past and they do not have any of these problems.

Lucas Leroy
Mar-17-2016, 6:18pm
Thank you ! The crack in the head is just a white cat hair i think :) because i can't seem to find it now, but good eye Mark ! I'll try to raise the saddle a little bit and see if it fixes the problem, as it's my second kentucky from amazon i'm not sure i would ask for a third one so i hope it'll get fixed. Also i tried pushing on the bushings with my thumbs and it works a little bit but not perfect, should i try something else or should i ask to someone who has more strength in the thumbs :) also I was wondering if it was a bad thing, it wouldn't jump of the headstock, would it?

pops1
Mar-17-2016, 7:10pm
I have seen bushings that will fall off when there are no strings on and still work ok. They keep the shaft of the tuner centered and will work fine like they are. Some mandolins with tapered headstocks have that problem and they are much more expensive. Have a good time playing, don't worry about raising the action, keep it low and don't play that far up the neck, you most likely won't need to until you are ready for a better mandolin.

gtani7
Mar-17-2016, 9:02pm
Hi everyone,
I bought a Kentucky 150s on Amazon (the only place where i could find one in France :disbelief: ) and i just received it. I play guitar and i have two nice guitars, but i've never owned a mandolin before so i don't know if mine is correct or not, i'll explain. When i looked at the neck to see if it's straight or not, i realized that there was a little bump on the G string side (not on the other side of the neck) so some frets are slightly higher. As i know it's a mandolin for beginners, i as wondering if it was normal? I just know it wouldn't happen with a guitar which costs 300 but i have no clue for mandolin. Can someone help me? Thanks :)

i have a 2011 kentucky km505 with a hump over the neck joint and a high fret (and one of my Eastmans had that problem). So out of 5 Pacrim instruments i've owned, 2 had the problem. Pretty easy to fix but you need a crown file (and the right size crown file for your frets) or take to shop for setup. Here's how to check high fret (2 ways)

http://www.stewmac.com/Luthier_Tools/Types_of_Tools/Straightedges/Fret_Rocker.html (you need e.g. credit card cut to shorter lengths than the Stewmac trapezoid)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBzirIfsQPo