The cream dream

[johnwalser]

When I saw the announcement for special edition Michael Kelly mandolins, I should never have went and looked at their website. As I told Dennis at The Mandolin Store, I needed another mandolin like I did a hole in the head, but I did like that cream model. I figure if I ever laid it down in a room full of Loars, I’d be able to pick my instrument out of the bunch rather easily. Well, it arrived tonight and not only is it much better looking than the pictures, it has very good volume and tone for a brand new instrument. Dennis says that the Michael Kelly line has been getting more consistent recently and have started making their tops thinner. I have an excellent Firefly Flame I purchased from Tracy when he still sold direct on their website and was afraid this one might sound more like the MKs I played a few years ago at a festival. They were “Real Dogs” and I hoped they had just not been set up properly, but they might have had really thick tops like the Gibsons from the 70s. When I tuned this up and started playing, I almost jumped for joy. Ted has sent out a set of Labella JM-11 JazzMando flatwounds to replace the factory strings and I am looking forward to playing this in over the next few months to see how it develops. The color might not appeal to everyone, but I dig it!
John

[pjlama]

Great look, congrats!

[strings10]

This is very nice. I like the tiny position dots, too.

[johnwalser]

Quick update:
Got JazzMando strings today and they are as smooth as a baby's butt. I refit bridge ( had a bit of a vault once I removed string tension ) and touched up both nut and bridge slots to make them a bit cleaner. I must have done something right, because it sounds a bit better, but it could just be Ted's great strings. I forgot to mention that the finish is nearly flawless and whatever they used smells to high heaven. I should just call the mando "Stinky", but figure the smell will eventually fade.
John

[Keith Erickson]

John,

...you lucky devil you http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

I would love to hear what it sounds like. I'll have to check out their website.

Thank you for sharing http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[Caleb]

Wow, that's a beautiful instrument. Truly unique!!!!


Gotta question: What are those little rings/grommit things on the strings toward the tail piece? I've seen them on a few mandolins but don't understand their function.



http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif

[Jim Broyles]

Those are rubber grommets: For Sale Here (http://www.mandolincafe.com/cgi-bin/classifieds/classifieds.cgi?search_and_display_db_button=on&db_id=24490&query=retrieval)