Kentucky KM-630 not as good as Rover RM-75???

[pickgrinlive]

Hey everyone,

I've been shopping around for a really good, first mandolin. I've played guitar for nearly a decade now, and have thought about getting a mandolin for several years now. I've been looking on themandolinhut.com and themandolinstore.com for mandolins as well as a local shop, the Appalachian Bluegrass Shoppe, Catonsville, MD. I found the Rover RM-75 to be the best option for me in price range, but also found a liking to the Kentucky KM-630 after visiting the shop and the Rover being sold recently and them not getting another for another week or so.

I had reached an agreement with a person a the store to get the Rover with a hard case for $500 with a hard case because they were selling it alone for $495 and I found it online at themandolinhut.com for $499 with a hard case and other essentials http://themandolinhut.com/rm_75_rover_mandolin.htm (I've since found out that the mandolinstore.com has it with just a hard case included for $419 http://www.themandolinstore.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=8383)

Well, they haven't returned my emails since I'm trying to work out a cash only deal with them like I had with the Rover with a hard case price matching to an online site. I would prefer to buy it straight from a local shop and since they're selling the 630 for $650 alone and themandolinhut.com is selling it at $579 with a hard case, tuner, picks, etc. http://themandolinhut.com/kentucky_mandolin_km_630.htm(to put in perspective, themandolinstore.com has the Kentucky KM-675 for $650 with just a hard case http://www.themandolinstore.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=9077).

I want to see if they'll price match this one too. Anyway, something I just found was that themandolinstore.com says that the Rover RM-75 is better than the KM-630, and doesn't even carry the KM-630, but does have the 550, 650 and 675. It only says this on the search results and not the individual page entry for the Rover RM-75. Scroll down the page to see it...
http://www.themandolinstore.com/scripts/prodList.asp?brand=9&sortField=price



I was wondering what everyone thinks about this claim for a lower priced mandolin being a better quality instrument.

[Billm67]

They're very similar mandolins. They're both made by SAGA and Rover is their lower end line and Kentucky is their more expensive line.

[Folkmusician.com]

It sounds like your local store is priced reasonably (for a local shop). If you prefer to buy local, I would be willing to pay the extra. Most local shops can't compete with higher volume online dealers.

If I were choosing between the RM-75 and the KM-630, my money would go toward the KM-630. Purely based on tone, the RM-75 is the better deal. I prefer the KM-630 as a whole. I feel the 630 is a better quality instruments. Keep in mind, the Rover's are constantly changing. The Rover's this year, are different from last year, etc....

[Tim2723]

The biggest problem with the RM-75 is its lack of a third digit. Add an extra number and everyone would just buy it. Maybe their next change will be an extra number. 75 is just so small it can't be good.

In the words of The Tallest:
"It ain't so bad."
"I think so too."

[Darren Bailey]

I haven't played a Rover but I have a 630. I am completely in love with my kentucky, and unless I stupidly take up the offer of strumming a Loar I hope to stay with it until I can't grip it anymore. The 630 makes a great sound for the money.

[Dave Cowles]

My RM75 plays and sounds better than most of the 600 series Kentuckys to my ears. I am convinced that they are born from Saga's better mandolins that didn't make the QC cut for various cosmetic reasons, then got a different headstock overlay and finish to become a Rover. I wouldn't hesitate one minute to buy another one. I've mentioned here several times that my main mando is a one-off, luthier made F5 that is stellar sounding. Having said that, I would not be happy if I lost my "beater" RM75.
Dave

[pickgrinlive]

I sent the local shop another email, and addressed my thoughts on waiting out for them to reply and that I would rather not go with an online shop. I've still received no reply.

In other thoughts, I'm looking to get a good radius fretboard mandolin now after doing some research. Any good ones anyone knows of in the $500-$750 range? I found the KM-675 to be a good choice.

[axeman2000x]

I bought a used Korean made Kentucky KM-630 with hardshell case for a nice price ($200 USD) in June. The prevous owner was a guitar player who never really took to the mandolin and didn't play it much. I was disappointed with the set up on this. The nut was too high (caused intonation problems); the truss rod rattled inside the neck when I played certain notes, there were a couple of slightly high frets (causing certain notes to sound deader than others), and the bridge was set to it's lowest point and yet too high. It also had a closed tone to some extent.

I had a tech do a pro set up and fix the high frets, all for about $35. It vastly improved the instrument. Playing it for three months has also broken in the solid spruce top, giving it a more open sound. My only concern now is that the lower frets show significant wear given they were like new when I got it in June. I have played it for 100+ hours already though.

My point here is even though Km-630s are regarded as good intermediate level instruments and can expensive when purchased new, in my case the set up was not much better than what you might expect from a cheap Rogue mandolin (although the sound was much better). That said, my KM-630 was made in Korea before they moved production to China; current production models might have not be prone to these sort of issues.

[Folkmusician.com]

That said, my KM-630 was made in Korea before they moved production to China; current production models might have not be prone to these sort of issues.

You just described the typical factory setup for the China versions as well. :) The Chinese Kentucky's have now surpassed the Korean versions in quality and tone, but the setup is still your typical factory setup.

The main reason is that a mandolin setup will not survive an ocean voyage along with who knows how long in various less than idea conditions. If they did a good setup (and they sometimes appear to try), it would still need to be redone in the USA. Having a team of talented setup guys on staff in the US warehouse is not economical, so the setup gets pawned off on the dealer which isn't really a bad thing. Furniture dealers, assemble furniture, Car dealers prep cars, etc... The setup should really be done at the dealer level. Of course we all know that is not always happening, or at least not being done well. :grin:

[Steve Ostrander]

At that price I would go for a Kentucky km505. The Mandolin Store has them for less than $500 new with HS case.

[Rob Giuffrida]

I went through the same dilemma not too long ago and was sold on the Rover RM-75. Although it's my first mandolin, I'm in love with the playability, tone, and quality of the instrument. I do not regret picking this over similar priced, highly regarded instruments. I paid $419 at The Mandolin Store with hard case and Dennis was an absolute pleasure to deal with, NFI at all. Great mandolin!

[mandroid]

They all got the same notes to play on them. :whistling:

[John Soper]

As pointed out, the mandolin setup can make a world of difference -way more than with a guitar- and it is one of the possible advantages of buying local. It is worth a few extra bucks to make sure that your new mando has a good set up.

I'd hate for you to be posting in 3 months that you are discouraged because the mando that you bought on-line has such a high action and doesn't intonate well, and now you are considering quitting the little 8-string wonder and want advice on how much it is worth to put it up on evil-bay...

[Markus]

"As pointed out, the mandolin setup can make a world of difference -way more than with a guitar- and it is one of the possible advantages of buying local. It is worth a few extra bucks to make sure that your new mando has a good set up."

Thus my experience with Eastman, which is quite good as the local vendor also happens to be the best acoustic repair shop around here. After a couple hours of work ... the ones they display play and sound great. That said, it's all higher # models and they've all had a thorough setup first.

That said, I skipped all that and got a Breedlove. Like it being US made, love that it is set up perfectly, and love that it's an instrument I can grow into. Somehow the Eastman/Rover option made me wonder about how the instrument would be 5 or 10 years down the road.

[cutterflys]

I'd be interested if anyone knows how the Rover RM-75 has evolved. I have one of the early ones that used the Michigan maple for back & sides. Supposedly Saga ordered this maple for one of their higher end Kentuckys but opted not to use it so did a limited run on the RM-75's. I'm not sure if the newer ones still use this maple and have been unable to find out anything from Saga Instruments. Mine was set up perfectly (Appalachian Bluegrass - Catonsville, MD) and is very warm. It's not the loudest mandolin but if they're the same now, I would highly recommend them as an entry level instrument. Mine is mostly reserved for practice & camping trips now but I have played mine out professionally from time to time as a back up and gotten some pretty nice compliments on it.

[Andy Fielding]

themandolinstore.com says that the Rover RM-75 is better than the KM-630...

This kind of discussion is fun, but it's not particularly useful. You can pick up two of the very same mandolin model, and one can be awful, the other magical. Every piece of wood is different, and every craftsperson is different. You've got to play 'em. (The mandolins, that is, not the craftspeople.)

Lower-end models like these are especially prone to this "toss of the dice" phenomenon, because the quality control usually isn't quite as stringent. In extreme cases of carelessness, a fabulous-sounding instrument may even be allowed to slip through.