Ebay Score!

[fiddlemike]

I just scored this Michael Kelly Legacy Plus (Made in Korea) for $486.00. I installed a set of D'Addario J67 strings and it sounds so sweet.
http://m-machado.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/newMKmandolin.jpg

[JEStanek]

Congratulations and Enjoy it, Mike!

Jamie

[Clement Barrera-Ng]

Congrats also. There are definitely some nice surprises out there on eBay. I know buying an instrument like that sight unseen online is a risky way to go, but when the goods are good, and the price is right, it is doubly sweet. I took a gamble recently on a Kentucky KM-675 and was very, very pleasantly surprised how nice and balanced it sounds. With a little tweaking and reworking of the bridge, it's coming to be a wonderful playing mandolin. All for under $400.

[Mandolin Mick]

fiddlemike-

Congratulations! I bought a Gibson A-Century on Ebay about a month ago, the only mandolin I've bought there, so far ... a happy story! :)

Enjoy!

[MikeEdgerton]

Congratulations! I bought a Gibson A-Century on Ebay about a month ago...

I noticed another one on eBay yesterday.

[Mandolin Mick]

Same seller. That one's in rougher shape than mine. I was able to remove any surface scratches with micro-mesh. I don't know where he finds them, but they're nice mandolins! :)

[MikeEdgerton]

That's even more amazing that the same guy had access to two.

[Mandolin Mick]

Actually, I saw a third some time back, in better condition than mine; much better. I'm sure he's not going to divulge his secret, but I'd love to know ... ;)

[journeybear]

Sounds to me like this guy has a studious focus on this niche instrument, a specialist in an already somewhat specialized field. Or he has OCD ... :whistling:

[Mandolin Mick]

But then, wouldn't he collect them instead of sell them? :confused:

[journeybear]

Maybe both. You've only seen three, who knows how many more he's got stashed away ... if you wonder why you rarely see one for sale, this could be why - he's got them all! :)

[Mandolin Mick]

There's probably some truth to what you say. But since we rarely see these, except from him, doesn't it mean that he's getting them from the real source and then sells them?

[journeybear]

Not necessarily. He is probably getting them from many sources - much as brooks flow together to form a river - and then keeps them, letting one go now and then so he can get another one, or two, when they show up. If this is what he's interested in, he probably knows where to look for them.

There could be untold hordes of Centuries trapped in his basement yearning to run free, like the mops in Mickey Mouse's "Sorcerer's Apprentice" Fantasia sequence, and all you would have to do is open that door and be overrun with them, free at last! ... but then the market price would plummet.

Geez - I think my mind is still half on the alternate universe thread ... :))

[Mandolin Mick]

If what you say is true ... I know this ... he told me he used to sell for Bear Paw in Alameda, CA. That could be a clue ...:confused:

[journeybear]

Ruh Roh! Now you done blown his cover! :disbelief:

BTW, fiddlemike - it does look like you got yourself a good 'un there. Bright and shiny. Hope you enjoy it for a good long while. I've only ever bought one acoustic instrument from ebay, my 1917 Gibson A, which though it set me back about twice what yours did you, is still considered a good deal by a lot of folks, and I'm real happy with it. So yes, sometimes ebay can be a great resource. Be choosy, caveat emptor and all that, but sometimes you've just gotta go for it! :mandosmiley: