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View Full Version : Loar Lm-600 or Eastman MD515 or Kentucky KM-1000?



xinezen
Jun-08-2011, 7:36am
I am a new mandolin player after playing guitar for many years. I love playing the mandolin and am enjoying playing the melody of a song more than ever. I have a Rogue mandolin I am really struggling with as it is very difficult to play. I am looking to upgrade and am thinking about one of the three mandolins listed in the title of this post. I'm open to all opinions, facts, etc. Thanks!!

Christine

Lou Giordano
Jun-08-2011, 8:06am
Being a guitar player, you might find the wider string spacing and the larger frets of the LM-600 easier to play than the others. You really have to play them to see what is comfortable for you.

Ed Goist
Jun-08-2011, 10:47am
Lou's right. You'll need to play many different mandolins to find your playability "sweet-spot".
That said, any of these three should be a considerable improvement in terms of both playability and tone.
I just thought of something...Someone (an enterprising vendor?) should put together a set of neck samples for the popular "under $1,000" mandolins made of inexpensive wood that they could ship out to potential customers for a small "rental" charge. Of course, someone would need to build these, but they would sure help distance customers make a decision.

goldtopper
Jun-09-2011, 8:41am
I love my Loar 600. I sold and Eastman to buy it. The Eastman I was able to play and liked it; however the Eastman never really opened up, and after owning a Summit and a King Brown, I was quickly disappointed.
I read a bunch about the Loar and ordered it blind and am very pleased. It compares favorably to both aforementioned mandos and continues to get better.

Steve Ostrander
Jun-09-2011, 9:34am
Well, the km1000 is the priciest of the three, assuming new, and also the one I would bank on If I could not play them before buying. But I like Kentucky, others don't. It's all personal preference. Some will chime in and say that their md515 eats km1500s for breakfast. Maybe it does, I don't know, I haven't heard it.

I also have an MT and a md615v, but if I could only keep one, I'd keep my km900. Maybe it's one of those 1/100 that are special--or maybe it's just my ears. I know it's not because of my playing.

Big Joe
Jun-09-2011, 12:05pm
We just finished setting up a couple LM600 Loars, and they are very nice! Good volume, good tone, good playability. The necks are not as large as the early batches, but still pretty good size. Nice figure in the wood as well. The Loar models is my personal preference of the three mentioned.

Stephen Perry
Jun-11-2011, 8:12am
I must comment that one must have equivalent setup work to really compare. Preferably with good aftermarket high-end bridge.

The LM600 and new version LM500 are quite surprising. I didn't find them to have quite as quick a response as the MD515 Eastmans, but that is not necessarily a deal killer. Depends on what one wants. The LM600 seems to have a broader midrange. The MD515 tends to be more trebly and cutting, especially in stock trim.

The KM1000 is really a different instrument. To my ears, when appropriately set and played, it sounds the best. I had one at the Nashville IBMA show once and was very impressed with the performance in the hands of some well known professionals, who also liked it very much. I would have picked it as the winner out of the bunch.

Given the cost differential, the LM600 is surprisingly close.

You might wish to consider the models without tone bars - done well, they really do pack a punch. Different emphasis on voicing for me.

If I get a chance, I'll shoot some neck profiles.