New KM950

[Eric C.]

Hi folks,
Wanted to share a few pics of my new KM950 I received from The Mandolin Store yesterday. I'm completely overwhelmed at the tone and volume of this thing! It's way more mandolin than I was expecting for the $999.00 price tag. This one should do me for quite some time!
104298104299104300

[JEStanek]

I hope it gives you years of great service. Enjoy!

Jamie

[Frank Farley]

That is a beautiful instrument for sure.I would like to have one to go with my Gay Fern.Sure hope enjoy it for a long time.

[houseworker]

Glad it's lived up to your expectations. How about a sound clip?

[Levi]

That is a beautiful instrument for sure.I would like to have one to go with my Gay Fern.Sure hope enjoy it for a long time.

Am I missing something?

Great mandolin by the way. I'm jealous.

[Frank Farley]

LOL,I meant Gray Fern.Sorry.

[John Hill]

Love that Griffith Loar look, glad they added the modern appointments with the radius & larger frets.

[Ed Goist]

Congratulations Eric! I look forward to seeing & hearing it in person!

[FLATROCK HILL]

Congratulations Eric! I look forward to seeing & hearing it in person!

Me too!

[Eric C.]

Glad it's lived up to your expectations. How about a sound clip?

Here's a soundclip. Apologies for the quality of picking in this (haha). THis was recorded into an Audix i5 instrument microphone, into a mackie mixer, into Audacity on my ancient laptop.
https://soundcloud.com/eric-cogar/cavehill

[cayuga red]

Well played!

[houseworker]

Sounds good!

[mandolinlee]

Eric -

Sounds good, hope to get to hear it in person on the 21st.

Lee

[Nick Gellie]

Hi Eric,

Because it has an Adirondack a spruce top it will take a bit of a workout with your mandolin to get it to its full sound.

Well done on the purchase. Enjoy!

[Eric Michael Pfeiffer]

Hi Eric,

Because it has an Adirondack a spruce top it will take a bit of a workout with your mandolin to get it to its full sound.

Well done on the purchase. Enjoy!

This is what I've read as well....that Adirondack Red Spruce starts out very tight but with time and vigorous playing it opens up very well. Some folks say it can take as much as a year to a year and a half to fully develop. I also believe that most if not all of Lloyd Loar's signed F-5's were Adi Red Spruce. Doesn't mean that I think that Red Spruce is the "holy-Grail" so to speak of the Spruces but it seems to lend to consistent full sounding mandolins.

[carolinamark]

Congratulations. Did it come with the fingerboard scooped?

[Eric C.]

Yes. It is the same as the KM900 except it has a radius fretboard, wider frets and a scooped Florida.

[Willie Poole]

The hype about the KM-900 was that it was made to be somewhat an exact duplicate of the Loar A-5, that being the case what could Kentucky do to make the KM-950 sound or look more like the original, sort of like the hype of the Gibson F-5 Fern (f-5L) which later they said the MM model was like the Loar F-5`s...Anything to sell mandolins I suppose, I own a KM-900 and I love it except for the narrow frets, mine doesn`t have the same color scheme as the 950 or a radi fingerboard...

enjoy it, they are great mandolins and well worth the price

Willie

[Clement Barrera-Ng]

Because it has an Adirondack a spruce top it will take a bit of a workout with your mandolin to get it to its full sound.!

Not to take away from a wonderful and one of my favorite mandolin (I've owned three KM900 and they were all great), but I am not sure that the KM900/KM950 has an Adirondack spruce top. Back when the KM900 was first introduced (2009?) the marketing literature described it as being built with an adi top, but not long after (2010?), the description was updated to just a solid spruce top. Currently, I can't find anywhere that says these come with Adi top.

Nonetheless, no matter what the top wood is, the KM900/950 are outstanding in every way, and congrats on a wonderful purchase. Whenever I see one for sale, it always stirs up MAS in me no matter what I'm playing at the moment.

[Nick Gellie]

Eric,

I would suggest using a slightly heavier pick. Wegen now makes a mandolin style pick that would do the job. There are other picks that do the job. I was given free a redline Acoustics pick that slides beautifully over the strings. For a slighter brighter sound I could use a Jim Dunlop 1.07 mm. The heavier picks just brig the woody tone in the mandolin while still getting brightness out of the trebles.

You chose well to pick a Kentucky KM-950 mandolin. They are amazingly good value and have a good sound and are beautifully built.

[Eric C.]

Howdy,
I typically use a Freakishly Large V-Pick (2.75MM thick). I don't know why but on this recording I used a much thinner pick.


Eric,

I would suggest using a slightly heavier pick. Wegen now makes a mandolin style pick that would do the job. There are other picks that do the job. I was given free a redline Acoustics pick that slides beautifully over the strings. For a slighter brighter sound I could use a Jim Dunlop 1.07 mm. The heavier picks just brig the woody tone in the mandolin while still getting brightness out of the trebles.

You chose well to pick a Kentucky KM-950 mandolin. They are amazingly good value and have a good sound and are beautifully built.

[FLATROCK HILL]

The hype about the KM-900 was that it was made to be somewhat an exact duplicate of the Loar A-5, that being the case what could Kentucky do to make the KM-950 sound or look more like the original, sort of like the hype of the Gibson F-5 Fern (f-5L) which later they said the MM model was like the Loar F-5`s...Anything to sell mandolins I suppose, I own a KM-900 and I love it except for the narrow frets, mine doesn`t have the same color scheme as the 950 or a radi fingerboard...

enjoy it, they are great mandolins and well worth the price


Willie

Willie, I'm not sure if I'm reading your post correctly, or if I understand the meaning you intended.
It sounds like you are asking "what could Kentucky do to make the KM-950 sound or look more like the original?" (I added the question mark.)
Then you seem to compare the marketing strategy of Kentucky to the "hype of the Gbson F-5 Fern". You follow that up with the statement "Anything to sell mandolins I suppose".

You go on to say that you own a KM-900 and that you love it except for the narrow frets.
I think you answered your own question. Kentucky isn't trying to change the look or sound of the mandolin. They're just giving their customers some options.

[9lbShellhamer]

Nice mando!

I can't wait to try one of these out. At my local shop I had a chance to play a Breedlove and really liked the wider nut and larger frets. I'm excited to try the Kentucky 950 to compare.

Have you had the chance to play both to compare?

Congrats on your new buy!

[Nick Gellie]

9lbShellhamer,

The KM-950 mandolin to my ears is a traditional woody open sounding mando with good overall balance across all the strings. While I have not played a Breedlove mandolin I would imagine it has a more modern bright sound. I have not tried a Breedlove but that is what other people have been saying. You should look up old 'Breedlove' threads on the cafe. You will find you answer there I would think.

[Canoedad]

How small are the frets on a KM-900? Are they as small as Eastman frets or a little larger?

A KM-900 popped up here on the classifies and I finally fell. It spoke to me. I've been an oval guy (2 Webers) so far. I'm anxious to try out the F sound too.

https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=59708941560566CB&id=59708941560566CB%211797&authkey=%21AFXSLBcc7EuYFYg&v=3

[9lbShellhamer]

hahaha... Couldn't resist. I ordered the Mandolin Store's last km 950 last week. I'll be opening the box in 24 hours!

[Canoedad]

Congratulations. Is that an upgrade from your KM-160 (if I remember correctly)?

[Jim Kirkland]

Dennis is a super guy to deal with. Tomorrow I will be receiving a new Lafferty A Oval from the Mandolin Store. I was the winner in the giveaway. Can't wait.

[9lbShellhamer]

Great to hear! Congrats again on the lafferty win!

Yes... I have a km160 and bought a Breedlove as an upgrade but couldn't resist the KM 950. I wanted the volume and more traditional sound.

I sold the Breedlove and will hopefully get another in a year or so... for now I need the more traditional sound.. ( and volume to drown the 4 banjos I'm playing with! )

[cayuga red]

You've made a wise choice. Enjoy!

[John Hill]

4 banjos?!?!?

[9lbShellhamer]

YES. 4!

One Mandolin, (myself)
One Stand Up Bass
Two Guitars
FOUR banjos!

[terzinator]

I was once in a band with ZERO banjos called "One Banjo Too Many"