Hi. I'm Frank and I have been playing a Legacy O for the last six years. It is great for jazz, bluegrass well anything. I have always had my eye on the Gibsons, I own a '70s ES135 guitar, but the mandolins have always been out of reach. On a visit to Mandolin Bros in Staten Island, Jay told me my MK was about worthless, had a warped neck and that he would be willing to bring a class action lawsuit to MK for not providing a playable instrument. What the hell is going on! The value of the instrument has dropped about $300. I have enjoyed playing the MK in a Thursday night jazz group in Riverhead for about three years. I learned so much in that group and continue to love playing traditional jazz on the Legacy O. It is a beautiful mandolin despite it's "legacy", and admirers have told me so. Let me know your experiences. FB
I have one of these (Teens era F2 style) mandolins - and I see they are discontinued. I bought mine used for about 350.00 so I was not expecting an instrument in great shape. The neck had been tightened down making the next curve reverse of what it should be. Also the bridge was broken and it had a gap behind the binding on the back. After 2 sessions of setting up the instrument correctly, it was still an average sounding instrument, and I suspected it the thick finish on the instrument. I tried removing it with a lacquer based thinner and it did nothing - I guess they must be finished with urethane. I sanded all of the old finish off, and re-sprayed a very thin coat of lacquer . The instrument sounds great now – like one would expect it to sound anyway – It is not equal to a vintage f2 sound, but it is very close, and has large frets, a radiused fingerboard and a low price tag that a vintage instrument would not have. I have dealt with the Mando Bros. and they are a great resource for vintage instruments, but I would not expect them to say something good about an import unless they are trying to sell it to you. The neck may be a little off but you seem pleased and the setup may compensate for it. Being happy is the bottom line – being a player is more important than what you play.
I was wrong - they are not discontinued
I played a Legacy O at a local shop that doesn't usually carry mandolins. It's on consignment for $600. I thought it sounded great, especially the low-end response. The only issue I saw was the bridge was "two-blocked", that is saddle bottomed out on the lower piece with no room for more lowering of the action. Intonation was a little off, but I figured I could fix that and the bridge. Came with a nice case, too. Anyway, I decided against it. Now I see that some sites show this model as discontinued, while others list it for ~$900. General bias appears to be against MK mandos, but I've heard some that sound pretty good.
Another Legacy O owner here. Have had the thing less than a week, but I'm really happy with it. I may lower the action at the nut slightly, but its wonderful so far. She came with a bridge pickup and sounds great with it. I'm noticing the bridge lean a bit once tuned and I'm wondering if I need to do something to correct that a bit. Any thoughts.
