Lucky Buy?

[Cliff Seruntine]

I've been chewing over how it is that this relatively inexpensive KM-272 mandolin of mine has such a beautiful sound. The back and sides and neck are all nicely flamed maple, but in my experience that doesn't make much difference in tone. But then I really looked closely at the top and realized the soundboard is exceptionally dense. The growth rings are all about 1mm and in about half the area of the soundboard they are closer to half a mm. It was a very slow-growing tree that made this soundboard, which should have made the soundboard wood very dense. Are other KM-272s like this or did I just get lucky and get an exceptionally good one?

[yankees1]

If you like it and it sounds great to your ear than that is all that matters-----------------at this stage of the game !! Your ear may change with time and experience however !

[Cliff Seruntine]

I want to hear me drink wine!

[Folkmusician.com]

The Kentucky's will be fairly consistent at any given time. One tree will make quite a few, so mandolins from the same batch tend to be very close to one another.

[Cliff Seruntine]

The Kentucky's will be fairly consistent at any given time. One tree will make quite a few, so mandolins from the same batch tend to be very close to one another.

So, maybe like fine wines, there will be a run of 272s out there that in 50 yrs people will be trying to collect.

[Jill McAuley]

You should post an audio clip of your 272 so we can all hear it!

[Cliff Seruntine]

You should post an audio clip of your 272 so we can all hear it!

Hehe, my entire recording studio consists of a tablet's built in mic, plus I'm not that good on it yet, lol!

[Br1ck]

I believe there is no market segment that has improved through the years as much as the lower level all solid instruments.

I find myself playing and enjoying my Michael Kelly more and more. I am realistic enough to realize that there are so many factors at play here that I find it impossible to evaluate the mandolin objectively. I have put so much effort into working on it as to have an emotional attachment to it.

But that really becomes a moot point when the reality is that I enjoy playing it, which is what really matters. Enjoy your Kentucky and be happy with it as long as possible, for as surely as I am standing here, there will come a day when you will pick up another mandolin and have an epiphany. So begins the drain of any disposable income you may be so fortunate as to have.

But you will have a beater you enjoy playing.

[Joseph Baker]

Well, Jimmy Gaudreau liked the Kentucky 272 mandolins:
https://youtu.be/xOYt29BaCk8

Above is the you tube link. I don't know how to embed the video

Joseph Baker

[BrianWilliam]

I believe there is no market segment that has improved through the years as much as the lower level all solid instruments.

I find myself playing and enjoying my Michael Kelly more and more. I am realistic enough to realize that there are so many factors at play here that I find it impossible to evaluate the mandolin objectively. I have put so much effort into working on it as to have an emotional attachment to it.

But that really becomes a moot point when the reality is that I enjoy playing it, which is what really matters. Enjoy your Kentucky and be happy with it as long as possible, for as surely as I am standing here, there will come a day when you will pick up another mandolin and have an epiphany. So begins the drain of any disposable income you may be so fortunate as to have.

But you will have a beater you enjoy playing.

Time to sell me your Silverangel

[Mandoplumb]

I think mass produced mandolins like Kentucky and Gibsons tend to vary more than one from a small one or two man builder. Yes the company built ones can be acceptable if quality control is good but there can and will be some that stands out from the others.

[MikeZito]

There is a VERY detailed review of a 272 somewhere here on the forum - and the general consensus on other threads is that they are fine instruments. Call me crazy; but I bought my 272 at the same time that I bought a fairly recent Gibson F-5 . . . I sent back the F-5 and kept the Kentucky.

Enjoy yours!

[Br1ck]

Time to sell me your Silverangel

Only if you can get me a deal on a SA f style with a redwood top.

[Eric F.]

I'd hardly call Gibsons "mass produced."

[James Miller]

Well, Jimmy Gaudreau liked the Kentucky 272 mandolins:
https://youtu.be/xOYt29BaCk8

Above is the you tube link. I don't know how to embed the video

Joseph Baker

Had watched that video then found one did of the series before. Almost the exact same wording. So he's a paid spokesperson and not an honest review.

Jimmy Gaudreau Reviews The Kentucky KM256 Mandolin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFkQu1Ag9EQ
Published on Mar 29, 2015

Jimmy Gaudreau Reviews The Kentucky KM272 Mandolin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOYt29BaCk8
Published on Feb 25, 2015

[Mandoplumb]

I'd hardly call Gibsons "mass produced."

Probably not today but in their heyday they were cranking them out, not saying that's bad just the demand was there and Gibson answered that demand with a good product.

[pheffernan]

Only if you can get me a deal on a SA f style with a redwood top.

Even then, would you really want to part with your favorite A-style? Asking for a friend . . .

[Br1ck]

Uh, when it comes down to it, no. I've noticed they tend to come up for sale in bunches. Why I don't know.

[colorado_al]

I've been chewing over how it is that this relatively inexpensive KM-272 mandolin of mine has such a beautiful sound. The back and sides and neck are all nicely flamed maple, but in my experience that doesn't make much difference in tone. But then I really looked closely at the top and realized the soundboard is exceptionally dense. The growth rings are all about 1mm and in about half the area of the soundboard they are closer to half a mm. It was a very slow-growing tree that made this soundboard, which should have made the soundboard wood very dense. Are other KM-272s like this or did I just get lucky and get an exceptionally good one?

I'm really impressed with the high quality of the current Kentucky 200 series. Every one I have played has been very good. I bought a KM-272 from Elderly and it also has very tightly grained spruce and beautiful maple. It is exactly what I want in an oval hole mandolin. Nice and responsive. Good oval low end and good projection on the high end too. The neck is very comfortable and the fretboard is superb! I was looking for an oval hole mandolin with an A5 neck and the Kentucky KM-272 & KM-270 have it with an elevated fretboard and neck joint at the 14th fret. The bridge is good and well fit to the top. I've had it for a few weeks and I keep picking it up to play. While it certainly isn't on par with the Nugget that I had the good fortune to play last night, it is a stellar mandolin that rivals ones 5-10x the price. I compared it with a Weber Absaroka ($2400 used) oval last week and I prefered the Kentucky's sound and playability.

[Cliff Seruntine]

A friend of mine has suggested I get a Weber, a Dean, or some other high end mandolin. While I like the idea of the expensive instrument, I would find it a burden to play. The Kentucky KM-272 is 99.9% of what I want in an instrument. If I were to spend $3000 to $5000 on a mandolin, I'd be terrified to take it out and play it. While I hope to have the KM-272 forever, I know if it should be lost somehow one day, it won't break the bank. I can play it at our Celtic sessions and be comfortable setting it down to enjoy my ale.

[colorado_al]

The Weber certainly excels in fit and finish over the Kentucky, but my ears and fingers found the Kentucky to be much more pleasing to play.

[roysboy]

There is a VERY detailed review of a 272 somewhere here on the forum - and the general consensus on other threads is that they are fine instruments. Call me crazy; but I bought my 272 at the same time that I bought a fairly recent Gibson F-5 . . . I sent back the F-5 and kept the Kentucky.

Enjoy yours!

Several summers back a friend( a very good player ) and myself were drifting around a festival campground listening to pickers . At one point we stopped at a small jam and he said "listen to that mandolin ..so loud and so 'fat' " I agreed..... we moved closer and damn if it wasn't a new Kentucky Km-150 .... the very mandolin model I had just purchased that season for the same reasons . So yeah ...I hear your KM 272 story .....

[JeffD]

I want to hear me drink wine!

Spilled my coffee on that one.

[JeffD]

While I like the idea of the expensive instrument, I would find it a burden to play. The Kentucky KM-272 is 99.9% of what I want in an instrument..

I have agreed and I will often agree. But a couple of disagreements first.

First of all with time and time and time, I think the ears become more discerning and at the same time tastes change, and what we want in a mandolin changes.

But more importantly, I think in a jam or a session the subtleties of tone quality can't be heard or appreciated, and at some point there is hardly any objective need for a "better" mandolin. (From a tone point of view).

And there is often the case that a more affordable mandolin does what is required or more, and the next increment in "better" is wayy more expensive than can be justified.

I experience this most notably in the love affair I am having with my Big Muddy M-11, which is as much if not more fun to play and to hear than a lot of mandolins cost a whole lot more. The dern thing is doing its job, and if this had been my first mandolin, I am not entirely sure I would have gotten MAS.

Well that's not likely true, but certainly I am in my second honeymoon with this mahogany and in the moment when I am playing, (or smelling the dern thing, wow), it is hard to conceive of wanting more in a mandolin.

NFI

[Cliff Seruntine]

I experience this most notably in the love affair I am having with my Big Muddy M-11, which is as much if not more fun to play and to hear than a lot of mandolins cost a whole lot more. The dern thing is doing its job, and if this had been my first mandolin, I am not entirely sure I would have gotten MAS.

Well that's not likely true, but certainly I am in my second honeymoon with this mahogany and in the moment when I am playing, (or smelling the dern thing, wow), it is hard to conceive of wanting more in a mandolin.

NFI

I hear so many awesome things about the Big Muddy mandolins. I hope one day I get to try one. I would also love to try the German tradition bowlback and the assymetrical Lyon & Healy.

I have been playing since I was a small child, so while I've only been at mandolin only about 6 months, I have some 40 years of music experience behind me. I've even built and repaired instruments, and I used to own a music store. I have a good sense of what I want from an instrument. I think my desires for a mandolin are somewhat different from many, though. I am very much into very old music: O'Carolan, for example. And I play almost exclusively Celtic music, and play a lot at ceilidhs and sessions here in Nova Scotia where old Celtic traditional is the main music. So, what I want from a mandolin is sustain and sweetness, most of all. Volume is important though secondary.

I was very lucky with mandolins, as my second mandolin purchase, the KM-272, met and exceeded my needs well. It needed some upgrading (tailpiece and tuning machines). But from my music store days, I was familiar with finding instruments with potential and then changing them to fulfill that potential. I was super fortunate that my first octave mandolin was exactly what I wanted in tone and body. But I had enough general musical experience from many years on Celtic harps, whistles and fiddles to know what I wanted.

I still get a bit of the MAS inkling. I am seriously considering getting a Red Line Traveler or a Crystal Forest because I think the flat top design with oval hole lends itself so well to Celtic music, and Steve and Terry's instruments both sound beautiful and are works of art. I am also very likely going to buy my friend's Vega in the next couple weeks when I get down to see him. But then again, truth be told, the KM 272 is a great instrument and I haven't yet found an instrument at many times the price that I have liked more. For me to like a mandolin more, it would have to have the same sweet brightness and sustain plus more volume. Does such a creature even exist?