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Thread: Kentucky 300e

  1. #1
    Registered User Ken Olmstead's Avatar
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    I traded an acoustic guitar for a new 300e and a new Kentucky 505 (which is a really nice mandolin.) Anyway, I just had the most fun playing for the last 2 hours than I have in a long time! This little thing is so cool. My first emando (pandora's box I think!) I tried it through my tweed champ and it sounded full and rich but when I plugged it into my little battery powered Micro Cube that I had hanging around, it was like it was made for it!

    The fit and finish is perfect. It is a really well made instrument. Plays good, probably needs a little more tweaking for me but it is in the hunt. The pick-up that is in it is a single coil (lipstick style) and sounds really cool but it also comes with 60 cycle hum which I can not stand, so on Monday a Dimarzio Pro Track will be on its way. My only other nit is that the volume and tone controls are a little too close together.

    Anyway, loads of fun and I am looking forward to my journey into the emando world which is a relief since I can no longer play instruments with a longer scale witout pain. It is time to build another amp!! I know just the one too....
    http://www.youtube.com/user/tenorbanjoguy

    "Gettin' by" with the imports!

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    Does it sound much like an acoustic mandolin? I am considering selling my mandolin and getting one of these. Thanks!

  3. #3
    Registered User Ken Olmstead's Avatar
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    It does NOT sound like a mandolin. My wife came home and was worried because she thought I was playing may strat which causes me pain to do. If you need volume, mandolinish sound and value check one of these out:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cxZTVPL_I4

    http://www.eastwoodguitars.com/

    I may look into these myself. The Godin is nice sounding but mine needed a full set-up to be playable when it arrived and I ultimately returned it to MF. Never connected. These Eastwoods look pretty slick and are about half the cost of the Godin, but I have no experience with them at all.



    http://www.youtube.com/user/tenorbanjoguy

    "Gettin' by" with the imports!

  4. #4
    Recipient of medication Cliff D's Avatar
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    Any chance you could post pictures of the 300e & 505? I have some recent experience of the Alden, which is the European equivalent of the Eastwood which I would be happy to share, if you feel it would be of benefit.
    Sorry madam, but we are fresh out of bull-dogs today!

  5. #5
    Registered User Ken Olmstead's Avatar
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    I would be very interested about the Alden/Eastwood. Do they have a radius board?

    I am REALLY enjoying this emando. At first I thought it would just be a toy but I have really taken to playing it!! I have to say that I played an older Mann EM yesterday and while it was nice (5 strings are really cool) it did not leave the Kentucky in the dust. These 300s are nice instruments, at least the one I have is. I will try to do a little youtube demo in the next couple days so you can see it and hear it before I change the pickup. If it was not for the noise inherent in all single coil pickups I would not change it out. It has a nice tone the way it is. I had the nut slots lowered yesterday and it feels much better now. I really like the neck. I guess I am easily amused!!



    http://www.youtube.com/user/tenorbanjoguy

    "Gettin' by" with the imports!

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    Registered User mando.player's Avatar
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    The Pro Track is what's in my Mann Em-5. It arrives tomorrow...(the agony).

    Depending on how handy you are, you might want to try installing a push/pull pot for the Pro Track. That would give you a few more options tone wise.

    I've got a Epi Mandobird that I've been using for a a few years. I really had to think hard about the jump into the Mann. I really wanted a 5 string with the longer scale (14.5"). In the electric world I think there is less that sets instruments apart, but I think those details are important.

    After a week of so, I'll try to post back my thoughts. Have fun with the 300e. What kind of stuff are you playing on it?
    Charlie Jones

    Clark 2-point #39
    Rigel A Natural

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    Registered User Ken Olmstead's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by (mando.player @ May 21 2008, 07:19)
    The Pro Track is what's in my Mann Em-5. #It arrives tomorrow...(the agony).

    Depending on how handy you are, you might want to try installing a push/pull pot for the Pro Track. #That would give you a few more options tone wise.

    I've got a Epi Mandobird that I've been using for a a few years. #I really had to think hard about the jump into the Mann. #I really wanted a 5 string with the longer scale (14.5"). #In the electric world I think there is less that sets instruments apart, but I think those details are important.

    After a week of so, I'll try to post back my thoughts. #Have fun with the 300e. #What kind of stuff are you playing on it?
    Tomorrow? Now that IS exciting!!

    The Mann was 2005? It had a tele neck pickup in it that was pretty underwhelming so the pro-track should make ALL the difference! The fifth string is the cats meow and I did not notice the "flubbines" associated with these but I have no idea what the scale length was. This one apparently had been purchased off of eBay and was in need of some set-up, so please don't take my post as devalueing Johnathan's work in any way. Fit and finish on the thing was top shelf and the acoustic tone was very pleasant. All though, the neck was the thickest I have ever played on a mandolin....a real baseball bat!! When it is time for the five string though, Mann or Weber will get my $$. But an 8 string electric is next!

    I am still getting to know the 300 but since I can't play my Jazz guitar stuff anymore, I hope to use it as my Jazz guitar substitute! But get the amp clipping a bit and Bluegrass Twist gets a breath of fresh air and pull up a recto setting and Last Days on Earth sounds AWESOME with sustain instead of tremolo. Just noodleing on it still Charlie but it is becoming more serious in my world that's for sure!!!

    Do be sure to post your impressions and some pics of the new arrival!!
    http://www.youtube.com/user/tenorbanjoguy

    "Gettin' by" with the imports!

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    Registered User mando.player's Avatar
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    The neck on my Rigel is pretty thick and I'm used to that. The neck on Eastman is thinner and takes some adjusting to. I had a discussion about this with Jon and he said the EM-5 neck is very much like the Rigel. Although it will be wider with the 5th string.

    If you haven't tried them yet, look into using three note chords on the GDA string set. They work really well for comping and you can move them to the DAE string set for chord melody work. I'm looking forward to seeing what the 5th string offers in terms of comping. Not sure if it will creep into my single line work or not.

    One thing I have noticed is that I find my electric and acoustic playing end up feeding each other. It's kind of a neat process.

    So the wait is on...
    Charlie Jones

    Clark 2-point #39
    Rigel A Natural

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    Registered User Ken Olmstead's Avatar
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    I have been working on your 3 finger chords a lot lately! They are a logical and under-utilized tool on our instrument that is for sure. I immediately took to playing "lines" on the 5th string. You get that fatter sound for Jazz while keeping the shorted scale.

    I would not have expected a fat neck on a Rigel. The look of those would imply a slender neck. The neck was fat but completely playable. I would buy this one if it was for sale and change the pick up in it and it would be great. I am interested to see how the slightly longer scale works for you on the E string. Should be great for all the others. Fun stuff!!
    http://www.youtube.com/user/tenorbanjoguy

    "Gettin' by" with the imports!

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    Registered User Ken Olmstead's Avatar
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    OK here it is! I am not a very good demonstrator but you should be able to see it in action:

    Kentucky 300e Demonstration

    http://www.youtube.com/user/tenorbanjoguy

    "Gettin' by" with the imports!

  11. #11
    Recipient of medication Cliff D's Avatar
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    Who says you are not very good demonstrator? A very informative clip, cool playing. Come back to me if you have any further queries about the Alden/Eastwood.
    Sorry madam, but we are fresh out of bull-dogs today!

  12. #12
    Registered User mando.player's Avatar
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    Great demo on YouTube! What's the story behind the amp? You said you built it.

    The new Mann EM-5 arrived yesterday. My wife took off for the weekend with the camera, so no picks yet. I'll post a more thorough review after the weekend. Suffice it to say, it looks beautiful and sounds even better. Ken, you were correct in stating the neck is like a bat. It's comfortable for me and given the extra string, the added girth isn't unexpected. My EM-5 is a hollow body and it's got a nice acoustic tone that's definitely loud enough to practice with. The acoustic tone seems to carry over to the plugged in sound. It sounds like a hollow body instrument.

    In short I love it. I'll post more later when I get some pics snapped. Before I forget...I ordered an Access Stage Three gigbag to go with the EM-5. It's an awesome gigbag. Well, it's more like a case than a gigbag. Anyhow, if your in the market for something like a gigbag check these out they are very nice.
    Charlie Jones

    Clark 2-point #39
    Rigel A Natural

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    Quote Originally Posted by (tenorbanjoguy @ May 17 2008, 21:21)
    ...the volume and tone controls are a little too close together.
    What kind of knobs are on it? If they are the big knurled chrome ones like on a tele, I thought maybe you could replace them with some smaller ones.

  14. #14
    Registered User Ken Olmstead's Avatar
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    Cliff - Thanks!

    Charlie - Congradulations on the new Mann! It does sound like a hollow body doesn't it. I think you should start a new thread with a full review when you have had a chance to take some photos and play with it a bit. I am particularly interested the the 14.5" Scale. The amp was a Champ kit from Torres Engineering. I started with a 5E3 (early fifties) circuit. I added a "Copper Cap" which gives more clean headroom. I also added a lower gain preamp tube (you did this to your Valve Jr right?) and I installed a 10" speaker instead of the 8". It is real sweet heart! I can whole heartily recommend the ToneCore Verbzilla reverb pedal if you want some reverb every now and then. I have auditioned a bunch and it is the best one to date and reasonable at $110!

    MandoBen - They are tele style knobs but they are already smaller than normal. It is not too bothersome, I'm just pointing out some of the things that might be of interest. I would change it if I was in charge of building the mandolin!!



    http://www.youtube.com/user/tenorbanjoguy

    "Gettin' by" with the imports!

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    Registered User Ken Olmstead's Avatar
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    I have a couple more details and a couple photos to add for folks interested in this model.

    1. The Pro Track hum-bucker is going to take some pretty serious hacking on the pick-guard to get it installed. The mounting holes on the lipstick pickup that comes with it are more widely spaced. The Dimarzio is wider and shorter that the pickup hole provided. I am going to use the Pro Track on another project (photos in a week or so) and I am going to wait on the swap for now. I am digging the sound as is and will have to ponder the modification a bit. Making a new pick-guard all together and angling the pickup and spacing the controls a little wider might be the way to go but we will see....

    2. The tailpiece accommodates loop and ball end strings which I had not noticed earlier! See photo:
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    http://www.youtube.com/user/tenorbanjoguy

    "Gettin' by" with the imports!

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    Registered User Ken Olmstead's Avatar
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    This photo shows what is under the pickguard for all of my fellow geeks who care! I was surprised to see how well shielded the cavity is. Probably why the hum is not bothering me too bad on this one. The lipstick pickup is also fully shielded so it is a pretty slick set up:
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    http://www.youtube.com/user/tenorbanjoguy

    "Gettin' by" with the imports!

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    Registered User Martin Jonas's Avatar
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    I'm reviving this thread, as I have just received my own KM-300E. Pretty good deal from InstrumentAlley.com at $214.99. That price includes free shipping in the US, but as I'm in the UK I had another $52.20 shipping via USPS, which is also rather reasonable. Took three weeks to arrive, and another 20 Pounds ($40) VAT (UK sales tax) and 8 Pounds ($16) customs handling charge. Altogether, that still makes the KM slightly cheaper than the typical UK street price of the Alden Mandocaster or the Mandobird (which is very hard to get hold of in the UK anyway).

    I haven't plugged it in yet, but my first impression from holding it in my hand is that the 300E is really very nicely-made, with perfect finish and immaculate workmanship all around. I really like that tailpiece, and I like the overall bodyshape -- a stylised F mando rather than a scaled-down guitar shape. Considering the small size of the actual pickup cavity, I think the pickguard could have been a bit smaller.

    The shop includes what they call a free "basic instrument setup", and contrary to my experience with shop setups, they actually appear to have done a good job. There's a carboard label attached by string to the headstock saying "QC Card" and giving the action at the 1st and the 12th fret for the 1st and 4th string. 12th fret action is said to be 1.5mm for the E string and 2.0mm for the G -- I think it's actually lower than that from eyeballing it. Nut action is just fine. I'll check the setup once I plug in, but for now it looks OK. Well-packed, too, and the box looks like it just came out of the shop, with no mark whatsoever. Beats the usual courier company horror stories.

    Now for trying to figure out how to get a decent tone on this. I thought the tone that tenorbanjoguy got in his Youtube demo (linked above) was pretty impressive, especially the clean tone in the first half of the clip. I have the same mando, and the same reverb pedal (Line 6 Verbzilla), and a decent (though different) tube amp, so I figure I should get reasonably close. Tenorbanjoguy -- could you tell me what settings you used on the Verbzilla for that tone?

    Martin

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    Registered User Ken Olmstead's Avatar
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    No... but I'll show you!! Also, the jazzmando pick helped with the thicker sound. Had the tone on the mando rolled almost all the way back.

    Congratulations on the new addition. You should enjoy it I know I still am! I agree the thing is really well made.

    Although it has compounded my lust for a snappy 5 string from Mr. Mann. Will it never end??



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    http://www.youtube.com/user/tenorbanjoguy

    "Gettin' by" with the imports!

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    Registered User Martin Jonas's Avatar
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    Thanks, that's very useful -- I've just dialled in that tone and played it through a small headphone amp (it's past midnight here) and even without a proper amp, I'm getting into the right ballpark.

    Martin

  20. #20

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    Enjoy your 300e, I enjoyed mine until I started building my own instruments. It did play quite well. I found mine sounded best with light flatwounds, your tastes might differ.

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    Registered User Ken Olmstead's Avatar
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    I just put Tomastik flatwounds on tonight. Little jazzier sounding but mostly better playability.
    http://www.youtube.com/user/tenorbanjoguy

    "Gettin' by" with the imports!

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    Registered User Ken Olmstead's Avatar
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    Martin - How does it sound through a "proper" amp??
    http://www.youtube.com/user/tenorbanjoguy

    "Gettin' by" with the imports!

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    Registered User Martin Jonas's Avatar
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    I'll get back to you on that -- not much time this weekend and when I managed to squeeze a few minutes in, the 9V battery on the Verbzilla had packed up. Is it just me, or does that pedal eat batteries? Without the reverb pedal but with a bit of compression (Boss CS-3), it sounded nice but a bit thin compared to my 8-string Amazing. I suspect it needs a bit of reverb to fatten the tone, and I may also raise the pickup a bit to make it hotter. I probably can do some more with the amp settings, too, but haven't had the time yet to dial in any particular tone (my few minutes noodling was at a clean "vanilla" setting, suitable for the Amazing which tends towards the raucous and needs taming). I definitely want to swap out the stock strings.

    I'm not particularly concerned, though: I'm getting fun tones on the headphone amp, which means I will be able to get them on the proper amp, too, once I've played around with it a bit.

    Martin

  24. #24
    Is there a "talent" knob? Christian McKee's Avatar
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    Those Line6 pedals are battery hoovers - if you're going to use it for any kind of duration other than momentary you'll want to plug it into the wall. I use their delay pedal, and it's the same story, but I've been running everything off of plug in power for a while now.

    Christian
    Christian McKee

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    Musical Director, The Oregon Mandolin Orchestra

  25. #25
    Registered User Ken Olmstead's Avatar
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    Yeah, I power mine with a "One Spot." Works good. The great sound this reverb gets lead me to believe they are running some sophistocated algorythms that take some serious power to get through. Delay type pedals usually suck the juice! Reverb definately is always on when I am playing mine! But I love that lush, jazz sound. The flatwounds helped that and I am going to install a cool rails to fatten it up some more. When I have the time!
    http://www.youtube.com/user/tenorbanjoguy

    "Gettin' by" with the imports!

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