Well, I've got a day or so of playing on the KM-300e, and have a few more thoughts.
Still think the mando was worth the $, but there are definitely a few areas that will need to be addressed to make it a truly gig-capable instrument. It needs a good pro setup as the action is atrocious. Probably needs a light fret dress and maybe some nut and bridge work to get it all playing smoother. Also desperately needs new/better strings.
The pickup is very weak, hums a bunch. And not particularly sweet sounding. It too needs to be replaced. As do the tuners, which look like standard Schaller knockoffs. They work okay, but some good ones are cheap.
Played this through a nice guitar rig at rehearsal on Wednesday, and it was quite fun, even with the issues mentioned (creamy overdrive!). This is the right setting for this. Also used it for a few tunes on an acoustic duo gig last night, plugged into a Fishman pro-eq into the board. This did not work as well. Output was very low, and sound was a little thin. Mostly stuck to my fishman equipped Gibson A ('23, snakehead).
My overall thought is that it is worth the $230 to get into the emando game. It will take a little more $ to make it truly playable (setup, tuners, pickup). The general quality of the non-replacable bits (body, neck) seems fine, but the attached bits reflect the price point. The fretboard has a bunch of tool marks/scratches, but a little 0000 steel wool will probably take care of the worst of them. The bridge is pretty low quality, but I think it will be workable. If not, I've got a machinist friend who can make me a better one.
It looks cool, too.
So if you're in the market for an entry into the emando world, this is worth looking at. With a good setup job and fresh strings, it would be plenty playable, with room to improve the other bits as you go.
-Drew
Andrew Frink
Phoenix Bluegrass, '23 Gibson A Snakehead, Clark octave coming soon
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