Kentucky KM-300e

[Mark Straub]

I am new to mandolin and considering purchasing a Kentucky KM-300e electric mandolin from a member on this forum. I am mostly interested in blues, rock, and maybe folk, but not really bluegrass. How will this mandolin perform?

Also, I noticed that it only has 4 strings rather than the usual 8. Are there any significant differences I should know? What's the general opinion on this mandolin?

Thank you,
Mark

[Ed Goist]

Mark, welcome to the Cafe!
You might want to peruse these past Cafe threads on this mandolin.
Best wishes & keep us posted.

[Tim2723]

Hi Mark and welcome,

Electric mandolins are very different beasts than acoustic instruments. It's like the acoustic and electric guitar; similar name, but that's about all they have in common. Check out the previous threads, and also get to YouTube to hear what an electric can do in the hands of some fine players. Generally speaking, the 300e is a well-regarded instrument among the electric mandolin players. Also check out the electric mandolin forum here. Lots of experienced players there. It's a big subject in itself and hard to cover everything in a post.

[Mark Straub]

The reviews look pretty positive for this mandolin, and I think I'm going to go for it. I'm much more interested in electric guitar than acoustic, so I figure mandolin will probably be similar. If I change my mind at any point, I could always resell it and buy an acoustic.

[Tim2723]

That's a workable solution. Go for it.