My new-to-me KY-300e

**Dave Greenspoon** · Sep-16-2012, 2:25am

So friends, the Cafe Classified was once again a great resource. I traded a Big Baby Taylor for a KY300e and some cash. (Thanks, Jeff!) The mando arrived yesterday, and I had a chance to fool around with it a little before and after Shabbat. I'd like to share a couple quick observations, and then ask for some wisdom.

The newer models seem more substantive than the ones I noodled on just a couple years ago. The neck is very comfortable, the balance and heft are nice, the beveling on the headstock an addition to the aesthetic, and the new intonatable bridge a huge plus. Fit and finish is surprisingly decent, and the sound across the G-D-A is nice, strong, and balanced. This is a used axe, obviously, and it looks like there is a little lifting of the nut, but it is secure on the instrument. The only real knock I have is that the e-string seems a bit weak; I already anticipated dropping in a Bill Lawrence L45s based on all the feedback in the forum.

By everyone's accounts, the swap should be easy. Take out the stock p/u, solder the ground and black; use white as hot if I remember. BUT, I must admit I am confounded by the lack of an access panel. I'm looking at the front of the mando, and wondering hard. Does the lipstick p/u come out alone by those two screws, or does the entire pickguard need to come up? If it's the former, I'm OK. If not, I'll have some more questions!

Also, how substantial a sound difference will flat-wound strings make? I've never used them before.

Thanks in advance for your guidance and wisdom!
Dave

**Martin Jonas** · Sep-16-2012, 3:56am

Dave,

Congratulations on the Kentucky! You'll have to take the entire pickguard off, which is straightforward enough. Take the strings off first and you'll see that the top of the saddle comes off. Remove the six Phillips screws that hold the pickguard to the body and the entire pickguard lifts off. The pickup and the tone/volume pots are mounted to the pickguard, not the body, and everything will be very obvious once you look at the underside of the pickguard. The Kentucky is really nicely wired and shielded, unlike many other factory electrics, so you really just need to swap the pickup. The two screws either side of the pickup hold it to the pickguard and align perfectly with the holds on the Bill Lawrence pickup, but the width of the new pickup is a couple of millimetres wider than the lipstick, so you may need to sand the edge of the cutout in the pickguard slightly to widen it. Use the screws to adjust the distance between strings and pickup to get optimum height.

I use flatwounds on my Kentucky (the emando.com set), and like them.

Martin

**Dave Greenspoon** · Sep-20-2012, 3:57pm

I am even luckier than I realized. In conversation w/Andrew Jerman I found out that this is an older model, not a newer one. The adjustable tune-o-matic bridge is a few generations old, and a real plus. Thanks to Andrew for the info!

**Elliot Luber** · Sep-29-2012, 5:00pm

If you want to do it right, buy some shrinkable insulation, they're soft tubes like rubber straws you can cut to size, slide them to the side, connect and solder the two wires, then slide it into place and heat it with a hair dryer and it will shrink to firmly cover the connection. The cost is minimal and it will give you a good shielded connection.