# General Mandolin Topics > eBay, Craig's List, etc. >  Killer deal on Kentucky KM 900 Master Model A

## Stephen Porter

In researching a possible purchase of KM 900, I ran across these:

Kentucky KM-900 Master A Model Mandolin, Vintage 1920 Sunburst Nitrocellulose Lacquer

If these are legit, and they certainly look to be, it is a killer deal--almost as low as the lowest-priced _used_ KM 900 on the classifieds here.   There were 4 available earlier this evening.   Now down to 3 so check them out if you're interested.   They say more are on their way, but my experience with Amazon is that prices are very volatile and when "more" arrive they might not at the same price.   Also, if you are an Amazon PRIME member, shipping is free and probably no tax either.

Also they don't come with cases and the one reviewer warns that they will require a setup.

I have NO affiliation with the seller (obviously) and I'm tempted to buy one (or more myself) but it's not really what I want so I'm throwing it out here in the hopes that someone else can take advantage of it.   Building up good karma and all that ya know.

*DISCLAIMER:* _I'm a newb and there may be something fishy about these that I'm not aware of, so do your own due diligence before deciding to get one._

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## Clement Barrera-Ng

> Also, if you are an Amazon PRIME member, shipping is free and probably no tax either.


Actually shipping is free with or without the PRIME membership.

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## houseworker

Nothing fishy about these, Amazon briefly offered a similar deal in 2011.  I managed to get a KM1000 with a similar level of discount and couldn't be more pleased with it.

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## f5loar

I bought one from them when it was at $500.  No brainer at that price as I can do set ups myself.  Bought a used A hard case for $35 too.  These are excellent mandolins for the beginner or pro.  Hard to beat the price on the quality of materials and workmanship.  When you got something this good and do get a pro set up it's a super deal.

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## Darryl Wolfe

Well...I just bought one

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## Stephen Porter

> I bought one from them when it was at $500.  No brainer at that price as I can do set ups myself.  Bought a used A hard case for $35 too.  These are excellent mandolins for the beginner or pro.  Hard to beat the price on the quality of materials and workmanship.  When you got something this good and do get a pro set up it's a super deal.


When were they at $500--recently?   This may be a deal that comes and goes.   Still 2 left--very tempting.

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## Clement Barrera-Ng

> Well...I just bought one


Darryl - let us know what you think of it when it arrives.

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## houseworker

> When were they at $500--recently?   This may be a deal that comes and goes.   Still 2 left--very tempting.


Black Friday week deal in 2011 if I remember correctly.

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## shortymack

Thats a good price indeed, unless you live in California, then by the time you add tax, a case, and setup, TMS has them everyday for about the same.

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## Darryl Wolfe

> Darryl - let us know what you think of it when it arrives.


I went ahead and paid $33 to have it arrive tomorrow

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## f5loar

Good move.  Sometimes that heavy duty hardshell cardboard box it comes in does not hold up to heavy UPS handling.  I don't look for the Black Friday thing to happen again.  That was right in the middle of the double dipped recession and we are out of that now :Laughing:

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## P.D. Kirby

Amazon is becoming the Wal-Mart of the internet. My Nephew bought a new American Standard Telecaster last summer for almost $150.00 less (w/free shipping) than Musicians Friend, Sam Ash or Sweetwater. The Tele (Butterscotch) showed up in perfect condition and just needed a tweak or two and it was ready to go. The box was the original Fender box (unopened) but hey at those prices who cares? They will kill the competition as soon as folks get past the buying a musicial instrument from a Book Store...

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## Sid Simpson

Amazon now says they have one left - at $953.67.  Congrats to those who purchased at over $300 less.  Play the heck out of your new Kentucky!

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## Canoedad

I'll pass and wait for one of you guys to ding mine up

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## Darryl Wolfe

We will see how this works out tomorrow when I get it. What you don't know is that I'm sitting here with 6-8 new cases to put it in, my better bridges and my new A5 pick guards that I have not released yet (except one to F5Loar for his). The guards are made directly off my in hand visit with the real Loar A5 and its original guard

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## Darryl Wolfe

I have seen a lot of variation in color and wood quality on these.  I saw F5Loars a few months back. It looked  great and sounds really good and I installed one of my new guards

I'll post pic of the pig in a poke I get here

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## SkitownPicker

I had one for a while...sold it back to the member I bought it from and now it has come back up again...great mando on the used market for sure...wish I didn't need to sell it...actually missing it a little.

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## f5loar

The color tends to be very light tobacco cremona shading on the early ones (first year or so) and the later ones more like the original Loar A5 darker tobacco cremona shading.  Personally I like the darker ones. And there was a change in binding too as well as neck thickness.  The newer necks more to Loar specs.

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## Darryl Wolfe

Ok. Got it.  Very nice. Yes it arrived in a China wedge shaped box the size of the mandolin. I cannot post pics right now, but it was half ass set up, I tightened the strings, never touched the bridge and it plays nicely and is in 12th fret position with ok intonation

I'll let it settle, raise the action some and go from there.   Great deal

In this specific case, the sides are plain, back medium curl. ( more or less like mynLoar).  The top is extremely tight grain that surprises me.  F5Loar example had even wide grain top

More to come, but....buy this if you have a chance at the $660 price, I should have bought all three


Darryl

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David Rambo

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## Stephen Porter

I hesitate to bring this up here, but I really want to know what happened.

The day after I posted about this deal here, I went to Amazon to check and see if any were left.   I had put the item in my PRIVATE "wishlist" on Amazon.   When I clicked on the mando in my wish list, I got a dialog box saying "Someone may have purchased this for you."  And then: "Someone DID purchase this for you."     Of course I am a great guy and all, but I was pretty sure no one had decided to send me a new KM 900, so I called Amazon and was told that, yes, someone had purchased one of these, but it had not been shipped to any of the addresses I have on file at Amazon.    They would not tell me where it had been shipped or who had bought it.    Now, my concern on this is that my Wish List is flagged as PRIVATE and should not have been visible to anyone.    So, if someone here actually purchased one by going through my wish list, I need to know about it or I have to assume that my Amazon account was compromised.    Sorry to bring this up, but I posted this info only here and in private emails to two Cafe members who had instruments in the classifieds.   Hope to hear that someone innocently found their way onto my Wishlist.

Of course I have my eye on the brown truck of joy....but somehow I'm pretty sure that a brand-new KM900 isn't going to show up at my doorstep.

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## houseworker

> I went ahead and paid $33 to have it arrive tomorrow


Didn't you get the free trial of Amazon Prime offer?

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## houseworker

> I'm pretty sure that a brand-new KM900 isn't going to show up at my doorstep.


I can't think of any reason why anyone here would have any reason to access your Amazon wishlist.  So hopefully the system has worked as it should, and someone close to you has indeed decided to treat you.  Let's hope so.

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## Stephen Porter

> I can't think of any reason why anyone here would have any reason to access your Amazon wishlist.  So hopefully the system has worked as it should, and someone close to you has indeed decided to treat you.  Let's hope so.


I can't either.   If it were a malicious action whoever did it would have bought a bunch of stuff--not the case.   Oh well, one of those little mysteries.   No harm no foul.

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## evanreilly

*I bought a 'used' KM-900 from the classifieds about two years ago.  One of the earlier models, with the larger, lighter shaded sunburst, and triple binding on both front and back.  Other than the minor cosmetic differences, mine and F5loar's are really close in feel, tone and action.  I had Lynn Dudenbostel put a finger-rest on mine; Lynn also had a template he made from the Loar A-5.
Overall, very satisfied with the instrument.*

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## chip

This is the kind of retail that just kills the brick and mortar stores. If you like the service, convenience of playing an instrument, etc. I think it behooves the public to pay a little more to keep the mom and pops around. Just sayin...

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Paul Statman

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## mzuch

> I hesitate to bring this up here, but I really want to know what happened.


It is possible that the link you posted triggered the wish list purchase. This can happen if you copied and pasted the URL from a page you reached by clicking on the link in your wish list, and someone here bought an instrument using your link.

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## Mandobar

> I hesitate to bring this up here, but I really want to know what happened.
> 
> The day after I posted about this deal here, I went to Amazon to check and see if any were left.   I had put the item in my PRIVATE "wishlist" on Amazon.   When I clicked on the mando in my wish list, I got a dialog box saying "Someone may have purchased this for you."  And then: "Someone DID purchase this for you."     Of course I am a great guy and all, but I was pretty sure no one had decided to send me a new KM 900, so I called Amazon and was told that, yes, someone had purchased one of these, but it had not been shipped to any of the addresses I have on file at Amazon.    They would not tell me where it had been shipped or who had bought it.    Now, my concern on this is that my Wish List is flagged as PRIVATE and should not have been visible to anyone.    So, if someone here actually purchased one by going through my wish list, I need to know about it or I have to assume that my Amazon account was compromised.    Sorry to bring this up, but I posted this info only here and in private emails to two Cafe members who had instruments in the classifieds.   Hope to hear that someone innocently found their way onto my Wishlist.
> 
> Of course I have my eye on the brown truck of joy....but somehow I'm pretty sure that a brand-new KM900 isn't going to show up at my doorstep.


Amazon uses an inventory-leveling program that takes the quantity on hand and discounts down automatically.  Once people start buying it raises the price.

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## houseworker

> It is possible that the link you posted triggered the wish list purchase. This can happen if you copied and pasted the URL from a page you reached by clicking on the link in your wish list, and someone here bought an instrument using your link.


Looking at the link the OP posted, that seems to be the answer.

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## Stephen Porter

> It is possible that the link you posted triggered the wish list purchase. This can happen if you copied and pasted the URL from a page you reached by clicking on the link in your wish list, and someone here bought an instrument using your link.


Could be--I don't recall how I got to the URL when I copied and pasted here, but if that's the way it works, great.   Alls well that ends well and there hasn't been anything weird on my Amazon account or credit cards associated with it.

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## Stephen Porter

> Amazon uses an inventory-leveling program that takes the quantity on hand and discounts down automatically.  Once people start buying it raises the price.


Yes, I've observed this many, many times.   Amazon is a pretty clever outfit.   I guess the rule of thumb is if you see a no-brainer price on something you want, best grab it fast.

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## mandopaul

Lets see some pictures of the new KM900, back & front please  :Wink:

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## MANDOLINMYSTER

> This is the kind of retail that just kills the brick and mortar stores. If you like the service, convenience of playing an instrument, etc. I think it behooves the public to pay a little more to keep the mom and pops around. Just sayin...


Well said, I second that.

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## almeriastrings

I have never seen a bad one of these... a couple of knockout, great, really outstanding ones, and all the rest very, very impressive when you take the price into account. Certainly capable of (more than) holding their own in some serious company.

All nicely made too, with good to excellent fit/finish. Materials seem to vary quite a lot - some super figured examples, some plainer. At those discount prices, an absolute steal.

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## Darryl Wolfe

I will posts some pictures tomorrow.  My iPad is not forum friendly. Update:  this thing is now starting to sound great.  The bass is coming around after being strung up for two days now.  I have also raised the action twice now.  it plays extremely well and can stand it easily.    These are great mandolins at even a $1000 or so. The color and look and feel are very close to my Loar

I must bring one thing up that could turn off some perfectionists and coudl possibly be why these were on Amazon at the price to begin with. There are some places in the finish where the bubble wrap packaging has reacted with the finish. these are relatively minor and sort of like tape residue in places, but nonetheless are there. There are some places on the peg head face and around the f-hole area where the packaging was tightest to the finish. Most will compound out and completely go away, a few others will leave a trace. You won't even see it in the photos I post

Additionally, the finish is extremely thin which is good in some respects, but will preclude some of the spots from completely going away.   If this was a known problem, there is no evidence that the original packaging from overseas was ever opened.

Even so, this is still a great mando

I also hope my buying one did not screw up the original posters wishes

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## f5loar

Well Darryl............ Welcome to the 900 Club!  :Grin:   You are now on the roster of some of the greatest owners of the best of the cheapest mandolins made in the World.  I bet you are working on that special Loar pickguard as I type.  PS: To other owners of the 900, Contray to rumors circulating in the mando world, owning one of the KM900s will not get you admission into the next LoarFest. Close, but no cigar.  :Disbelief:

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## jim simpson

Is this one in the price range of the original one from this thread?


http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Kentucky...item257c6a05b6

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## mandopaul

Darryl, just wondering what serial number that one is?  I have one that i picked up used, it is a 2011 from October, i think from its number.

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## lenf12

> Is this one in the price range of the original one from this thread?


No, the OP price was $660 iirc.

Len B.
Clearwater, FL

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## Stephen Porter

> I also hope my buying one did not screw up the original posters wishes


Hi Darryl--OP here.   No worries on that score.

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## robert.najlis

I thought about ordering one at this price. But I figured after buying a case and paying for a setup, it wouldn't be that much cheaper than getting one from a place such as the mandolin store or folk musician. So I decided to hold off. I will pay a bit more, sure, but that will go towards supporting these great stores as well. Maybe if I were able to do my own setup I would have made a different decision, who knows...

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## f5loar

These "out of the box" are about a 50/50 on needing a real set up by a pro.  They were set up before they left China on that slow boat.  If you know how to put on a bridge, set the bridge in the right spot and tune it up you may be good to go.  That's all I did to mine.

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## Darryl Wolfe

OK...here are the pictures.  The peghead shot shows the minor lacquer attack.  I couldn't figure out how to delete the duplicate pic.

Also, the color is much closer to the Loar than it appears.  In all my years of mando photography, I cannot figure out why photos of a lacquer finish mando change the colors away from brown to more red and black contrasty

It is also amazing that it arrived undamaged.  I think the next day shipping saved it.  Yes, that's the box presumably exactly the way it came over on the boat

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## Darryl Wolfe

Poor photo, but you can tell here that it is indeed Loarish in color

Also, I measured the strings and they are lights, so this puppy should wake up even more with J74's.  I'm saving all my work on this mandolin for one Saturday afternoon.  I'll install one of my bridges, and as F5LOAR said, my second A5 guard will go on it.  I'll take the tuners off and buff the peghead spot out and restring with mediums.  I'm iffy on these bridges.  They almost look like molded graphite epoxy.  I see no grain at all.  Check out the two closer body shots

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## Willie Poole

I have one of the older KM-900`s and it is brownish in color, also I tried a CA bridge on it and didn`t see any difference in sound, the bridge on mine seems to be of the same quality and the CA ones....It would be interesting to know what bridges Ky uses then and now....I am not a pick guard man so I don`t have one on mine...Mine came all set up and had medium strings on it but I changed them right away to GHS-A-270`s, which are my favorites...I have compared the sound with a newer F-5G and it holds it`s own against i....I can see why just about everyone that has tried one has all good things to say about them, maybe one day they will be a collectors item....I do wish mine had the Loar like color scheme though....

     Willie

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## Darryl Wolfe

> Darryl, just wondering what serial number that one is?  I have one that i picked up used, it is a 2011 from October, i think from its number.




I'll have to check it.  I remember a bunch of 12's in it..like 120120300386

Whatever it is, it made me think it was made in Dec 2012

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## f5loar

On the back photo beside the  real F5 I see the heel cap matches pretty good on size and shape.  Heck, Gibson can't even get that detail right on their high end models.  Color is oh so close to the original A5.

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## almeriastrings

That is really excellent colour and graduation on the 'burst... crazy good for sub-$1K mandolin.

That is also crazy packaging for shipping. What is going through their heads to ship it like that?  :Confused:

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## Darryl Wolfe

I thought you guys might also want to know that these are triple bound on the sides.  I really did not notice it because it looks so at home to me (because my Loar is)

The real A-5 is triple bound on the face of the body and then on the sides of neck and face of peghead

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## evanreilly

My KM-900, an older model, is  triple-bound both side and top on the body.  Serial number is 09012003.

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## Mandobar

i like that case, darryl.  what kind is that?

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## Darryl Wolfe

I bought the case from somebody on Mando Cafe a few years back. I call it a Travelite, but it technically is not...I don't know.  I paid 50 or 60$ for it because it was red inside.  The Travelite case I have is grey inside.  I used both for Lloyd until I got a Pegasus a year or so ago

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## Russ Jordan

looks like the Litecase that Stewmac used to sell.

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## f5loar

My 900 is also only side bound like Darryls.  They made some changes from the early models. 
Evan's is a real Loar buster. Tone to the bone. This 900 Club just keeps getting bigger.

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## Darryl Wolfe

Several folks have inquired about the serial number. It is 12020165. Not as many 12's as I thought but there it is

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## shortymack

How bout a soundclip? :Smile:

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## mandopaul

This is the color of my 900.  Its from 2010 Oct.

My saddle is cranked very high, don't like the way its leaning and I can't lower it much, as I get fret buzzing.  (and i did have frets leveled and ruts filed out, so its not that) The action is still not very high.  It still sounds very good, dry and woody.

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## G. Fisher

> i like that case, darryl.  what kind is that?


It's a Stew-Mac case that is no longer available. I've been look for one for awhile and have found them hard to come by.

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## G. Fisher

> This is the color of my 900.  Its from 2010 Oct.
> 
> My saddle is cranked very high, don't like the way its leaning and I can't lower it much, as I get fret buzzing.  (and i did have frets leveled and ruts filed out, so its not that) The action is still not very high.  It still sounds very good, dry and woody.



Is the neck back bowed? If it is just tightening the truss could solve the problem.  If not I would change the nut to a taller one or shim up the existing one. I've had 5 different KM900's and never had that issue.

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## mandopaul

Wouldn't tightening rod make the fingerboard rise?  If I don't want string buzzing, when I lower the saddle on bridge, wouldn't loosening be better to make a dip?

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## G. Fisher

> Wouldn't tightening rod make the fingerboard rise?  If I don't want string buzzing, when I lower the saddle on bridge, wouldn't loosening be better to make a dip?


You're right if it's back bowed you would loosen it. 

If there's to much bow towards the body and you tighten the truss rod it flattens the fingerboard and would lower the action.

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## Don Grieser

> How bout a soundclip?


I made a video you can find on my ad. I play it up and down the neck on all the strings, do some chops, open chords, etc.

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## almeriastrings

> My saddle is cranked very high, don't like the way its leaning and I can't lower it much, as I get fret buzzing.  (and i did have frets leveled and ruts filed out, so its not that) The action is still not very high.  It still sounds very good, dry and woody.


That really needs checking by a good mandolin luthier. From what I can see in the 4th image, there could well be a problem with neck relief. Your string height over the extension looks more than enough to eliminate any possibility of buzzing if the relief was right. Note: neck relief is not an action adjustment. Other possibilities include a 'bump' or other distortion in the fingerboard, but that should have been picked up during levelling. Something definitely wrong there. A full checkup should reveal the root of the problem. Neck angles on these tend to be very well set, so it would be very unusual for that to be implicated.

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## f5loar

I never saw a bridge that could not be straighten back upright.  You may have to move the base to get the intonation right but to pull the top back to make it straight up should not be a problem, and it should allow you to lower it a tad.

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## Darryl Wolfe

> It's a Stew-Mac case that is no longer available. I've been look for one for awhile and have found them hard to come by.


I also compared the red case to the actual Travelite yesterday.  The red one is considerably smaller.  Nice wood in yours mandopaul.  Mine has no curl on the sides at all

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## Tom Cherubini

> This is the color of my 900.  Its from 2010 Oct.
> 
> My saddle is cranked very high, don't like the way its leaning and I can't lower it much, as I get fret buzzing.  (and i did have frets leveled and ruts filed out, so its not that) The action is still not very high.  It still sounds very good, dry and woody.


If you look at the bottom of the bridge in the extreme right-hand photo you can see that it is in contact with the mandolin-top across its width (not its length, its width, about 7/16"). Yet the bridge does not bisect the string angle. Is it possible that someone has turned the bridge end-for-end? The saddle can be mounted on the bridge either way. Just eye-balling it suggests to me that if it were reversed, it might bisect the string angle perfectly.

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## Gary Hedrick

Well there seems to be a number of these that have surfaced after this thread appeared.    Mandolin Cafe is a market force indeed. I also think that thought leaders like Darryl and Tom might have a little to do with it also....

Ah the free enterprise system in action....

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## f5loar

Saga pays us everytime we mention a 900, 1000,1050, 1500 or 5000 model mandolin.  It's not much and it's way more than Gibson pays us but it does pay the bills.  :Grin:

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