Greetings,
Though I'm new to this forum, I'm a multi-instrumentalist who has been playing mandolin since the latter half of the 1970s and am looking to become more serious with my development on the instrument.
I'm reaching out for help as a colleague has a 2012 Kentucky KM-650 that he's offered to sell me for what seems to be a good price and I'm currently nearing the end of a short period of evaluating this mandolin at home (before committing to the purchase). Though most things seemed good to great, I noticed a few (mostly minor) problems:
- A significant buzz on the 14th fret of the D strings
- The tuners for the A strings seem to have a bit of play (but I am able to tune them with a little extra time and effort)
- A few minor cosmetic issues that mostly look like permanent smudges
The action and feel of this mandolin is excellent and, though my exposure has mostly been limited to inexpensive models in the past (and own an old Stradolin that has a few issues as well), this Kentucky was noticeably easier to play than anything else I've ever tried. As such, I was thinking about moving forward with the deal but then discovered this old (2015) thread on the model in question:
https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/t...entucky-KM-650
Based on what I've read here (highlighting posts #10 and #15 in particular), I'm now a bit concerned that the truss rod and/or neck joint seems to have a statistically decent chance of being problematic. With this in mind, I'm very much hoping for specific guidance regarding:
- Would it be likely that I'd end up in a situation (down the road) where I'd want to be able to adjust the truss rod?
- Given that fact that I don't want to touch the truss rod prior to purchase, how risky would it be to move forward and hope that the truss rod works OK and/or I'll never really find a reason to try adjusting it?
None of the other frets (or even strings on the 14th fret) have any buzz-related issues and the neck is comfortable and more playable than I've ever experienced all the way up--and I doubt I'll be able to find another mandolin in my price range that is as nice as this (and I like the fact that I'd be purchasing it from a friend at work). I would very much appreciate any guidance that might help me move forward with making a final decision. Thanks a lot and best wishes! -Alan
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