Description of Kentucky KM-505 Artist A-Shape Mandolin

The master luthiers at Kentucky Mandolins have given our top-selling KM-505 a total revision—adding more tone, volume, style and VALUE! The slim, comfortably-shaped neck of figured maple has the feel of a fine, vintage instrument and the ebony fretboard has a modern extension and with 22 smooth, low nickel-silver frets. On the peghead, white and exotic red mother-of-pearl are set in a gleaming, black overlay for a stunning effect. The solid spruce top and flamed maple back and sides are hand-carved and graduated with elegant, black and white purfling on top and bottom edges. A lovely amberburst lacquer finish covers the entire instrument and all metal parts are gold-plated. The exclusive Saga black and white layered pickguard is a vintage touch that is both practical and elegant. The tone and volume of this magnificent instrument are tops in its class and rival boutique mandolins at three times the price.

• Solid, carved German spruce top gives you clean articulation and a crisp, bright tone
• Solid, carved Alpine maple back and sides for extra punch
• Slim Alpine maple neck for smooth and easy action
• Premium radiused ebony fingerboard gives extra durability and striking good looks
• High-gloss lacquer amberburst finish for vintage beauty and appeal

About our Mandolins

Our instruments come with a full professional set-up!

We never send instruments out straight from the box. Some of the less expensive folk instuments come from the factory set-up up poorly and strung up with cheap inferior strings. When the instruments arrive at the shop we replace the strings with a much higher quality set and give the instrument a full set-up, making all adjustments necessary so that the instrument plays as well as possible.

Things included in the set-up are: New strings, neck relief, action at nut and bridge, intonation and fret profiling.

We also restring all of our mandolins with a fresh set of strings before dispatch (11 gauge on most mandolins, 10 guage on beginner models).

Your mandolin will be delivered to you setup, tuned and ready to play!

What we say about Kentucky

Kentucky mandolins are designed by major USA manufacturers Saga, modelled on the best vintage instruments. Every Kentucky mandolin is meticulously hand-crafted from the finest materials to produce the best possible instrument for players of every level. They are ideal for bluegrass music and played by professionals in the USA and Europe.