Michael Kelly MKDF4SKB Review – ­ A Treat For Both Your Eyes And Ears

Body And Neck:
Electronics:
Hardware:
Sound:
Value:

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Michael Kelly's MKDF4SKB is a true piece of work. Not only it's one of the best sounding acoustic bass guitars out there, but it is also easily among the most beautiful ones as well. Today we're going to take a closer look and see what it brings to the table.

Body & Neck

On the outside, Michael Kelly MKDF4SKB is a grand auditorium style guitar with a cutoff. However, it is so much more than that. In terms of tonewood, you are looking at a quilt maple top that is combined with quilt maple back and sides. Aside from resulting in an interesting tone profile, it sure does miracles when it comes to aesthetics. Add the 6 ply white binding, abalone rosette, abalone/pearl dragonfly inlays and you have one really good looking musical instrument. More importantly, the whole guitar is put together so well. Michael Kelly is generally known for top level craftsmanship even on their mid range models, so MKDF4SKB doesn't really come as a surprise. This is definitely the type of an acoustic bass guitar that you can appreciate during down time, and rely on when it is time take care of business.

Hardware

Hardware comes in form of a great set of tuners, a bone nut, bone saddle and rosewood bridge. Right off the bat, it is pretty promising. From a purely functional point of view, Michael Kelly went with a combo that not only holds key well, but also lends itself well to fine tuning. Michael Kelly turned to Fishman for electronics, which is a sure fire way to ensure optimal performance for your guitar. The preamp includes a volume knob, a three­-way EQ, bass boost, EQ bypass and more. In short, it contains just about everything you would need to bring the tone to where you need it to be, or at least very close by. Overall, they did an awesome job with finding the right balance of performance and functionality necessary to get the job done. Hardware on this bad boy is reliable but user friendly.

Sound

Once you get over its looks and actually take Michael Kelly MKDF4SKB out for a spin, you're in for a ride. Considering its maple build, this bass offers a fairly soft sound compared to its numerous mahogany counterparts. With that said, there's still plenty of that low end to work with, especially if you want girth. Mids are soft, wide but well defined while trebles are sharp. Because of all that, Michael Kelly MKDF4SKB tends to lend itself well to finger style. Once plugged in, Fishman takes over with all its might. The preamp they have chosen just gives you so much space to work with. From a three band EQ to bass boost and EQ bypass, you can really shape things up long before your signal hits an amp or a stand alone preamp. It doesn't take long before you realize that Michael Kelly MKDF4SKB is the complete package.

Conclusion

Michael Kelly builds a very unique type of instruments. They put so much into performance, build quality, but also aesthetics. Michael Kelly MKDF4SKB strikes all of those check boxes and comes across as an obvious choice in this price range. If you are looking for something more, this is it.

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