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Location: Converse, Texas | I want to expand my horizons and learn to play the mandolin. I know Ovation makes a mandlin. Can anyone there tell me anything about it? Also, how is the mandolin tuned compared to the guitar? |
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Location: Pensacola,FL | I recently purchased a MCS-148 ovation mandolin on eBay (got it at a VERY good price, I might ad :D ). A mandolin is tuned the same as a violin
G D A E (bass to treble). Tuning it to itself is accomplished at the 7th fret (as opposed to the 5th on a guitar). I have found that I really enjoy the sound of this mandolin, both straight acoustically and plugged in. It has nice onboard electronics for shaping the output sound to whatever you like in the "mandolin sound". I highly recommend an Ovation mando ;) |
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Location: Converse, Texas | Thanks, OGL1. Does the Ovation Mandolin have a built-in tuner like some of the guitars? |
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Location: Scotland | The USA mandolins are killer, great acoustic sound
and totally hassle-free plugged in. Mine has an OP24 pre but I think they now have an OP24+, but definately no onboard tuner, which after getting used to the Optima on my SMT is a miss. The Korean versions have identical electronics to the USA versions
The only problem I have is finding ball-end mando strings in the UK.
Paul
[ July 01, 2002: Message edited by: Paul Templeman ] |
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Location: Converse, Texas | Paul: How do I know if it's USA or Korean made? |
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Location: NJ | read the label mm 68 is the usa model number and the Korean model says well eh "made in Korea" on the label |
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Location: Pensacola,FL | Here's another way to tell the difference:
Model Style Colors List Price Sale Price
MM68 Acoustic/electric 8-string mandolin
4, CCB List 1499.00 sale price $1049
MCS148 Celebrity acoustic/electric 8-string mandolin
RRB List 619.00 sale price $439
(some of us "poor folks" cain't afford no US model :( )
[ July 02, 2002: Message edited by: OGL1 ] |
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Location: NJ | ogl1
check my website |
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Location: Las Cruces, NM | Al
I have checked your web site for mandolins, and I haven't been able to find them on the site. What am I doing wrong?
I have to admit, You have some very interesting guitars.
Bailey |
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Location: NJ | when you search instruments the 4th option on the top is mandolins |
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Location: Chicago | I also have an excellent condition (American made) MM68 that I would sell for a reasonable offer. Excellent sound/ fingering. One owner.
Black.
E-mail: swrdfsh53@aol.com |
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Location: Las Cruces, NM | Al
I see an active word "guitar" in the upper right hand area of the screen when I am in the guitar listing. are the other choices to the right of this? If so, they are off my screen. Maybe it's my version of Explorer, which is 4.0.
I'm going to look one more time.
Bailey |
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Location: NJ | the options are directly on top of the page not to the left |
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Location: Nova Scotia, Canada | Hi Bailey, here is a link right to Al's Mando list if you have not already found it!
Wayne
Al\'s Mandolins |
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Location: Las Cruces, NM | Wayne
Thanks, whatever the problem, that worked, I added it to my favorites, so I can go there at will.
Hizzoner
I am a mandolin player, and I must say that quality mandolins are expensive, I haven't played an Ovation so I won't give an opinion, but I see no reason that they wouldn't be fine from what I have heard from those who have. One area where they may have an edge is the built in pickup, many of todays mandolin players are sticking things like barcus berrys etc. on our mandolins so we can be heard in certain venues. I'm guilty, I have a BB jr. on one of my mandolins and I traded an old old Washburn roundback mandolin (I saw the Sons of the Pioneers playing one of these in a movie, sounded just like it!) for a Martin preamp with tone and volume control. (I played "Cool Water" for days on that old Washburn, imagining me and Roy and the boys around the campfire)
Bailey |
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Location: Scotland | If you need an electro Mandolin you're not exactly spoilt for choice. The Cheapos with magnetic pickups at the end of the neck sound horrible, the solidbodies sound too electric. The cheap (Crafter?) Ovation mando rip-offs are just about passable plugged-in but look hideous and are poor acoustically. Istalling a pickup on decent F or A stlye mandolin is a pain, the soundholes on most mandolins are too small to get a bug-type transducer inside in the right place. The other options are a Fishman piezo mandolin bridge or an Ovation. I went through every possibility before buying my Ovation mando, I've never regretted the choice.
Paul
Paul |
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Location: Converse, Texas | Thanks Paul. What about a Godin mandolin? |
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Location: Scotland | I wasn't aware of these, but I've just checked the website and they look very cool. I had a Godin Acousticaster a few years ago, which is a similar design & was a great guitar. Bear in mind that these mandolins are intended for amplified use only, they are essentially a solidbody, so if you need primarily an acoustic mando which you can plug in, go with the Ovation.
Paul |
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Location: Zion, Illinois | A quick E-Bay search turned one up...
Ovation Mandocello
Something to look at.
Bradley |
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Location: Las Cruces, NM | Bradley
Just to let you know, a mandocello is not a mandolin but the equivalent of a cello (the tuning of which I can't remember). As a mandolin player I would not reccommend buying a mandocello on Ebay, as it might not fit your idea of a mandolin when you get it. Much of the appeal of the mandolin is its high register, that of the violin, the lower register of the cello has its place but it is not used in popular music very often. In string heirarchy, the bass does the bass, the guitar fills the middle and the mandolin or violin is the completion of the spectrum of the human audio range that makes music catch your ear and seem right. When you hear all three and one stops you will notice that something is missing.
Bailey |
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Location: Zion, Illinois | And Ovation makes one of these?
I never heard of a mandocello before. I saw it on e-bay, wondered what it was, clicked that Ovation link in the ad, and it took me to the Ovation web site where the called it a Mandolin/Mandocello. Guess you learn something new everyday.
I wonder if Ovation makes a dulcimer?
Bradley |
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Location: Scotland | No, but if they did an electro "walkabout" style dulcimer, maybe based on their soprano uke bodies I'd have one! |
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Location: Las Cruces, NM | Bradley
I guess I sounded a little didactic in my posting and I didn't mean to sound critical. I wanted to make the point that all of us should, if possible, check out an example of any instrument that we buy. The danger in Ebay type buying is the auction frenzy, followed by the realization that there is seldom the opportunity to return an instrument that is wrong for the use intended. I also wish that people would use their local guitar stores because if the catalogs and auctions take over, where will you go to actually see or try out an instrument. There is a trend toward going into the local store and saying "Could I look at this guitar that I saw in the catalog for $50 less, I'm thinking of ordering it but I wanted to try it out first". Too much of this and the store will close the door and sell his inventory on Ebay, and when you need a pick or a set of strings, sorry.
Bailey |
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Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | Uh... "Too much of this and the store will close the door and sell his inventory on Ebay" you say it like it hasn't already happened. I know two stores within 20 miles that the "online" world has directly impacted. One Vintage shop (a rather famous one) is closed. At last I heard he was selling boutique billiard equipment in a small store, but I think even that is gone now too. The other, has a niche of a Music School and also does school instrument rentals for many schools in the area, but I believe that most retail sales are online. The third store is of course Guitar Center, which is just a storefront for Musicians Friend. It used to be a Veneman Music store, of which there used to be two locations. This is just one small area in Maryland USA. If this is any indication of the rest of the country (or world).. The music store as we know it, already IS a thing of the past. |
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Location: SoCal | Is Guitar Center owned by Musician's Friend? |
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Location: Converse, Texas | Now you guys have confused me. Which of the Ovations is a mandolin and which is the mandocello? :confused: |
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Location: Scotland | The mandolin is the little one, the mandocello is the big, guitar-sized one. Think violin & cello.
Paul |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | The manodlin is the little one. Once it was built DJ, the head of R&D, was telling me about how well they were recieved. He said "it's great but took alot to get done. Whatever you do, don't make us make a mandocello" To which you can guess the immediate responce. (Fine, build one. By the way, what is it?)
It actually was very easy, just take a guitar, put 8 holes in the peghead, use a bass bridge with an extra hole and pickup and put the 9th fret side marker at the 10th instead. It is quite a different instrument than the mandolin. We only made about a dozen I think, most of them were for the Mando-Bandits in New York |
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Location: NJ | fyi:
There's an album by the late GREAT singer/songwriter/guitarist Steve Goodman entitled "Affordable Art" with some great mandocello work on it. |
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Location: NJ | hmmmm....
I wonder how many "buckos" it would take to have Ovation make a bouzouki?
.....or a balalaika?
.......or a lute?
......or an oud?
(somebody STOP me!) |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | Cliff,
I had always wanted to have a roundback sledgehammer dulcimer. It would be acoustic/electric of course and played through an amp with braille speakers so you can get the full sensation.
Steve Goodman was wonderful, wasn't he? |
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Location: SoCal | Bill, you shoulda had one built (strictly an R&D project of course)
Steve Goodman was pure magic. It's funny to miss somebody you never met. |
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Location: Las Cruces, NM | Steve Goodman was the best, and is probably reading this thread wherever he is in the beyond. He toured not too long before he died with one of the greatest mandolin players, Jethro Burns, half of the comedy duo Homer and Jethro, and a super jazz mandolin player. My son went to see him live with Jethro and came home with a new respect for the humble 8 string.
Bailey
[ July 08, 2002: Message edited by: Bailey ] |
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Location: Las Cruces, NM | Miles
In 1979, as I was preparing to leave California, I helped my friend, Bill (a retired Marine Korean veteran, who was a Marine Band member that had to pick up a rifle and shoot his way out of a bad situation), close up his music store. Bill sold his best instruments for less than what he paid for them to a large music store, and we spent 3 or four weeks going to the big flea markets that were the equivalent of today's Ebays, selling all the stuff under $100 that we could, sheet music, strings, tapes, music books, etc.. Bill had helped our bluegrass club in many ways and had always given a good deal where he could. He even used to hold jam days where anybody could come in and jam through a PA system set up outside his store and get a taste of playing to an audience from the little shopping center he was in, and he would get a good audience. That music shop was central to our music and I mourn it and Bill's passing (he is deceased), and all the other ones that probably were somebody's music connection and are now gone.
Bailey
[ July 08, 2002: Message edited by: Bailey ] |
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Location: NJ | Retail stores are very hard to keep open these days. You either have a niche or make your money on lessons and assessories to the students because you cannot compete with the chain stores. In fact often the chain stores cannot comptete with each other. In my area Mars closed yet sam ash (aka scam cash) and guitar center (aka geek center) strive only 4 stores away from each other in the same strip mall.
back in the day every small town around here had a couple of music stores. Very few survive and the ones that do mostly are teaching operations. It is really sad but I have seen many cool places come and go. |
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Location: Las Cruces, NM | Al
Maybe this is the replacement for the neighborhood music store. The only thing I see lacking here is the ability to jam together. We're able to look at instruments of interest, comment, BS, reminisce, opinionate, and all the things we used to do at our favorite music store. Perhaps no store can survive servicing local customers like ourselves. We, or at least me, tend to buy our few good instruments and then hold on to them for years, not a very fertile field for weekly and monthly profits. So maybe our source of instruments is network outlets like yours and Ebay, etc.. But, how do we try out the instruments in this media? I think what we are seeing is potential buyers coming to the board and asking for the opinion of the board community to guide them on the value or worth of what they are thinking of buying. Does this suggest that a company like Ovation should have on line sales? I don't know, I don't have a dealer closer than El Paso, I suppose if I wanted to buy a certain model, I could drive down there and look at it. But there is no gaurantee that they would have it, and if I called first more than likely they would suggest something they had in stock. I see some possibilities and problems. IS THIS THE FUTURE OF MUSIC STORES?
Bailey
[ July 10, 2002: Message edited by: Bailey ] |
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Location: Scotland | I think one possible senario is a handful of massive stores shifting a limited range of product at huge discounts, staffed by a bunch of kids on minimum wage with zero product-knowledge. Fine if you want a cheap deal, but if you need after-sales service, or something a little out of the ordinary forget it. That's already happened to a degree in the UK, and while there's a few independants & smaller stores who offer a good service & some interesting product, they're having a hard time. Ebay may be part of the problem, but I'd have a hard time making criticisms as I do so much business on there myself. I'm currently selling a top-line Pedal-steel guitar on ebay on behalf of a friend. A dealer offered him about a third of it's value. Not unreasonable given that he has overheads, profit to make, tax, wages etc. to pay. But what are the options, should he take a dive with the dealer or get what it's worth online?
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Location: SoCal | I miss those music stores of the past. I bought my first Ovation at Parker Music in Houston TX in 1972. It was a cramped store in a shopping mall that was pure magic. There was always good music being played in there (none by me of course) and it was a fun store to go into. Several years later it moved to a bigger location in the mall and all the fun was out of it. While Parker Music might still exist, I don't think it's in the same place and probably isn't the same kind of store.
Depressing. |
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Location: NJ | as a kid growing up I would go to the local music store and just hang out. I spent many a saturday there getting in the way and listening to people play and talk music etc.
I have seen parents drop their kids off on a saturday afternoon at marsguitarcentersamash and the goal seems to be destroy as much gear as possible and play Korn licks as load as you can.
I was a partner in a retail store for a few years....I now do mail order and internet sales.
I think that I enjoy the commoradarie of the on line folks the most because they are passionate about the same things I am. |
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Location: Las Cruces, NM | Al
That's what I am trying to say, maybe the net and it's auctions like Ebay are the answer to the difficulties of maintaining a music store for the dedicated enthusiast. If the net is the future of music stores as we knew them, that is not a bad thing at all. It means that technology has given us a solution to the evolution of a modern society that leaves certain elements (us) behind. Most music enthusiasts are technology lovers anyway. So if we can keep the instrument smashers from invading these sites, maybe we have a good thing. (BTW, could I drop my grandchildren off here for the afternoon while I shop K-mart's web site?) :rolleyes:
Bailey
[ July 10, 2002: Message edited by: Bailey ] |
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Location: Las Cruces, NM | I know this posting is getting terribly long, but it seems like the place for this commentary.
We played a bluegrass job today, and my nephew, a fiddle, banjo, and guitar player, who plays with some country bands in town, showed up to sit in with us and he had a Celebrity mandolin with active electronics that he bought about a year ago. I finally was able to get my hands on an Ovation mandolin. The quality was excellent, if I didn't know Celebrity was Korean, I would have thought it was American made, it stands head and shoulders above any other Korean mandolin I've seen. The acoustic sound was a little mellow for bluegrass and I didn't get to plug it in, and we were playing without a big PA system, so it might mike well, I think it would be excellent for most music, he thought he might have dampened the sound some as he had used loop end strings with a piece of insulated wire holding them in place(whoever has one of these will know how this works), the wire may be a solution to the difficulty of finding ball end mandolin strings, but I suggested to him that he take the insulation off. All in all it was a nice mandolin, easy to play, nice sound, quality material and workmanship. The only criticism I would have is to lighten up the bridge and go to loop strings attached on an end piece to loosen up the bridge and top, but that would be a redesign and I doubt that the mandolin market would support it. I would rather see prices go down than up.
Bailey |
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Location: Scotland | A tailpiece type mando requires an arched or carved top to work properly. The bridge on the Ovation is fine for the design of the instrument, it's basically a small flat-top guitar, which is one of the reasons it doesn't have the classic bluegrass midrange tone of an F or A style carved-top mandolin, though It can be EQ'd to get somewhere near. I have a problem finding anyone who will stock the Ovation ball-end mando strings outside of London so rather than get ripped-off buying single guitar strings I cut the ball-ends off old guitar strings & attach them to loop-end mandolin strings. It's a pain but it works.
Paul
[ July 14, 2002: Message edited by: Paul Templeman ] |
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Location: Las Cruces, NM | Paul
After I engaged my brain I realized that you are right. The Ovation mandolin is a different concept, and my comment on it's usefulness for classical bluegrass is irrelevant (there isn't much bluegrass around anyway). It is well suited to folk, country, rock, etc., 99% of music as it is played today. As a mandolin player, I encourage anybody to find a place for mandolin in their music, and as most of today's music is amplified, this mandolin has a definite edge. I liked the quality and sound and it is sturdy looking, always a good feature. Give me a hint on how you attach those guitar string ball ends, I have miles of used guitar strings.
My son came over with a Roland rythym box with tracks he had set up for songs he knows and songs I know, he plugged my Viper into the zoom box and amp with the rythym and played the Viper with me playing mandolin on country and rock songs. That Ovation mandolin would be perfect for that sort of thing, I'm going to try to borrow it from my nephew and try that.
Bailey |
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Location: Scotland | At first I messed aroung trying to get the loop to tighten around the ball-end, which was more hassle than it was worth. Now I just flatten-out the loop a litle & superglue a ball-end into it, which holds the ball in place until it's up to pitch. Make sure the glue has set properly before you re-string, or you'll have a bitch of a job changing strings!
Paul
[ July 15, 2002: Message edited by: Paul Templeman ] |
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Location: Las Cruces, NM | Paul
Sounds good, as soon as I see my nephew I'll pass it on to him and give him some old strings if he needs them. Sounds a little like the NASCAR racers solution for keeping their lug nuts on the wheels for their tire changes. Maybe you Brits have some things in common with us colonists. I still recall riding with an SCAA member friend of mine in a new imported Morgan in the 70's, through posh Rancho Santa Fe in San Diego county on a cement roadway and almost getting seasick because of the rigid suspension and acceleration. He took his driver training at Del Mar and went on to race that fast, plywood bodied throwback in SCAA club races. Also went and saw Jimmy Clark blow off everyone at Riverside in a Lotus 23. Those were the days.
Sorry, the reason I do this stuff is because I had an English lit professor in college who almost turned me into an British islander against my will.
Bailey
[ July 17, 2002: Message edited by: Bailey ] |
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Mandolin