Ovation Mandolins

[Gazza]

How are the Ovation mandolins? They are pretty inexpensive,for the price they don't seem to bad.Any thoughts?

[hank]

Gazza, for bluegrass they make a good boat oar. Wow, that was mean! Really, they aren't loud enough for bg music. Amplified as a rhythm instrument they may work well. I could see where they'd work in a folk or light rock mode, again, amplified.

remember, I'm opinionated on mandos. hank

[Nelson F]

Well are they any GOOD???

[hank]

........... for me? NO

[stevedenver]

hank is right on the tone/ volume thing-and they are as untraditional as a lime green sparkle les paul with a maple fingerboard

and they dont look like a mandolin (but hey im open minded-just ask my wife!!!)

but IMNSHO
ovations are ok in the following regard:
they are easy to play
they are supremely functional in that they stay in tune, are easy to tune (good gears) , and you can play mando music on them

they are fine for noodling at home, or on the banks of the Ohio, (that composite back is actually really cool if you play in rough environs-set it on its back in damp grass and its fine-a worry free instrument-play it in the canoe, let the kid monkey with it, etc., in this carefree aspect i love em-you dont do this with a sixty or seventy year old gibson

quality control is good and they are consistent-buy one sight unseen and youre ok-

they are modern (meaning set up truss rod and adjustability)

they are a fair price-you get more beacuse theres less labor
and you can get em anywher including the dreaded but cheap GC

if youve ever amplified an ovation properly-they really arent bad at all and some are downright great

[hank]

Sounds like you've convinced yourself. That's all that really matters.

[stevedenver]

hank Ovations are not my cup of tea at all- but-i recognize that they have a certain use-high tech, non traditional, simple-and while tone can be 'tinny' they change a lot when amplified-and for non-mondo players-mando are more difficult to play coming from guitar-or only playing sporadically-so im weighing playability (finger friendly) more heavily

long ago i had an original high end balladeer glenn campbell-like in 1971-used it to travel -plinky -but played like my martin (neck wise) and very durable-fell off a taxi in Bombay at forty-not a problem- and when amped-sounded more balanced than a real guitar

if one was thinking of trying mandolin and not committed
theyre easy to find and less hassle than a real mandolin-but there are also wonderful korean versions all over-far more traditional-but-more demanding to set up and to intonate-wouldnt you agree? an entry level ovation is about 250-these others -for similar playability(not sound) -are closer to 500+

no i actually convinced myself to buy an 02 fern-which is more of a commitment - and it plays very nicely, and sounds quite nice to boot, -but it cost a bit more