Ovation US mandolin. Not.

[NewsFetcher]

JazzMando What's New -

Kind of sad to see. The Ovation MM68 mandolin was not everybody's cup of tea, but we thought the USA made model was an incredibly great solution for the road warrior mandolinist, especially the guitar doubler. The instrument was easier to play, military tough, and plugged in, inarguably hard to beat sonically. They are no longer being produced in New Hartford, Connecticut at the old Ovation Headquarters. They aren't even US made, anymore.

We've just tried the new MM68AX import, and are majorly disappointed. These are pretty much on the level of the intermediate MCS148 Celebrity Series, now. The fretboard was in need of a set up out of the box, nut cut poorly and the ragged finish at the joint amateurish. At the lower street price under $800 new (list $1149), we really wanted to like it. Even the classic upper-bout sound hole exotic wood epaulets were lathered in Pac-rim gloss, and the overall sound was underwhelming. If you're expecting the quality of its legendary predecessor, you're in for a let down.

We don't like to be negative about products, so we'll turn this into a positive. If you can find a used US made MM68, buy it now before everyone finds out they aren't being made any more. The price on used ones just went up.

Bummer.

Website: The New Ovation MM68 AX




More news...

[michaelpthompson]

Those interested might check out this MM68-5 on eBay for $800, including Free Shipping and a hard case. I don't know details and NFI, but it looks to be one of the pre-AX models for basically the same price. If I had a spare $800 I'd snap it up in a minute.

[Ted Eschliman]

Michael, unfortunately the ebay link is not a US made one. Unfortunately, Ovation didn't use a different model number for this, other than adding the AX suffix, and as in this case, it will cause deception at worst, confusion at best. The ebay seller is not disclosing country of origin (or the complete model number with suffix). As mentioned in the article, these new import instruments aren't half the quality of the new import model.

There are going to be some very disappointed Ovation fans once this goes mainstream.

[CES]

[michaelpthompson]

Thanks for the information Ted. I posted a question on the eBay page. Hopefully, the answer will warn any other potential buyers about this. It's still a nice mandolin (I love my Ovation MC148) but not nearly as nice as a real US-made MM68. And it sounds like $800 is more like standard retail for this item, rather than the good deal I was thinking it was.

[michaelpthompson]

Well, I posted a question, and received an answer by e-mail, though the eBay listing still says no questions have been posted. The seller admitted it's an import, not an authentic MM68. It's bad enough that Ovation just added "AX" to the model number of a respected mandolin, when it's really much more similar to the cheaper MCS-148. It's worse when a seller doesn't disclose the difference.

From: michaelpthompson
To: efpro2
Subject: Details about item: michaelpthompson sent a message about OVATION MM68-5 BLACK ACOUSTIC-ELECTRIC MANDOLIN + CASE #260788076629
Sent Date: May-22-11 21:00:26 PDT

Dear efpro2,

Is this one of the "real" Ovation MM68 mandolins made in the US, or the cheaper Asian knockoff version?

- michaelpthompson

Dear michaelpthompson,

Thank you for your inquiry!

All new Ovation MM68 mandolins are now manufactured in Korea.

Jim

- efpro2

[delsbrother]

Well, they're all real.

Just like all Gibsons are Master Models (because the label says so).

I guess this could also work in our favor - you could point out to the Pawn Star across the counter how you could get "a brand new one" for hundreds less..

[michaelpthompson]

Well, they're all real.

Yeah, I know. I thought I'd tweak him a bit while I was at it, since he didn't mention anywhere in the ad that it was made in Korea.

[michaelpthompson]

Here's one made in the USA. Currently at $700 but there's time to go.

[michaelpthompson]

And an actual 1998, made in the USA MM68.

[michaelpthompson]

If you can find a used US made MM68, buy it now before everyone finds out they aren't being made any more. The price on used ones just went up.

Here's one that looks good from the description. A recording studio bought it, used it on one song, loved it, but need to part with it. $1200. NFI.

[grassrootphilosopher]

Let me express some thought. Flaming etc. is forbidden here. Okay. Is this newly fetched news flaming? No? This thread (http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...hlight=ovation) and a previous thread was shut down for exactly that. Well where´s the difference? Enlighten me.

[Scott Tichenor]

Let me express some thought. Flaming etc. is forbidden here. Okay. Is this newly fetched news flaming? No? This thread (http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...hlight=ovation) and a previous thread was shut down for exactly that. Well where´s the difference? Enlighten me.

You're awfully late joining the party.

Huge difference in the two and the methods they were introduced to the forum, by whom, and under what kind of language and past history. This thread is an automated computer task pulling in RSS news from an external source. As for an explanation in the differences, not our job to explain to anyone our decision making calls. They are final. This is all explained in the forum guidelines as well which you should review for answering further questions. If you are unable to discern why the call that's the way it is, but it's not open for public debate.

[michaelpthompson]

You're awfully late joining the party.

He's right about that. Notice this thread started a couple of months ago.

Huge difference in the two and the methods they were introduced to the forum, by whom, and under what kind of language and past history. This thread is an automated computer task pulling in RSS news from an external source.

A niggling detail I know, but I might point out that only the first message in the thread is automated, the rest of it came from live sources.

As for an explanation in the differences, not our job to explain to anyone our decision making calls. They are final. This is all explained in the forum guidelines as well which you should review for answering further questions. If you are unable to discern why the call that's the way it is, but it's not open for public debate.

I'm not debating, just commenting. I looked over the past threads, and the OP was clearly bashing Ovations. I believe he referred to one of them as a disposable POS. In one thread, the subject line was "Yuck, I can't stop myself." A completely different character from this thread.

The current thread does not seem at all flaming to me, just a warning that new MM68 mandolins are no longer made in New Hartford Connecticut as they once were. Very helpful information. You can see that I was confused by the fact that Ovation is using the same model number as their high-end, made in the USA mandolin for a middle-grade model made in Korea. Since there's also a significant price difference, that's really helpful information.

There was nothing in this thread derogatory to Ovation or their instruments, only a warning to know what you're buying. A newbie buying a "The Loar" mandolin might need to know that it was not made by Lloyd Loar just because it bears his name, or that "Gibson style" does not mean Gibson quality. No insult, just information. I see the same thing here. I love my Ovation, but I was still grateful for this information.

A forum owner is god of his forum, and not obligated to explain his actions. That said, Scott did seem a bit oversensitive to me, but perhaps he has good reason. I note that the two Ovation-bashing threads were shut down by two different moderators, which shows me that Scott and his team are consistent in their policies. That author clearly had a chip on his shoulder. Not the same thing at all IMNSHO.

[Mark Levesque]

I just called Ovation because my MM-68 (which I've used on over 1200 gigs with no problems) needed some new tuners.
I was told that they will still produce the original MM-68 from the Connecticut factory for a special order. They just decided to stop mass producing them for music stores.