[JLT]

(And, yes, I've posted this on the Mandolin Cafe site, too, but I wanted to cast my net a little wider.)

I was recently given an Ovation MCS148 mandolin which apparently had been in storage for a very long time. Its nut was broken, and I was asked to make a new one. But I noticed that this mandolin had ball-end strings, which was new to me, since all the mandolins I'd serviced or built all had loop end strings. I find that the D'Addario EJ70 Mandolin set had ball ends, and might be a suitable replacement. Is this so, or do you recommend another brand? (Ovation no longer lists mandolin strings on their website, as far as I could see.)

Secondly, I don't know if this model uses active or passive electronic components. I do not see a readily accessible battery case. There is a plastic plate held in place with a screw, but when I removed the screw, the plastic plate appeared to be attached to something inside the mandolin, and I did not want to force it, figuring that something might have to be loosened on the pickup end before it is removed through the back hole. Is this plate merely for access to the electronics, and is there another access for the battery, if there indeed is one?

Lastly, Ovation appears to have no manual available for this instrument, either paper or on-line. Is there a manual available elsewhere, preferably on-line?

I should add that, as far as information on models is concerned, Ovation's web site sucks the big one. All hat and no cattle, as the saying goes in Texas.