Quote:
Originally Posted by DungBeatle
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Thanks very much for the link. As you say, this is a pretty generic manual, and probably worth keeping, but there are two thing I note:
First, the tuning of this mandolin is stated to be E-A-D-G, apparently tuned in fourths, ike the four bottom strings of a guitar. This goes counter to every standard-size mandolin I've ever seen, which uses a G-D-A--E, tuned in fifths. (I checked the string frequencies to make sure that it wasn't a simple case of them labeling the strings in reverse.) So is this really the right tuning? Was this mandolin offered to those who were already acquainted with chord configurations on the guitar bass?
Second, I was able to get the battery out of the case to test it to see if it was still good. But when I went to replace the battery, I found that the positive and negative terminals on the case weren't labeled at all, and looked identical. You could insert the battery either way! Maybe there was once a sticker there that identified which pole is which. My only clue is that the wire going to one contact is white, and the other one is black. I know that white usually means (-) but I've seen so many exceptions to that rule, particularly on Asian products, that I can't trust that. But maybe a guy with an Ovation guitar can tell me if there's an "Ovation protocol" that dictates that the positive side of the battery goes either to the left or to the right.
The more I look at this instrument, the queerer it gets.