[patchmcg]

Hiya JLT.

I got your PM/ I've also seen your post on the Ovation Fan Club. You are getting some good info there as well.

The D'Addario ball ends are the strings Ovation mandos shipped with. (So did their guitars for that matter, but with ownership passing along earlier this year, I'm not sure if that's still the case now.) As it is, you string up the MCS-148 like any other mandolin.

As far as getting the back plate off goes, take a look at this video. Old Man Arthur is a long-time member of the OFC.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=DvPB6vih3pw

Finally, regarding the battery box. I admit that it's pretty close, but if you look carefully, you can see that the receptacles are slightly different in size. Just match the big terminal to the big receptacle. Even with that, you would not be the first to drop a battery in backwards. Speaking from experience, it shouldn't hurt anything. Just take it out and reverse it if.

If you still can't get any sound, then you likely have a different issue, and that's a whole new trouble-shooting task. Electronics can break, and some of those pre-amps are getting pretty old. Likewise, the saddle/pickup assembly can die as well, but at least they are easy to replace.

Good luck to you. The Celebrity mandos are a nice gigging instrument to have handy.