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March 2002
Posts: 15663
Location: SoCal | Went to the NAMM show yesterday and the Acoustic Cafe last nite. I'll post pics tomorrow (probably), but thought I'd pass along a few impressions.
The Kaman display was pretty impressive. First, there's a real distinction between the USA and overseas guitars. There are three new catalogs labeled "OvationUSA". One deals with the Adamii offered this year (as detailed by Al last month), the second details the LX series, and the third is labeled "Traditional", and details the reisuuing of the older style Ovations (as they appeared 15 years ago (you can see these on the Ovation webpage). Older style yet modern electronics. If I were shopping for a new guitar, I'd be looking at these along with the LX's.
These guitars were on display at the Kaman area. And there was one whole wall for the various old style Adamii, along with the 12 fret slothead. A beautiful display.
On the the 2005 Collectors. You've all seen the pics. In person, the guitar is stunning in it's elegance and simplicity. But the new bowl is just wonderful. I'm not quite certain how to describe it. The simple impression is that it's got room for my belly, sitting and playing, it's got a cut where it sits on my leg so that it won't slide, and standing with the guitar on a strap (and the three there all had straps on them), it rests comfortably and flat against your body. No more of the guitar rolling around. The official verision is that it has been tuned with 11 parabolic adjustments. I could only see the two (leg cut and belly cut), but I don't doubt what they are saying.
Sound-wise, it sounded great. You can't hear that much at NAMM (there's a constant, huge wall of sound all the time), but think of an LX (which is what it is), with more depth and you'll come close to it. I can see now that in a couple of years, this is probably going to be the predominate bowl.
Kaki King played at the Acoustic Cafe (along with a number of others). We stayed thru her set. She started out doing something with 4 Takamines on stands and mic'ed, but I have no idea what she was trying to do. Then she picked up her Adamas and was incredible for a number of tunes. You can hear her on recordings, and it's interesting. But to see her in person is really something. Think Preston Reed but taken to new levels. She's also fun to listen to when she visits on stage between tunes. I wa told that her stage presence is getting better all the time. We found her to be charming. The last tune she did was a bit of a stream on consiciousness thing played on a lap steel and a looper. I didn't enjoy it that much and felt like she was trying something that didn't quite come off. But her overall performance was wonderful and well worth waiting thru 3 acts to hear. If you ever have a chance to see her live, go. You'll enjoy it.
I'm heading back to NAMM today. I'll get more pics and see what else can be learned.
they had #47 (slothead) on display, in a glass tube (Witko was trying to kiss the tube!) |
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August 2004
Posts: 604
Location: Tampa, FL | Thanks Sleepy
This is like having our very own investigative resource.
Keep the frontline reports coming, again thanks! |
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August 2003
Posts: 4619
Location: SoCal | Guess I should have gotten a pass from the Taylor guys... |
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August 2002
Posts: 8307
Location: Tennessee | ZING! |
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March 2002
Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | ". . (Witko was trying to kiss the tube!)
. .
. . . . . uh, . . . . . .
. . . . . never mind . . . . . .
. . . .it's just TOO easy . . . . . . . . . . . . .. ... .. . |
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Joined:
June 2002
Posts: 6197
Location: Phoenix AZ | Wasn't there a Who song with the lyrics "I wannit, I wannit, I wannit, I wannit..."
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December 2003
Posts: 13986
Location: Upper Left USA | You are right Cliff! Way too easy! |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | I found this posted on a NAMM review on another board . . .
Anybody see these?? :
MSRP is like $259 (ouch!) but looks really road-worthy and something I'd really be interested in . . . couldn't find a webpage . . |
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February 2003
Posts: 2177
Location: the BIG Metropolis of TR | Site is under construction but it's got a contact number.....
http://www.jamstands.com/ |
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December 2003
Posts: 13986
Location: Upper Left USA | Cliff,
If you mean the happy balding gentleman :eek:
Oh, the other thing - is that a microphone boom or a small engine hoist? At that cost I'd suspend the mics from the ceiling. |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | found it:
www.bamstands.com |
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Joined:
August 2002
Posts: 623
Location: Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey | I was gonna say $259 seems pretty cheap for an old guy, but road worthy? Hmmmm. Dunno. But, if you're really that interested... |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 15663
Location: SoCal | I'm going to post a few pics as soon as I can, but I discovered that I'm going to have to resize them to fit.
I hope that Ovation continues it's push to distinguish USA built guitars from overseas models. They need to have stores like Guitar Centers, divide the two up so people will know what they are playing. |
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Joined:
April 2004
Posts: 234
Location: Phoenix, AZ | Originally posted by MWoody:
Cliff,
If you mean the happy balding gentleman :eek:
Oh, the other thing - is that a microphone boom or a small engine hoist? At that cost I'd suspend the mics from the ceiling.
It looks like a soda can holder. You know for when you get thirsty during a gig. |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 1380
Location: Central Oregon | Originally posted by Tony Calman:
Guess I should have gotten a pass from the Taylor guys...
A Taylor pass in the hand is worth a lot more than two in the bush. I'll bet you don't make that mistake again. |
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