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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 7222
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | I'm not sure why this question hasn't come up before, or at least I don't think it has. The purposes of Ovation and Celebrity guitars seem pretty obvious and discussed ad nauseum here, however, where does the Applause line fit in.
Ovation, or as some refer Ovation USA are the high-end guitars. Celebrity has several models in price ranges for the musician on a tight budget. The applause models seem to be in the same range as the lowest priced Celebrity guitars, so why the three "brands" as it were. |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | Entry-level guitars for beginners. The cheapo/starter guitar market is huge and it would be crazy for Kaman not to have a slice of it. The Applauses offer the Ovation look and a little of the sound and they may inspire brand-loyalty, so when an Applause owner trades up they may go to Celeb or Ovation |
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Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | Ovation was first and Applause was to be the copy of Ovation and sold through C Bruno and Coast Wholesale, the distribution companies Kaman owned. Ovation was given the chance to develope the Applesause but times were good then and the factory didn't give it enough priority and the project dragged. Corporate got pist and gave the project to its aerospace division to take over and it was ready to launch in June of 75. Now the execs of the Ovation company come in and see the guitar and say to corporate "You can't give that to the distributors, that will really kill us. They don't have designated dealers and will sell to anyone who won't bounce a check."
So corporate gave the applesause to Ovation and it became the Medallion. Aerospace went back to work and developed a second guitar and it came out a year later and that was the applesause and was sold by the Coast and Bruno companies.
This went on till 81/82 when it was decided to move to Korea to get the costs even lower (and the retail price too, always trying to get back to the original $150 list) The Saehan factory was picked and they started the applause there. That went on for maybe a year. It was decided not to move the Matrix, as it was called now so the applause got a dressing up and became the Celibrity.
Long answer to the question but basically Celibicy and applesause exist as basically the same guitar because they were sold by two different sales forces to two different dealer networks. In 1985 all the Kaman music companies were rolled into one and were no longer companies but became divisions, and the sales teams combined to one force. At that point there were Applesause dealers and Ovation dealers. Over time it has evolved to where Applesause is the entry level and often the model that is moved to different factorys to try them out. It's the guinea pig, so to speak. Also trying out different model ideas, sized guitars(1/2, 3/4) ukes, isn't the Trekker an Applause? The Celibrity is the mid range product and rumor has it that the USA factory does the high end. (Mother Ship attendees can confirm this) |
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Joined:
December 2003
Posts: 13986
Location: Upper Left USA | Bill, thanks! That is one huge hunk of history in a single cup of coffee this morning (with the other two threads).
I've got to push it and ask you "What is next?".
Personally I'd like to see a variation model start up to take on the Tacoma Company. Set up a new factory in the upper left corner. See what Paul Allen and Bill Gates are up to lately?
I think they golf! ;) |
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Joined:
January 2004
Posts: 12
Location: Atlanta, GA | I am the proud owner of an Ovation Celebrity CC057. I love the OP20 PreAmp/Tuner - it makes tuning the guitar a breeze. I recently started playing again and needed something good to learn on. I had always wanted an Ovation since the late 70's. Since I am starting out again, and did not want to blow a lot of cash in the event this venture did not work out, I decided on a compromise with the Celebrity model. I went to a few different shops to play them and was told by each shop to avoid the Applause and start with a Celebrity as an entry level Ovation. My goal is to become good enough (and save enough money) in a year or two and graduate to a USA made Ovation. |
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Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | Don't ask me what's next, ask someone who works there now. They don't post here though so you'll have a long wait for your answer. |
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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 7222
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | It's interesting to see the morphing over time. We occastionally get jaded about the offerings and our opinions of marketing and such, but the fact remains that Kaman is one of the largest, if not the largest musical instrument distributer on the planet. And as far as Ovation guitars go, there really is something for almost everyone, at almost every price point, and if there isn't something currently made to make you happy, they will build it for you. |
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Ovation, Celebrity and Applause oh my...