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Joined:
December 2002
Posts: 68
Location: Texas | My friend has old 1112-4 that he bought new a very long time ago. The serial number inside the bowl is "K838". I tried looking it up on the crack the code at the Ovation site but I did not see a "K + 3 Digits". Any help from you old guys would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Shaft |
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February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | Would appear to be from '67, but a guitar from that period would have "Deluxe Balladeer" on the label rather than the 1112 model code |
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Joined:
September 2002
Posts: 153
| Shaft,
A K-XXX serial number would be dated around 1970, as the K prefix follows the A + three digits, B + digits pattern in the Serial Number list. The list is, unfortunately, incomplete. In recent months I have seen Ovation acoustic guitars on eBay with the white, rectangular New Hartford label with serial numbers C + XXX, F + XXX, G + XXX, and M + XXX serial numbers.
I purchased my first Ovation (model K-1117) in 1971, and it had serial number M 670; however, according to the list this number does not exist. So, as stated before, the Serial Number list is incomplete, and also confusing at times, especially when referring to the Deluxe and Custom Balladeers, which are commonly identified incorrectly due to the (mis)information in print. |
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Joined:
September 2002
Posts: 153
| As an added note, Ovation acoustics with the B + XXX serial numbers were the last ones to have
shiny bowls. It was during (or perhapos at the end of) the B + XXX serialization that the bowls changed, the rosettes changed and the bridges changed. All C + XXX serial numbered and forward acoustics that I have seen have textured bowls, add-on rosettes, and second generation (winged) bridges. |
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February 2003
Posts: 2177
Location: the BIG Metropolis of TR | Boy!!! The knowledge on this board is endless and staggering :eek:
. . . .
Thanks Bob & Paul!!
Mike :cool: |
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Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 970
Location: Atlanta,Ga. | i believe Bob has it correct.I dont think there was ever a Deluxe balladeer desiganted as a model 1112..That model number went with the custom balladeer early on.All deluxe balladeers simply had the model name on the label,no model number..
The K and M serial numbers drove me crazy a few years back.I would buy early guitars with these serial numbers and they did not appear in the history book or any other written material i had.I also figured out they were between late 1969 to early 1971.. |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 15664
Location: SoCal | The only model designation I could find for the Deluxe Balladeer is in a small catalog/price sheet from 1968. The model number is K-1016. On my guitar, as Sam noted, it just says Deluxe Balladeer. |
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Joined:
June 2002
Posts: 6197
Location: Phoenix AZ | Maybe I'm confused, but I thought the 1112 didn't appear until late 72 or early 73? I remember this dinstinctly because I got my first K-1111 in 1971 and was later a little disappointed that they introduced the K-1112 because it had nicer tuners than my plain Klusons. It also gets confusing around the "transition time". There were in fact some shiny bowls with winged bridges and raised rosettes. And also some 5 point bridges with textured bowls. I imagine the factory used whatever existing stock they had until it was depleted. Just to add more confusion, the change in headstock angle didn't seem to coincide with any particular model year or serial number break. Dave |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 15664
Location: SoCal | Ok, to make this more confusing, as I noted above, a 1968 price sheet / catalog listed the Deluxe Balladeer model number as K-1016 (I'm guessing that this was from 1968 because it also had Theads in it, but it could have been from late 1967 as well). The full size 1969 catalog lists the Deluxe Balladeer model number as K-1112.
The 1970 catalog lists the Legend as K-1117. There was no Deluxe Balladeer listed (it had become the Legend, better guitar, supposedly, hence the upgraded number?). The model number 1112 (with the K dropped) came back in 1972 with the Custom Balladeer. |
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