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Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | Several eMails, posts, and other conversations have led me to pose this question to the masses.
Do you know a place (most likely store) where you can see several model USA Ovations? Especially EliteT's and Adamas guitars.
The reason is that although I know one store that occasionally gets an Elite in, mostly the stores I know have Celeb's or maybe Tangents. I'd love to hear about stores that have several Elite, Adamas and other guitars onhand available to play/buy. |
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Location: NJ | Miles,
maybe i need to load up the suburban with a ton of guitars and make audio samples for the website? |
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Location: Fort Worth, Texas | Come on down... |
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Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | WOW!!! I sure hope the marketing people are looking at this thread. Out of 900+ members/enthusiasts, NO ONE here knows of a store where they can go, and with relative confidence know that there will be a few (not thinking 100's but maybe a couple of each) USA Made Ovation guitars available to try out?????
I guess I will modify the question to...
On a regular basis, what USA Made Ovations are available in a store near you? |
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Location: Las Cruces, NM | Al
Not to change the subject, but I'm thinking of buying a Suburban to replace my destroyed vehicle, a neighbor has one in good condition that I think I can afford. How do you like yours?
Bailey |
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Location: Scotland | In the entire UK I know of maybe 2 or 3 stores that keep a reasonable range of US-made Ovations constantly in stock. Of the numerous dealers in my area only one regularly stocks Ovations and they are mostly Clebs & Applause. |
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Location: Warsaw, Indiana | I live in North Central Indiana and our local music store use to carry a large selection of USA O's, however, according to the owner he said the number of finish cracks were increasing and the company was getting very hard to work with. So now there is only Applause ( and very few of those) in the store. Bummer! |
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Location: NJ | Bailey
I have a 90 suburban I LOVE IT, So does my wife. It has served us well, taken us on many trips and to many guitar shows. I plan on replacing it but newer ones are so damn expensive that I just keep on looking,
Mine has 2 wheel drive. I don't want 4 wheel drive if the weather is that bad I will stay home. I will also suggest getting the "barn doors" it makes it easier to get stuff in and out and you don't damage that "tailgate"
I have the 350 chevy motor which has been around since the sixties and is a rock solid design the only difference is that it is now fuel injected.
Hope some of this stuff helps |
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Location: Pittsburgh, PA | Originally posted by Mr. Ovation:
WOW!!! I sure hope the marketing people are looking at this thread. Out of 900+ members/enthusiasts, NO ONE here knows of a store where they can go, and with relative confidence know that there will be a few (not thinking 100's but maybe a couple of each) USA Made Ovation guitars available to try out?????
My local store, Pianos N Stuff , has several Ovation models in stock and hanging on the wall. Mostly Celebrity models (I got mine there), but they also have Balladeers and maybe a few other models as well. I don't know about Adamas, but I'm going to stop in and get some strings tomorrow (they're closed Wednesdays) and I'll take notes.
I see you're in Maryland; depending on where in Maryland you are, it might not be too much of a hike for you if you wanted to visit. (If you do, let me know when you're coming; my office is less than 5 minutes from the store.) |
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Location: NJ | Here in Northern NJ, the only Ovations I ever see in stores are Applauses, Celebrities, and MAYBE, MAYBE the occasional Balladeer. Unfortunately, the only place that may OCCASIONALLY have a Custom Legend-12 is (ugh!) Guitar Center. The closest one to me (Totowa, NJ) has the North African Cherry-top Collectors' and a quilted-top Adamas, but they're hung up about 15 feet high on the wall and being that that I avoid the inept staff there like the plague, I don't usually bother "Justin" to go get a ladder. I have YET to see in person the Elite T, the new Folklore (being that their "limited", I doubt that I ever will), or a Tangent (not that I'd want to). Whenever I enquire, I usually get the same standard reply that "...Ovations just don't sell...".
There used to be a small music store in Midland Park (where I bought mine oh so many years ago) that USED to have pretty much the entire line on display. One of these weekends I'll have to take a drive out that way to see if they even exist anymore. |
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Location: Mechanicsville, VA | Depending on where in Maryland your at, it might not be too bad to check out http://www.richmondmusic.com/. I'm not sure of the models, but they usually have 10 or 15 O's in stock at any given time. A quick phone call and I'm sure Kip or John will let you know what's available. They are also currently expanding their acoustic room so that they can keep more stock on hand.
Really good group of guys to work with.
Kurt... |
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Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | After some phone calls I had to modify this post..
I live in Frederick MD. Bo's Strings (and the guys name really is Bo) used to Carry the USA models but I was in there a few weeks ago and only imports. Then there is Guitar Centers (3 within an hour) and Bill's (not sure on that one) and Make'N Music who doesn't carry the line. Big Music store in the mall, nope... and Music and Arts Center... not that I know of.
Good news however. I called Victor Litz (under LINKS) and they usually carry between 6 - 12 USA Ovations at any one time. They are low now and only have an Adamas, a couple Elite T's, and a Balladeer, and a 2002 Collectors, but they are in the process of re-ordering/re-stocking.
By the way, Victor Litz is a great place to deal with. I know the owner for years, his name is Tony (or talk to Darren or Jeff) and if you say you heard about them from here I'm sure you'll get the red carpet treatment.
So... that's not bad.. Al's House, and Victor Litz, the two places on the planet so far to try out and buy USA Made Ovations. |
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Location: NJ | The next time I'm in Manhattan with some time to kill (which isn't too often), I'll take a stroll down 54th St. and see what the pickings are there.
SOMEBODY's gotta be sellin' these things!
My question is if WE can't find 'em (and we're LOOKING for them!), what's the chance of the uneducated player coming upon one amidst the forest of Taylors and Takamines in all of these stores.
Perhaps Ovation feels that whatever revenue they're garnering from the current sales of USA products are sufficient, and they're concentrating all their marketing efforts on the Taks and O'Imports? If that's the case, they're missing out on A LOT!
Saw an ad last week for the '03 Collector's Edition. Nice guitar. Nice ad. Would've been an even nicer if it was placed in an acoustic guitar magazine, instead of the BACK cover of an electric magazine! I have YET to see an Elite T ad.
- eh! I been down this road too many times before! |
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Location: Fort Worth, Texas | The most Ovations I've seen in a store was at Mars Music, I was in there last month during the bankruptcy sale. Some Tangents, Celebritys, Legend, a 6 sting and 12 string Mellisa Etheridge Adamas, the two-necked monster, etc. I wonder what happened to all the remaning inventory? When you type in www.marsmusic.com in your browser it now takes you to Musician's Friend! I haven't been to Guitar Center in a long time - Mars was just as bad as far as staff, so I really didn't like going there unless I really needed something.
My favorite locally owned shop, www.earhartelectronics.com , always has one or two non-Celebrity Ovations and a handful of Celebritys. I'm in the FW side of the DFW metroplex, but seldom make it to Dallas. Guitar Center is, and the defunct Mars was, in Arlington, TX. |
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Location: Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey | Cliff-
Robbie's in Totowa (rte 46 E.) often has American Ovations, maybe 5 or six. I've heard you can often get a good deal there on guitars because he (Robbie) doesn't buy on credit, so if a guitar sits there for a while he gets eager to move it. I've gotten some great deals there on effects n' stuff. Often I can get new effects there cheaper than used on ebay! It depends- you have to know your prices well, some stuff is priced high.
Johnny |
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Location: Tennessee | My local Guitar Center (here in North California) always has a pretty good selection of Ovations ... usually 20 or more hanging on the wall in the acoustic room. Everything from Collectors to Elites (both low and high end) to Legends, Custom Legends and an assortment of Celebrities. They also have Ovation mandolins and nylon stringers. The only challenge is getting through all the kids playing Dinkys through distortion pedals on Marshalls stacks turned all the way up (oh, wait, those are the salesfolks -- :D ).
My local Mom and Pop carries Taylors, Gibsons, Takamines, and the low end of the Celebrity line (which they ask $700 for a CC57). No USA models. |
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Location: Scotland | Cliff, when I was in NYC back in August Manhattan was pretty much free from USA-made Ovations. Mandolin Bros on Staten Island had maybe 10, including Elites & 2001/02 Collectors. Sams Ass & the stores on that drag had LOTS of imports. |
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Location: NJ | John(Strummin'12);
"...Robbie's in Totowa (rte 46 E.)..."
Yeah, I haven't been THERE in a LONG time!!
When I was a kid, they were the only shop within walking distance (and that was an hour "walk" each way). At the time, he was the only place open to get a replacement electric B or E string on a Sunday morning. We used to refer to him as "Highway Robbie" (because of his prices).
I don't go there anymore because I'm usually heading westbound and it's easier to just hit GC than to make all the U-turns on 46 at that hour.
D'ya ever go to the Music Den on 46 E in Parsippany? They have a pretty good selection there (although I think it was better when it was Long & McQuade). |
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Location: Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey | Cliff-
The Music Den on 46 is now one of THE MOST expensive places to buy EVER, but they are FANTASTIC for rentals.
Recently I had to purchase a set of D'Addario EJ38's (12 string acoustic set) there, just for the convenience (they're 5 minutes from me). I paid nearly $15 after tax! I buy them normally from Dave's Sound Repair in Whippany for $9 a set, and $5 a set for the EJ16's (6 string). For the $6 savings per set, I go to Dave's (10 minute ride) and stock up!
Music Den also wanted like $300 more for the multitrack recorder I was shopping for. It's crazy. I think they rely on rentals and lessons for biz. They sell to the novice kids who's parents don't know any better about pricing and trust them because they get lessons there.
I did, however, buy a used P.A. head in incredible condition (almost new) from them for $600 less than retail new. I guess it just comes down to knowing price on what you want.
Keep them in mind if you need to rent a larger PA for a large room gig or something!
Later, Bro!
Johnny |
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Location: NJ | Shit! What a small world!!
I've known Dave for YEARS! My girlfriend and his wife grew up together. We occasionally all go down to LBI together. I never even thought of going to him for strings! I've shopped him for some P.A. speakers, but he was a little high. He does GREAT repair work though! He did some repairs on my P.A. head. At that price, I'll just ask him to bring some strings home with him and I'll pick 'em up! He lives one town away from me.
THANKS for the tip!! |
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Location: Warsaw, Indiana | Al, Just another point of view. I have a 94 Suburban, 350 and I too love it. I however, have the standard horizontal split tailgate. What I like about this is although the barn doors do make removal easier, if you have to haul something long then it is easier and safer to lift the window open and rest the item on the tailgate and not have to worry about the barn doors. |
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Location: NJ | It also offers you a bit of "shelter" when it's raining and your loading/unloading. |
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Location: NE Ohio | Unfortunately the only place I've found that has a selection of Ovations radily available is the two Guitar Centers that are in Cleveland. Unfortunately most are Celebrity series Ovations but I've notice a trend that is similar to Hamer in that the Ovation imports are branded Ovations as are the Import Hamers. I find the practice very confusing to me. |
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Location: NJ | cliff
I know dave also. tell him I said hi he is a great guy.
78 adamas
I use the pickup for the long stuff but you have a valid point |
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Location: Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey | Dave IS very cool, been going to his shop for years...since like '86! His wife is my 1st guitar teacher's sister-and I found that out YEARS after I stopped taking lessons from him. It IS a small world.
I buy so many sets of strings from him per month! (4 guitars restrung each gig, plus back up sets!). At his prices, I can't get 'em mail order cheaper!...My girl will go there on her lunchbreak, and he knows.. "pickin' up strings for Johnny?"
Bill, the guitar tech, is a very cool guy as well.
Johnny |
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Location: puerto vallarta, mexico | if you think its hard to find ovations for sale in the states you could find tits on a rattlesnake here easier. except for the occasional traveler i have the only collection i know of here. BUT if you want to test drive a few great O's stop by.
in torrence ca i saw a pretty good selection of ovations, foreign and usa made at guitar center. |
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Location: Fort Worth, Texas | Alright!
OFC convention in Puerto Vallarta...
¡Echele Con Ganos, Vatos! |
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Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | "And the list rapidly grows," he writes sarcastically.
So far for stores (or places) that at any time probably have a few USA Made Ovations to try/buy...
- Al's House in NJ
- Russ's House in Mexico
- Victor Litz in MD
- Guitar Center in Torrence CA.
- Robbie's in Totawa (wherever that is)
- Two stores in the UK |
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Location: puerto vallarta, mexico | paul w, (we have plenty of pauls here que no?)
any ofc member is welcome here, and just might get sucked into a few gigs. this time of the year it's non stop music. you almost have to fake montezumas revenge to get a day off---a cold isn't good enough. thurs and sat are two gig days. makes one want to substitute guitar for gun in knockin on heavens door when we sing it around closing time on saturday.
hey, if any of the texas contingent runs across a group called "texas renegade" my twin nephews play in it. one of them has my first ukII. when i saw the look on his face when he played it here (actually he never stopped playing my guitars while he was were) i couldn't resist "loaning it" to him till he found one.(fat chance he's goin to look very hard uncle russ). those kids started playing fiddle at 4 years old and have played with willie nelson and the boys at lukenbach, and knoched down $300+ in tips at gruene hall doing a quick set on a sunday when they were 11. they have played at lady birds parties and lots more. they are 20 now. they play the austin san antonio circuit. look for em and make sure they are taking care of my "black magic woman". |
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Location: Fort Worth, Texas | musicamex,
I'll keep an eye out for them. I worked a small stint at Gruene hall one summer (your nephews would have been 5 years old then!)
Dylan, The Byrds and The Beatles is half of my repertoire. I know it would be much easier to talk my wife in to going to Puerto Vallarta instead of the just me going on the factory tour!! :D
Maybe this summer after KFF.... |
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Location: Connecticut | I just was in a small store today. Joes Guitars in Wallingford CT. No Celebs but 4 Adamas 1 Tangent and a couple of Elite's. I haven't been to East Coast Music mall in Danbury but I was told they have a great Ovation selection. |
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Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | Glad to hear the there are a couple stores in CT that have the high-end guitars. But considering they are within 50 miles of the Factory one would hope so.
I can see what a lot of smaller stores do not have several USA Models in stock. They may not sell them too often, and that could be hard. But I would think places like Guitar Center would be required to carry a percentage USA vs Korean. I understand the economics of carrying more of what sells, that's simple. But I would think those big stores could sell a few high-end guitars every month. |
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Location: Las Cruces, NM | Al & 78Adamus
Thanks a lot, that is very similar to what we're looking at, we'll probably buy it after what you've said. We had an International Travelall when we moved here from CA and we liked that, the Suburban looks even better.
This subject of where Ovations can be seen live is one we've discussed many times in terms of the local store. An era has passed and we might as well get used to living from the catalog and ebay as we've pretty much destroyed the local music store.
Mike_C
I grew up in the Conneaut area, with a 5 year stint in Willoughby during WWII. Where in NE Ohio are you from?
Bailey |
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Location: Las Cruces, NM | Al
The Suburban we are looking at is a GMC 1990 in excellent condition with the "barn doors", injected engine, roof rack, and all accessories. We made a deposit and will pick it up as soon as we get the check from our car.
Bailey |
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Location: NJ | congrats. Miles and I just took mine to Ohio and back |
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| I actually sent a message to Ovation commenting on the lack of stores in my region carrying the "full" line and inquired as to whether one could buy factory direct. Their response was no, and to shop online. I don't mind online shopping but this was disparaging to me since it takes the love and fun out of actually handling and test driving the guitar you want.
My local shop will order anything I want but prices are out of this world, and they said it's a minimum of 3 months out of the factory. OUCH! |
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Location: Madison, Wisconsin | To add to the list:
Madison, Wisconsin...2 stores with US Ovations. Good-N-Loud Music and Ward Brodt Music Both are of the New York varity with prices meant only for parents or grand parents buying for their kids. Ward Brodt, by the way, is listed as being one of the origional slot head buyers and I asked one of the salesmen about it and he didn't know what a "slot head" was but I guess I didn't either until I started looking at and playing Ovations. Both stores have around 3 US guitars and 3 or 4 times that many Celebritys.
I think on-line may be the way to go. |
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Location: NJ | Willard;
SlotHead #31 (now owned by Elias in Philadelphia) went to Ward Brodt Music on 8.31.76. Evidently, they've been a "flagship" Ovation store for some time. At least they're still in existence. The little shop where mine came from isn't (as far as I know).
Ever get to see Willy Porter playing around Madison? Kickass guitarist!! |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Sad to say, but my local Guitar Center right here in Tempe AZ always has a good selection of US models. They currently have an African Cherry Collector, Cross weave adamas, two customer legends (black and cherry red), legend, legend 12, and a few US balladeers. They also have a used '97 collector. Believe it or not, back in '96 I bought my Book Elite here and they had TWO of them to choose from. Dave |
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Location: SoCal | I dropped into a Guitar Center in Brea CA last night. Chris Proctor was putting on a workshop for Taylor and was playing a 12 string. I resisted the urge to tell him that my Adamas 12 ("Big Blue") could knock his guitar out of the water in sound.
I saw a 2002 Collecters, some Legends, and Custom Legends, and an Adamas. I picked up the 2002 strummed once, discovered the strings were dead, and put it down. Who wants to try out a guitar with dead strings? |
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Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | Keep those cards and letters coming. It's not bleak.... ok well maybe it is.. I guess we have a few sources for the higer-end USA Ovations, to actually be seen and I will make a list and post it someplace. |
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Location: NJ | Since we live in the 21st Century full of computers, databases, AS400, etc., is at all possible that Ovation could provide us with a listing (by state) of dealers who regularly carry/sell the US models? |
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Location: Tennessee | The Ovation website has a link with a listing of all their dealers by state ... would be hard for them to actually list which dealers were stocking which models unless they linked their distribution system into the website in realtime, which would be a very costly endeavor. I'd rather have them spend the money on marketing. |
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Location: Virginia | Mr. Ovation,
I live south of you, near Front Royal, VA. There is a store in Winchester called "Blind Faith" that carries a short inventory of Ovations...Adamas...whatnot. Great people up there, I actually enjoy doing business there. The local "Guitar Center" is in Fairfax, about the same distance east, I haven't checked their stock though I'm sure they have something. As far as "import" or USA, I never really payed that much attention. :confused: |
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Location: Reading, PA | I live just outside of Reading, PA and we have a local store with a fair selection of the Ovation line. Here's the link:
http://www.kandwmusic.com/02.htm
Jim |
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Location: Dallas | ...you guys hit a few notes here (I'll ignore the usual slurs about Celebrities - BTW, Ovation, an AMERICAN company, still makes money on these).
Dave's Zoo Music in Garland always has a selection of USA Ovations...but he has a few of everything, the end product of which is a vast/diverse inventory.
Al, the 5.7L GM engine is a workhorse that will last longer than you want to keep it, as long as you change the oil & filters regularly (I'm a shadetree mechanic). I have 2 of these vehicles, one of which has 130k miles...and will go double that, if I keep up the maintenance.
Guitar Center is shit...unless you just go up & lay $$ on the counter for a new guitar. My Luthier ordered my pre-amp thru them. 2 months later & several phone calls ago...it was determined that they never bothered to order it. My Luthier, who has just been sanctified & ordained by Ovation, called Ovation directly....and my pre-amp was there in 2 days. I won't bother to tell you how my CELEBRITY CV68 VIPER sounds ....you know...soft & clear as a baby's coo...or growling, screaming & grungy as a $2 metal whorehouse on a Saturday night...and it's a VERY shallow bowl....ahhhhh....feels & sounds just the way it was engineered....like an acoustic Ovation....or a semi-hollow electric :p |
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Location: Virginia | Ok guys,
Here's my dimesworth. I stopped by my local GC yesterday and had a look at the ovation selection. They seemed to have about 50/50 American/korean. For one thing I do agree with swat about GC...they do pretty much suck for service, but then again they make no false claims..they are pretty much aloof about everything. The celeb...sorry but I like that red one I played. I actually almost bought it. I did see that African Cherry, OMG That is awesome! Not enough duckets for that bad boy.
bd :D |
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Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | As a little tease to some of the posts to come, and based on that fact that you hit on part of the conversation we had today with an important player of Ovation.
He was ready with answers as to there the USA guitars are. I will formulate a better post later, but suffice to say, anyone who caries Ovation MUST carry a certain number of ALL of the lines, but it would seem anyone smaller than a megastore who only has to (and can afford to) carry a few, is in a constant state of restock. |
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Location: Texas | Here in the Houston area, my search for an 1867 led me to the "authorized" dealers on the Ovation website towards the north and northwest side. Mostly I saw the lower end.
One store carried (1) Anniversary, a GC carried two customs legends and a balledeer or two, and another finally had an 1867 I could play. The last place I went to, Parker Music, did have an assortment of Ovations, but didn't have the Legend. So, I ordered it through them. GREAT PRICE! Bravo. Hopefully, I'll be seeing it this week.
It was sort of disappointing to try to buy an Ovation and not be able to find one - even in the 4th largest city in the US. I'm happy with Parker Music and their personnel plus they give you a 5% discount for paying in cash. Can't beat that!
Oh, I dropped Ovation website an e-mail regarding where to get an 1867 with the OP-40.... not one reply.
Oh well, I still bought one. Only in America.
Later, |
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Location: Fort Worth, Texas | For the record: I was at a Mr. E's music store today here in Cowtown. They jsut moved into a much larger location, 5 Ovations - 3 Celebrities and 2 Elites.
In light of Mr. Ovations post about dealers having to carry ALL the lines I guess it makes sense to have that mix of models... |
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Ovation test drive.