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Posts: 1196
Location: Lafayette, Louisiana | Hello everyone. My brother just called me and said he picked up an old Ovation Eclispe. I am not to familiar with that model. He said it is black and sorta like a 335 design. Can anyone give me info on this model, and when were they made? Thanks alot.... Paul Hebert |
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Posts: 7236
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | If you do a search here on the OFC you will find a few posts... but bascially it came out in 60's I believe and was the same as the other "Storm" series guitars, but instead of a wood finish, they used black bowl paint. As I understand it, it's essentially an Ovation Tornado in black.
They are very nice guitars. I like them because due to the bowl paint, they are basically indestructable. I wish they had better pickups.. but that's about it. As I said... do a search and you will find more dertailed posts. |
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Posts: 6202
Location: Phoenix AZ | As Miles said, it is a Tornado with a matte black finish. The Kluson tuners usually don't hold up too well over time, so replacing them with new ones might be a worth while upgrade. Dave |
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Location: Nova Scotia, Canada | I don't know about that...there are a lot of sets of 50 year old Klusons out there still keeping guitars in tune. They are not fancy but are of high quality and if I were you, I wouldn't consider changing them unless there was a problem.
Wayne |
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Location: Scotland | The Klusons on my Tornado are as good as new, and I've seen countless vintage guitars with perfectly good Klusons. Don't dismiss tuning machines just because they aren't sealed like Shallers or Grovers, the best tuners around are Waverleys, which are basic open-geared machines. |
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Location: NJ | klusons are not fancy but work fine and last I looked are sealed |
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Location: Scotland | Al, I know what you mean, but the basic Klusons are just open-geared tuners which have a cover, they are not "sealed" & lubricated in the way that Grover, Schaller & similar are. That's why some versions of the Klusons have a tiny hole in the cover for applying lubricant. I like the basic Kluson tuners, they work well and they are lightweight. I find that Schallers & Grovers can make some guitars neck-heavy. |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Ah geez, guys - I knew as soon as I wrote it that I was in for a beating about the Klusons. OK, I agree there are lots of old Klusons out there working perfectly well. PERSONAL PREFERENCE is that I don't care for them as much as Grover or Schaller. So on several of my guitars I have replaced the K's with G or S. But please don't kill me for it. Hey, if you guys like K's so much you should be willing to pay me a handsome amount for the used ones I took off, right ???
Just send your checks right here. Actually I sell them on ebay and got a pretty fair price I think something like $30. Dave
[ December 21, 2002: Message edited by: Standingovation ] |
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December 2001
Posts: 10583
Location: NJ | the only decent tuner out there now is Schaller. Grovers are now made in china probably at the ping factory. These gears are OK but NOTHING like the originals back in then day I preferred Grover but now it has to be schaller. |
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Location: Scotland | I'd go with Schaller, Sperzels as a second choice, then maybe Gotoh. Al's right, current Grovers stink. |
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Location: SoCal | This is an interesting subject. I've never had a tuner go bad on me. The only reason I've ever replaced tuners is for cosmetic reasons, and in 30 years, I've only done it twice. Once on my old Legend becasue when I was living by the ocean, the tuners were badly corroded from the salt water, and once on the Country Artist, when I vainly and happily went from chrome to gold.
Oh year, and on an old Yamaha classical, just before I gave it away. Put Pings, by Kaman, on it. |
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Posts: 10583
Location: NJ | Paul I forgot about sperzels they are also excellent |
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November 2002
Posts: 1196
Location: Lafayette, Louisiana | Hey guys I go with Schaller all the way. I just have never had a problem with them. Just excellent tuning keys. |
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January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | Schaller is the #1 although I've seen some of those have problems. Waverly keys are excellent too. I've had a few old Klusons go bad, they just come loose and the gears get frucackta. |
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Ovation Eclispe question