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Joined:
November 2004
Posts: 110
Location: Peoria, Illinois | I wanted to post some impressions of my new Glen Campbell 1618 12-string. This is a really cool guitar and I love the acoustic tone. It has a nice rumble to the bass side, and you can feel the bowl vibrating against your chest. The mids and highs are bright, balanced, and there seems to be just the right amount of 12-string jangle. I think the sustain is really good.
I was forced to do a string change the day I received it. When I opened the case for the first time, there was a big back wire hanging down, visable through the sound hole! Not a good start. Looking at how the factory did the strings, I knew I would not be able to replicate that, so I used the frets.com locking technique to change the strings. Once all the strings were off, I used that as an opportunity to fix the wire issue. It just needed to be placed back in the holding clamp. No big deal. I also checked out the shim situation and found 3, 2 thick, one thin. I remove 1 thin and 1 thick one, as the action was too high for me. I also made a small truss rod (Kamen Bar) adjustment to give the neck a little more relief. Then I cleaned up the residue in the bowl (a fine grey dust) and used mirror to make sure everything else was in good order. I removed the battery compartment and replaced the 9 volt with a fresh Duracell (the one in was most likely OK, but why not while the strings were off).
The re-string was an interesting experience. Now I understand why so many comment on slothead re-strings. It was a challenge, and the next one will be much easier to do.
In terms of construction and cosmetics, I love the look of the slothead. I do not care how much additional work a string change will be, it is really nice looking. You can tell this instrument was worked on by humans. It does not have the "Taylor" production line perfection, and that is OK by me. The insides of the slots on the headstock have a rough finish, and there are some very small waves on the top, just behind the bridge. The top wood itself is very nice and straight grained, and the burst is very nice.
I do not have an acoustic amp (yet!), but plugged it into my Roland Cube 30 and placed it on the "acoustic" model. It sounded great through the Roland.
The deep bowl is comfortable to play seated. I do not find the 12-fret neck to be "short" in any way, as all my other acoustics have 14 frets clear.
So, overall, I am very happy with this Ovation. It is very different from everything else I have and should provide me with hours of fun. I will let it settle for a month or two, and make further adjustments as needed. | |
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Joined:
April 2004
Posts: 13303
Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | Sounds like a great guitar Jim.
I look forward to the additional review down the road.
Any photos to post? | |
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Joined:
June 2002
Posts: 863
Location: Central Florida | Knew you'd love it, Jim! Congratulations once again. It sounds like a winner! :) | |
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Joined:
July 2003
Posts: 1922
Location: Canton (Detroit), MI | The battery has to be changed through the sound hole????? :eek:
Yes, I know the original did, also. I was hoping that would be "rectified" by the use of a newer pre-amp.
Hope you continue to enjoy it!
Roger | |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 15677
Location: SoCal | I thought that Ovation made a mistake putting out this particular guitar. I have a 1969 GC 12 string that was a gift from a friend a couple of years ago and from playing it and playing other 1970's Ovation 12's, I never cared for the sound. The playability on mine is not good, but that's an issue of that particular guitar. I didn't play the GC 12 RI at the factory last year.
Boy, was I wrong! This last Thursday evening, I played Jeff Whitehead's Pacemaker 12, that he bought, I think from another member. It was fan-freakin'-tastic! Played smooth as butta', and sounded the same!
The story on this Pacemaker was that the top was damaged and had to be replaced. Like the GC 12 RI, it got the Ovation A bracing, used on the slotted 12's in the early 80's, not the fan bracing used in the 1970's (the GC 1627 RI also has the A bracing). That A bracing pattern makes all the difference in the sound.
Bottom line is that I have no doubt that Jim's 1618 RI is going to be the best 12 string he'll ever own, and I'm seriously thinking about sending mine back to the factory and having a new top put on it. I talked to Kim at the tour, and it's doable and affordable (well, much cheaper than a new guitar). | |
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Joined:
January 2005
Posts: 4903
Location: Phoenix AZ | I've owned a bunch of A braced 1118/1618 guitars and they are very nice 12-strings. I'm sure that the reissue will be wildly successful. Dave | |
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Joined:
August 2003
Posts: 4619
Location: SoCal | I have had two 1981's - the 1118 that I still have and the 1618 that I sent to Nick.
The 1658 Custom Legend has always been my favorite since 1980 of any woodtop 12. The GC is a full equal in playability and voice. | |
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Joined:
November 2004
Posts: 110
Location: Peoria, Illinois | I played my GC all weekend long. I love the tone. Any small issues I had with it (see my first post) are long forgotten. I might remove the remaining "thick" shim and replace it with the "thin" one to lower the action just a touch more. This is the one feature I really like about Ovations. The shim situation makes getting the set-up you want an easy task. When I changed the strings, I backed off the truss rod just a touch in anticipation of lowering the action. One thing I noticed with this particular model is you cannot remove the truss rod cover with the strings in place (at least not very easily). Even with the removal of 2 shims, there is still an excellent break angle over the saddle, so I am not losing any volume I can notice with the lower action. | |
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Review of my new GC 1618.