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Location: trail B. C. Canada | Whats the story on Ovation going to China to get ovations made? Is it just the cheap models, and do they still have US skilled luthiers working in their own plant.
I sure hope they dont go the way of Fender etc. |
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Location: Utah | Can. Worms.
You can order an USA made O you want from the factory. They are only a custom order shop now. For 99.9% of buyers it means they will purchase an overseas made AX or TX Ovation, or a Celeb or Applause.
The factory is busy making Guild guitars, which are reported to be very fine quality now. |
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Location: NJ | profit motivation I guess.
Plenty of skilled folks in new hartford..... |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Originally by rocketman:
Whats the story on Ovation going to China...
I sure hope they dont go the way of Fender etc. You do realize that Fender bought Ovation, right? |
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Location: Tennessee | The vast majority of Ovation buyers won't pay the price it takes to make them in the US, so they've had to offshore the production to keep those new O's coming. And only the cheap ones are made in China ... the high end models are made in Korea.
As others have said, you can still have an Ovation built in New Hartford. You just have to be willing to pay what it's worth. |
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Location: Italia, Zianigo di Mirano (Venezia) | Ovation :really be the end ,now ,end of rechearch,Fender,realize,diversification of models and brands(fender,guild Ovation),but Ovation ...end (only Cu$$$$tom shop no end),......passing many many years,what'the buzz?the brand Ovation renaissance (maybe)....So goes the world,this world,I don't like
:( |
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Location: Italia, Zianigo di Mirano (Venezia) | sorry, I did not write this, I hope I'm wrong...I love Ovation ,He is my Guitar |
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Location: Warren,Pa. | That was fun to read. Like some kind of free-form poetry. Very nice. |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Originally posted by titti191730cm:
Ovation :really be the end ,now ,end of rechearch,Fender,realize,diversification of models and brands(fender,guild Ovation),but Ovation ...end (only Cu$$$$tom shop no end),......passing many many years,what'the buzz?the brand Ovation renaissance (maybe)....So goes the world,this world,I don't like
:( The End? |
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| Originally posted by bauerhillboy:
That was fun to read. Like some kind of free-form poetry. Very nice. :D |
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Location: Nova Scotia, Canada | "Ovation :really be the end ,now ,end of rechearch,Fender,realize,diversification of models and brands(fender,guild Ovation),but Ovation ...end (only Cu$$$$tom shop no end),......passing many many years,what'the buzz?the brand Ovation renaissance (maybe)....So goes the world,this world,I don't like..."
Actually, this could be a great rap! |
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Location: Italia, Zianigo di Mirano (Venezia) | Actually, this could be a great rap! [/QB] ....or a ballad (with Custom Legend?) |
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Location: Louisville, OH 44641 | When I first became interested in Ovation guitars a few years back, I stumbled across this fan club and asked the question: What's the difference between Ovation, Celebrity and Applause. I was told the US Ovations were top shelf products. Then the Korean made Celebrity line was a nice quality instrument for musicians and that the Chinese made Applause line was kind of an entry level. Now I don't have clue what any of this means. From my standpoint, it appears Fender is treating Guild as the top shelf product and the Ovation models as a lower end guitar line. |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Remember... Many guitar snobs think Ovations are trash to start with.
Fender bought Kaman and got Ovation outta the deal.
Ovation was already making the Ultras in Korea...
So Fender just turned all Ovations into Ultras (Or all Ultras into Ovations).
The Korean-made O's have the same dovetail neck that was used on the Korean Ultras.
They just won't be finished in the USA like the Korea Ultras were.
Fender inherited the New Hartford factory, so it figured that it could make the Guild there.
It already came with employees with guitar making experience.
This is a total money-making, stockholder-driven deal.
Do not look for any Guitar-Lovers' Logic here. The Bottom Line is the Bottom Line.
FMIC doesn't respect it's own Namesake guitars...
Really, shouldn't ALL Strats and Teles be well made in the USA?
How can you tell which are Quality instuments?
So of course Fender has no respect for Ovations.
(BTW-- I own a Fender... it is on d\'Bay ) |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | edit:
Remember... Many guitar snobs think Ovations are trash to start with.
Fender bought Kaman and got Ovation outta the deal.
Ovation was already making the Ultras in Korea...
So Fender just turned all Ovations into Ultras (Or all Ultras into Ovations).
The Korean-made O's have the same dovetail neck that was used on the Korean Ultras.
They just won't be finished in the USA like the Korea Ultras were.
Fender inherited the New Hartford factory, so it figured that it could make the Guild there.
It already came with employees with guitar making experience.
This is a total money-making, stockholder-driven deal.
Do not look for any Guitar-Lovers' Logic here. The Bottom Line is the Bottom Line.
FMIC doesn't respect it's own Namesake guitars...
Really, shouldn't ALL Strats and Teles be well made in the USA?
How can you tell which are Quality instuments?
So of course Fender has no respect for Ovations.
(BTW-- I do own a Fender... That Strat is no longer on eBay, so I edited this post) |
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Location: NJ | ehhhhhhh......
I think Fender was very smart with their name brand.
they figured out what percentage of the product can be made in mexico to call it a USA made guitar and they make great guitars in mexican and japan.
they korean stuff was also pretty good and the chinese and indonesian stuff all says squire.
gibsong also uses epiphone for all imports never tarnishing the gibsong name
ovation started with celebrity but then but the ovation name on it blurring the lines of import and USA
IMHO that is where the trouble started not with Fender the suits at Fender are just trying to figure out what to do with 2 more brands ovation and hamer and keep them profitable |
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Location: SoCal | Are Hamers only built overseas now? |
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Location: Louisville, OH 44641 | I'd love to know how many of the Fender execs play guitar? I know business is business but it's sad that everything has to boil down to the almighty $$ only. I'm fortunate enough to work in a company that still embraces American manufacturing. Why does Honda and Toyota make cars here in the States? They could simply make them all in China and I guarantee you they'd be less expensive. When we say we don't care where Fender makes our beloved Ovations, I for one think it's really unfortunate. For me, American made models were part of why I bought Ovation guitars. I don't own any Celeb or Applause models. But that's just me. |
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Location: Eaton, Indiana | MY OPINION
I was not going to get in on this discussion because I am very passionate about the things I believe. But...
Charlie had a great idea when he created the Ovation guitar. I was a Martin man until I saw my first Ovation in a little store. I traded the Martin in on one of the original Glen Campbell acoustics. What a great guitar that was!
Over the years I have owned many different models.
One of the best things Ovation ever did was creating the Kaman bar neck. A little heavy, yes,
but solid and stable. Then came along the LX series with a new style of neck. Personally,
I don't like it. Most of the LX models I have tried out needed a neck reset to start with.
I took an older guitar to the Ovation road show when it came to our town. I had done a lot of work to it to make it special. Had Ovation done the work it was have been called a "custom shop"
creation, but in front of the cameras the Ovation rep called it a frankenstein. I didn't think that was good customer relations.
Now with Fender taking control of the company, the hope of many of us buying an American made Ovations without a bank loan is pretty much gone.
I must add that over the years the best person that I have dealt with at Ovation is John Budny.
He has always been a great customer service rep and I have appreciated all of his help.
Time goes on and things change, like it or not.
Thanks Charlie for giving us a really great guitar. Thanks to all of the friends I have made here at the OFC.
scott lamperd b c (before computers) |
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Location: SoCal | Scott, tell us about the "Frankenstein". What model, and what did you do to it? Pics? |
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Location: trail B. C. Canada | I didn't think my question would generate such a good deal of response as it has. Thanks for all the useful information, You guys are a wealth of information. Ovation Forum ROCKS
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Adamus 1581-5 1994 mod |
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Location: Derry NH | the blue bus is callin' us... |
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Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | "the hope of many of us buying an American made Ovations without a bank loan is pretty much gone."
I think this is a little misleading. Maybe someone who has bought one recently can attest to this, but I don't think the Custom Shop guitars are much more expensive than the production models were.
However, if you are looking for any of the few guitars that retailed under $1000 dollars... well lets face it.. it was smart to move them overseas cause I can't believe any guitar Ovation built cost less than $1500 to BUILD !!! Now I'm just guessing, at this, but it was from rough math. Look at the videos around of how the guitar is built. Just the number of hands and hours of labor is more than some of the lower prices guitars retailed. How'd they do it?? Why'd they do it?? Simple.. the huge sales of imports paid for it all, and allowed us to buy USA Made guitars.
Times have changed. So here's my bottom line comment of all this...
Finally, if you want a USA Made Ovation, you will have to pay what it's actually worth. We've all been spoiled for too many years. An Adamas for $2,500.00 was a bargain for the guitar compared to others out there. JMHO. The OFC I I had and the OFC II I have cost much more and are worth every penny. In fact I think I actually got a "deal". Taylors fly off the wall at 3K plus !!! Do we really believe that the Top of the Line Ovations were not worth more than an average Taylor ?? Seriously... As I said, we've been spoiled. |
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Location: Scotland | Originally posted by scott lamperd:
One of the best things Ovation ever did was creating the Kaman bar neck. A little heavy, yes,
but solid and stable. Then came along the LX series with a new style of neck. Personally,
I don't like it. Most of the LX models I have tried out needed a neck reset to start with.
I would agree that I've seen quite a few LX guitars where the neck was a little shallow for my liking. However the coolest feature of the LX upgrades was that it takes a matter of minutes to re-set the neck. Remove 3 Allen bolts, insert a shim, put it back together and you're done. |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | posted by Mr. Ovation:
Seriously... As I said, we've been spoiled. And I pretty much understand that...
I better just hang-on to what I have, cuz I ain't gonna see a New USA Elite T for $599 ever again.
No new $700 Collectors' Editions... and Thousand Dollah Adamii will be pretty scarce.
No more Sweet T's or Flame T's to be had. :( :p
♪♫ The paaarty's oh-ver ♫♪ |
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Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Based on personal experience, the percentage difference between suggested retail and the out-the-door cost on a custom order has been well within the range of rate discounts typically applied to standard models down the line. I just hope there's enough Ovation fans around still willing to occasionally put up $2k, $3k, or $4k or more for a custom order out of New Hartford such that those holding the purse strings continue to find it advantageous to keep the custom shop up and running. |
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Location: Eaton, Indiana | Paul, I agree, the neck reset is much easier now,
but, should we have to? I can do that but I'm sure there are some who can't or really don't want to buy new guitar and have to repair it...just saying
scott lamperd b c (before computers) |
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whats the story on off shore "Os",not enough skilled workers in the US lol