Slightly OT - Applause AE128

alan814 Posted 2008-06-17 7:48 AM (#34366) Subject: Slightly OT - Applause AE128 Joined: May 2007 Posts: 166 Location: Veedersburg, Indiana I've been getting together with another guy and getting into some good gospel for about a month now. I've been using one of my wooden boxes mostly, but decided to get the Appy out as I haven't touched it in quite awhile. I was really surprised by the volume and tone it put out compared to his solid top box. For the money this little import O sound and played great! Makes me start thinking about another roundback in the stable. Switching gears! Has anyone seen the mahogany topped O on ebay? What would a hog top sound like? Bright/Dark/Muddied? I sure like the looks of it. Oddball Posted 2008-06-17 1:14 PM (#34367 - in reply to #34366) Subject: Re: Slightly OT - Applause AE128 Joined: March 2007 Posts: 843 Location: CA If you think the Applause sounds good, do your ears a favor and try any American-made Ovation. As I understand it, they all have solid-wood tops (usually spruce), as opposed to Appys and most — but not all — Celebs. Those guitars, assembled overseas, feature some spectacularly beautiful tops, but it's part of a laminate, like plywood. The advantages are that you CAN have that pretty top, and the top is very strong and resists the dreaded 'bulge' below the bridge. The disadvantage is that plywood does not resonate like a single sheet of spruce. So unplugged, most don't sound as good. (Plugged in, with equal pickups, there's not much difference). In my search for the ultimate mid-price Ovation — what can I say, I'm $$$-challenged — I've experienced this many times. Although, to be perfectly fair, I have a friend who has an older shallow-bowl 'Ultra Deluxe' (or something like that), assembled overseas that sounds every bit as good as my shallow-bowl Legend.