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Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | So I'm not sure we've had a dedicated thread for this before but does anyone have any REAL insight into the names used on Ovation guitars...
Some like "Balladeer" are pretty transparent, but I wonder what names were left on the cutting room floor as well.
Breadwinner, Deacon, Viper, Preacher, UKII (we've heard some hearsay on this one). Magnum ??
The "Storm" series was a nice theme, but really why "storm" and "Thunderhead" "Hurricane" "typhoon" and "Tornado" and then "Eclipse" ???
Breadwinner I think was to infer "Working Man's Guitar" A guitar for players who make their living with their guitar.
UKII - I've heard... Ultra Kaman II with the II being a nod to a someone who's initials are CW Kaman II.
Balladeer seems to invoke thoughts of a Troubadour, so I get that.
As for the rest?? |
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Location: Campbell River, British Columbia | .........is this where we start to make up answers, or do you wanna wait until some of the folks who might know (Jerome, Moody, some gas jockey, etc) chime in? |
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Location: SoCal | |
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Location: Texas | "the preacher likes the cold, he knows I'm gonna stay" |
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Location: Chicago | I love the sheer "balls" of calling a new guitar model of a young company "LEGEND". It was pure prophetic genius! |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | Well, the Josh White was named bedcause this guy, Josh White, played it...... |
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Location: Cork, Ireland | Pacemaker? Is there an assumption that a 12-string belongs in the rhythm section? |
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Location: the BIG Metropolis of TR | The other day I was thinking about Ovation's different names and models, and realized that Ovation has a name or model for just about every letter in the alphabet....
(I know this is not all of them, so please add to the list any that I've missed)
A
Adamas
Applause
Artist
Al DiMeola
Anniversary
Academy
B
Balladeer
Breadwinner
C
Custom…
Custom Legend
Classic
Country Artist
Collector’s
Celebrity
D
Deacon
Deluxe…
E
Elite
Eclipse
F
Folklore
G
Glen Campbell
GS (ultra)
GP (ultra)
H
Hurricane
I
Idea
J
Josh White
K
~L
Legend
LX
M
Magnum
Matrix
MOB
N
Nakao
O
Ocean
P
Pacemaker
Preacher
Pinnacle
PF-22
Patriot
Parlor
Q
“Q”
R
~S
Storm
T
Thunderhead
Tornado
Typhoon
Trekker
Thunderbolt
Tangent
U
Ultra
UKII
V
Viper
VXT
W
~X
~Y
~Z
~ |
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Location: GATLINBURG TENNESSEE :) | Wow!...somebody has waaay too much time on his hands. (: |
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Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | Maybe I should have asked WHO came up with the names? Was it all marketing?
I am really surprised we haven't seen a "well we where going to name it xxxxx but decided on xxxx"
Actually, I do know one story like that. The Medallion was a "Gibson??" model at the time so they changed it to "Matrix." Now I don't know how Medallion got into the mix in the first place, but Matrix maybe cause of the combination of wood and aluminum ??
Seriously.. 50-ish years of guitar names and we only have a few guesses and a couple confirmations? (Josh White and PF-22)
What about all the names that weren't used ? Like what were the choices before Adamas.
The lack of response has really peaked my interest. |
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Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | John Lennon Commemorative
Millennium
Mellisa Etheridge
Ute |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | medallion was some dealer out in the midwest, nothing to do with Gibson.
They were going to use the name Newport but Charlie didn't like cigarettes so they went with Ovation instead. |
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Location: the BIG Metropolis of TR | Originally posted by bvince:
Wow!...somebody has waaay too much time on his hands. (: Not really Vince ;) ...."The other day" when I saw Miles' post, I started a Word document and have been adding names to it as I thought of them in the last few days....then I simply copied & pasted it to this thread....didn't even break a sweat!
Good additions I'd forgot Brad, but I think we have to disqualify "Ute" cause it ain't an "official" model number/name, just an OFC acronym.... :D |
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Location: Texas | K - Kaki King model Adamas |
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Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Originally posted by TRboy:
I think we have to disqualify "Ute" cause it ain't an "official" model number/name, just an OFC acronym.... :D Good call. |
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Location: closely held secret | Still a "U" - U681-T. |
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Location: the BIG Metropolis of TR | Originally posted by Waskel:
Still a "U" - U681-T. Yeah technically but....
...If we allow it we have to list ALL the model NUMBERS like the EA's, CX'es, K's, etc.
Just stick to model NAMES! |
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Location: closely held secret | Picky, picky... Should be a common-law model name by now. |
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Location: the BIG Metropolis of TR | Yep! ;) I know but we must play by da rules.... |
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Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | Rules schmools but seriously 50+ unique names and only a couple of tidbits. I find this quite interesting. Try naming a song or a band or a company or a product without using any sort of reference to the product in the name and it's no easy task. Then do the research to insure it's unique and not a patent and copyright infringement. That's a lot of work, and a lot of paperwork for someone(s) over the years and I'm guessing there are at least 50 names that were submitted that couldn't be used. |
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Location: the BIG Metropolis of TR | Yeah, Beal mentioned that they started to call their new guitars "Newport" but I believe Fender had a acoustic model of that name at the time... |
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Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | So far the best story IMHO is about a model that never really went into production... the Peavey Fu&$'r or PF-22 as it's known in politically correct circles. THAT is a story. Now I certainly don't expect every guitar name has a cool story... I'm sure some were.. "hey lets call it xxxxx" and someone else said "sure, send it to the legal beagles" and that was it.
There must be some story behind VXT. A lot, a LOT of work went into its introduction. Was it just three letters that sounded cool when put together? What were the other options before they landed on VXT ? |
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | I would suppose, too late for the '50's & 60's Proctor & Gamble/Madison Avenue scenario of combining letters in "convenient" order, i.e., LUX detergent, BIZ detergent, etc. |
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Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | I think the story behind creating the "Ovation" label was also significant in that it deviated from the historical tradition of using the founder's last name (e.g., Fender, Gibson, Taylor, Martin, Guild, etc.). |
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Location: Tennessee | In the beginning:
From page 36 of Walter Carter's "A History of the Ovation Guitar".
More names to add:
Bluebird
Panda
Nikki Sixx
DJ Ashba Demented
Heroin Diaries
Mick Thompson Seven
Craftsman |
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Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | Originally posted by ProfessorBB:
the historical tradition of using the founder's last name (e.g., Fender, Gibson, Taylor, Martin, Guild, etc.). Hamer, Steinbeger, PRS, Collings.......... |
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Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | I also read somewhere that during early testing, it was suggested that the guitar was so good it deserved an ovation. Could it have been Josh White? Somebody who was there needs to chime in here with the rest of the story. |
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Location: East Tennessee | Originally posted by stephent28:
Originally posted by ProfessorBB:
the historical tradition of using the founder's last name (e.g., Fender, Gibson, Taylor, Martin, Guild, etc.). Hamer, Steinbeger, PRS, Collings.......... |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | let's not forget the -Z configuration guitars. |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | Originally posted by ProfessorBB:
I also read somewhere that during early testing, it was suggested that the guitar was so good it deserved an ovation. Could it have been Josh White? Somebody who was there needs to chime in here with the rest of the story. nice idea but not Josh
He's just the one who said the guitar had "the largest testicles of an Oedipal nature" he'd ever heard |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | Originally posted by ProfessorBB:
I also read somewhere that during early testing, it was suggested that the guitar was so good it deserved an ovation. Could it have been Josh White? Somebody who was there needs to chime in here with the rest of the story. We're talking about the 60s. That "Somebody" can't remember the 60s. |
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Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Originally posted by ProfessorBB:
I also read somewhere that during early testing, it was suggested that the guitar was so good it deserved an ovation. Could it have been Josh White? Somebody who was there needs to chime in here with the rest of the story. Just found the cite. It was included in a manuscript written by Michael Wright entitled Ovation Solidbody Guitars. The quote is attributed to jazz guitar great Charlie Byrd who had been shown an early model by Charlie Kaman who went on the road to promote his new technology. The quote reads as follows: "Byrd was impressed and felt the guitar - which was quite loud - had considerable potential. He later remarked that the guitar 'deserved an ovation,' thus providing the guitars with a name."
The article was published in Vintage Guitar Magazine May 1, 2003 and can be seen here:
Ovation Solidbody Guitars by Michael Wright |
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Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | Originally posted by stonebobbo:
In the beginning:
From page 36 of Walter Carter's "A History of the Ovation Guitar".
More names to add:
Bluebird
Panda
Nikki Sixx
DJ Ashba Demented
Heroin Diaries
Mick Thompson Seven
Craftsman
Excellent. This leads us to "what ever happened to the Balladeers?" questions, but it's certainly a start. |
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Location: Texas | Country Artist...............who was it?
Glen?.........Jerry Reed?.....?..............me?..... :)
Artist....?..........was it Glen?
Great questions Miles.........we need to know all the answers! |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | It was Steve Sutton, read the book. |
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Location: Seacoast NH | Was going to mention that they named it the Balladeer after a folk group that were some of the first O players -- but the above post beat me to it... |
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What's in a name?