|
|
Joined:
September 2005
Posts: 3619
Location: GATLINBURG TENNESSEE :) | Probably asked before, but I don't think there was ever a definitive answer ...
How many 1537s were produced?
I've been looking at my sig line 'cause something is probably going to have to go. The Viper will be up for sale soon, but the Adamases and the Magnum bass will be staying for sure. It looks like my decision will be between my 1537 and the 87 Collector's. This is driving me mad. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
January 2006
Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Do the two Adamas-badged prototypes count? |
|
| |
|
Joined:
September 2003
Posts: 9301
Location: south east Michigan | Originally posted by bvince:
How many 1537s were produced? All of them. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
September 2005
Posts: 3619
Location: GATLINBURG TENNESSEE :) | ..Nope. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
April 2004
Posts: 13303
Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | '87 and 1537 are very similar. I ended up keeping the '87 collectors and sold off all my 1537s before eventually selling my '87 collectors to Serge.
Both really nice guitars. I would keep whichever one spoke to me and played and sounded the best. For me it was the sunburst '87 collectors. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | somebody ran the numbers here once. I think it was 1000-1500 but that's a hazy guess. The 87 C-Series was 900something |
|
| |
|
Joined:
November 2006
Posts: 3969
| If I HAD to choose between my 1537 and 87C, I'd probably keep the 87C. The 1537 is a bit warmer, but the cutaway on the 87C makes it just a bit more versatile. If I never played higher than the 12th fret, I guess I'd just flip a coin. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 15680
Location: SoCal | I bounce back and forth on which I prefer. They both bounce back and forth on the stand in my office.
Of course, right now, the GC RI is on the stand. A sweet sweet guitar. Not a lot of balls, but a great tone. Witko and Jm Stone know what I'm talking about
AS to the other two guitars, it's an extremely personal choice. Like Gator, it'd be a coin toss. And I'd probably always regret the one I sold.
There's a whole thread in the archives about the 1537's. I research it and even talked with Nick Macklin who built the first one and pushed the program through. The thread's from about 4 years ago? |
|
| |
|
Joined:
December 2006
Posts: 6996
Location: Jet City | That's a sucky decision to have to make. I say procrastinate. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 12761
Location: Boise, Idaho | My 87 is going to my daughter next year for her 25th birthday. That was the deal when I bought it. When I came up with that scam, someone thought the 1537 ought to go to the daughter born in 83. I backed out of that deal and bought her an 83 Collector instead. I don't play either much, but the 83 is the easiest to play and has a bit more sentimental value, so I'll keep it longer. I think it sounds more woody, while the 87 sounds crisper, more traditional Ovation. I thought I'd replace the 87 with a Book Elite and keep both forever, but things change. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
September 2005
Posts: 3619
Location: GATLINBURG TENNESSEE :) | Yeah it IS a tough decision, and who knows? I might just sell my Korg TritonExtreme keyboard instead.(or that AND one guitar) As much as I DO enjoy playing them all, there are more important things to attend to that cost money. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
December 2006
Posts: 6996
Location: Jet City | Originally posted by bvince:
As much as I DO enjoy playing them all, there are more important things to attend to that cost money. True...
Sell the Korg... and a kidney. Keep your priorities straight man! |
|
| |
|
Joined:
May 2006
Posts: 4236
Location: Steeler Nation, Hudson Valley Contingent | I struggled with the choice but eventually kept the 87C over the 1537 with the reasoning that I had a better chance of running down another 1537 in the future.
Now I'm seriously considering unloading the 87C again...along with the 1538. I tried a while back and got zero interest. I just don't think folks will pay what I think they're worth, and they're too good to let go cheap. Whenever I think too hard about it, I get them out and play them. Things look better afterward.
Still, I've come across something I've been hunting for a while, and you know how that goes.... |
|
| |
|
Joined:
November 2005
Posts: 4833
Location: Campbell River, British Columbia | I Know... This is PROBABLY a Dumb Question There are NO dumb questions. There are, however, dumb answers..
..and this is the right place for that! |
|
| |
|
Joined:
June 2005
Posts: 496
Location: California | Bryan and others interested in the 1537's
See below the dates for the thread and info stuff moody, p.i. and Beal posted ~ 6 year ago.
The Adamas wood top that I got recently from Raleigh Craigs/L came back from the factory,it has the "sound ring" and it came with an autograph :)date 1981 proto#9, the sound is spectacular when compared to my 1537. I have not played an 87C, sure it is pretty looking and don't know if the bowl is similar to the 1537? I have somewhere a worksheet file with more stuff, will try to find it.(hector)
Topic: How many 1537’ s built
moody, p.i.
Member
Member # 77
I posted this question in another thread, but I'm really kind of curious. How many 1537's were built in the first year of production, 1983? We can't go by serial numbers because they were all mixed in with other US built Ovations.
Anybody have any thoughts on this? Bill?
--------------------
Sleepy Bones Lee
-----------------------
moody, p.i.
Member # 77
posted November 18, 2005 03:25 PM
I just got off the phone with Nick Mackin, who was one of the main guys behind the 1537's. He told me the following:
1. R&D started in March 1979
2. The first 18, which were prototypes, were built in the last quarter of 1982
3. Production started in January 1983. 5 were built that month.
4. 13 were built in February and 40 in March.
5. A total of 1082 were built in 1983.
6. The production of 1537's continued in Moosup during 1984, building 20-25 per month.
7. Production moved to New Hartford in 1985.
So now we know that 1082 were built in 1983 and between 240 and 300 were built in 1984, for a total not exceeding about 1400 total production of 1537's.
--------------------
Sleepy Bones Lee
Beal
Member
Member # 7
posted November 19, 2005 06:06 PM
The first 18 would be exactly like the rest of production I'd think so they're out there somewhere. There were a few with the Adamas ring, Sam has/had one of these. It would include the cty and 12 strings.
--------------------
play it.
Wood Top Prototypes:
playadamas
Member
Member # 473 posted March 19, 2005 01:27 AM
________________________________________
Does the wood top Adamas (with Adamas style headstock and bridge, 2-knobs) prototype belong to this 1537 family? It's basically the same wooden body guitar. Bill?
--------------------
Just me & my Adamas!
________________________________________
Posts: 405 | From: So. Cal. | Registered: Aug 2002 | IP: Logged |
Beal
Member
Member # 7 posted March 29, 2005 09:30 AM
________________________________________
PlayAdamas, I would consider the WTA to be the proto of the 1537. It is different in the ring construction but the objective and purpose in building them was the same. The WTA proced too hard to produce so the design evolved to the 1537
There were a small amount of the WTA guitars made, less than ten I think. Then the two protos (mine and Glen's) and then production. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
August 2003
Posts: 4619
Location: SoCal | Back about the time of these posts, it was stated that production started at 301007...that was important to me as I have 301004 which was said to be pre-production.
Ok, a question - difference between prototype or pre-production? Or did they just forget to count the first couple of them? |
|
| |
|
Joined:
September 2005
Posts: 3619
Location: GATLINBURG TENNESSEE :) | I seem to remember some differences in some of those pre-prod ones. I believe Al has one that is a dreadnaught size, and I remember a medium or shallow bowl in the mix. So I'm just looking at the actual 1537 production models for my count. The others are "special"
I always wanted one of those sunburst ones also, but at the same time, it seems like a crime to cover all that beautiful wood up with paint. The 12-string version is another on my dream list that I will probably never see. I guess I could be happy if I just had a chance to play one for a while. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
January 2006
Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | The guitars below are both prototypes with super shallow bowls. The guitar on the left is one of the wood-topped Adamas headstock prototypes for the 1537 and bears a serial number date of 10-13-82. The 1547 cutaway prototype on the right bears a serial number date of 11-2-84. I understand that true prototypes typically use the build date as the serial number.
 |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 15680
Location: SoCal | Originally posted by Tony Calman:
Back about the time of these posts, it was stated that production started at 301007...that was important to me as I have 301004 which was said to be pre-production.
Ok, a question - difference between prototype or pre-production? Or did they just forget to count the first couple of them? Interesting going back and reading some of the posts from 6 years ago (doesn't seem like that long ago).
Tony, from Bill's post, it sounds like yours is from that group of 18 built before production started. I think that Bill's and Glen's had dates, not serial numbers (not 100% certain about that) and then they went into production.
The other thing to keep in mind is that the serial numbers for the prototypes and production 1537's are mixed in with the rest of the Ovation production line. A guitar with a serial number 301100 might actually be the 1537 built, two guitars after 1537 #30190. The numbers, within the individual product line, are not necessisarily sequential.....
Hey bvince, post a link to that actual thread. I'd like to go back and re-read it again..... |
|
| |
|
Joined:
September 2005
Posts: 3619
Location: GATLINBURG TENNESSEE :) | I didn't have it, Hwebster brought it up above. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
December 2006
Posts: 6996
Location: Jet City | Originally posted by bvince:
I always wanted one of those sunburst ones also, but at the same time, it seems like a crime to cover all that beautiful wood up with paint. No crime. The only things "covered" are the headstock (also a burst) and heelcap veneers really, other than that, it's pure beauty! I wouldn't trade mine in for a -4...
Originally posted by bvince:
The 12-string version is another on my dream list that I will probably never see. I guess I could be happy if I just had a chance to play one for a while. I've always lusted after a cutaway model. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
May 2006
Posts: 4236
Location: Steeler Nation, Hudson Valley Contingent | Originally posted by bvince:
I always wanted one of those sunburst ones also, but at the same time, it seems like a crime to cover all that beautiful wood up with paint. The 12-string version is another on my dream list that I will probably never see. I've got both at once. And it would be awful hard to let go. But I'm thinkin' on it.....
 |
|
| |
|
Joined:
June 2005
Posts: 496
Location: California | moody, p.i.- go to search, select the Vault 2006 and type Nick Mackin, then you'll get to see the topic "how many 1537's..." |
|
| |
|
Joined:
December 2006
Posts: 6996
Location: Jet City | Ours would make quite the pair Patch. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
September 2005
Posts: 3619
Location: GATLINBURG TENNESSEE :) | I'll take them both when I win the lotto. |
|
| |
I Know... This is PROBABLY a Dumb Question