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Joined:
July 2010
Posts: 53
Location: USA | If it's not too much trouble, could anyone tell me more about the UKII? The few videos I've heard haven't really given me a very good idea of the sound of the UKII, and I'm curious as to it's tonal capabilities. How does it sound clean, out-of-phase, etc? How strong is the sustain? Are we talking Peter Green's Les Paul style sustain, or just slightly above average sustain? Another thing that I've never really seen touched on is the relationship between the neck and body. Is the guitar neck heavy at all? What sort of tone does aluminum and foam actually create, a weird warm tone? If you plug one amp into the stereo input wouldn't it just sound mono? I'm confused about how that function works. How does the UKII compare to the Preacher or Preacher Deluxe?
Sorry if these are a lot of annoying questions, but I've seen very few Ovation guitars in person and want to learn as much about them as possible. I love Ovation's solid body electric guitars, but I also don't want to save up my money and go out and buy a guitar that I won't play.
(Thanks for the thread title 2ifbyC) |
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Joined:
March 2008
Posts: 2683
Location: Hot Springs, S.D. | I'm not much into solidbodies, but if I were going to buy one, it would be a UKII. My "son" Jarrett is BIG into solidbodies, and after trying Professor BB's UKII a few weeks ago, if HE could buy anything he wanted, it would be a UKII, and we're talking about a kid who owns a USA Strat, among others. |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | To get an idea of what a UK11 can sound like, go to my Ning page and take a listen to track 10, both solos were played on my UK11. The other electric guitar is a '68 T-Head. The bass is a Magnum 2 and the high-string guitar is a '68 Deluxe Balladeer. Main Rhythm is a Koa Tacoma Jumbo. This is one of 2 tracks on the album that used an Acid Drumloop instead of cajon
The UK11 is very good at distorted/overdriven tones. It's kinda OK at clean tones but there are a ton of guitars that do a better job. There is no phase switch. The Series/Parallel options are pretty subtle. If you understand how amplifiers, pedals and guitars interact then the UK11 can hold it's own with most traditional 2 Humbucker guitars. In terms of versatility my PRS guitars were way better, and a Hamer will destroy a UK11, but for the kind of money a UK11 goes for, they're hard to beat. |
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Joined:
July 2010
Posts: 53
Location: USA | Thanks Paul and CanterBuryStrings, that pretty much answers everything I wanted to know. Even for the money, I just assumed the UKII would be a better guitar to get than a modern Gibson that would be 2x or 3x expensive. I'm a big Peter Green fan and from what I read it seemed like a good choice. This helps me out immensely, thanks. |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | Gibson? A UK11 will wipe the floor with anything coming out of Hank's sweatshops. |
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Joined:
December 2006
Posts: 6994
Location: Jet City | Welcome SciFri
I've been playing a UKII for 28 years now. It's played everything from smooth jazz-like creaminess to the heaviest metal and thrash. There's none better for a driven tone. I do prefer other guitars when I'm doing clean tones, but the UKII will give you some decent clean tones too.
I have some recordings on my Ning page.
CLICK HERE
Go to track 2. The electric there is all UKII. The ending has one of those over the top monster epic guitar solos, what the UKII does best.
Track 3 is all UKII again. It's much more subtle though. This is through the neck pup with some overdrive on a boutique amp. Some people have said the sound is very Santana like. I was actually trying for Gary Moore sort of tone.
Aside from those, here's another example I have up on Youtube:
No More Tears
Though the recording sucks, this is a nice straight-through-the-amp example. It's all UKII and the Carvin X100B until the solo where just a touch of overdrive and some echo were added.
I also have some live stuff up on Youtube with the UKII. Here's a couple:
Nutshell
I Believe In Miracles
It's really a no brainer if you're deciding to get one..
 Just do it. |
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Joined:
July 2003
Posts: 3111
Location: Nashville TN. | I like mine with the neck pickup clean in fender tubes. They scream with overdrive/distortion.
My best distortion sounds like lead on On the cover of Tolling stone |
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Joined:
July 2010
Posts: 53
Location: USA | Thanks guys, that's more info than I was expecting, but very convincing! It sounds like the UKII can get some really classic sounding distortion, and would probably be perfect for playing white blues from 60s/70s, but without sounding too similar. I don't want to get too off topic here, but there doesn't seem to be much talk about the Ovation electric guitars. I hope no one minds me bringing one up and getting all technical about it, I'm one of those guys that loves to get as many different sounds as he can just without having a ton of guitars. |
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Joined:
April 2008
Posts: 288
Location: New Hampshire, USA | Recently saw Craigslist ads for:
1) a UKII in good shape for $425
2) a UKII body for $35
Both in MA, if you are anywhere near there. |
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Joined:
April 2010
Posts: 1227
Location: Connersville, Indiana | I recorded my entire cd with Ovations. My electric was the UKll. I really enjoy the cleans sound, neck pickup, single coil selected. When I finger pic it it just sounds smooth. When I drive it with my Crate GFX 212 It cranks. You can hear played on several songs on my cd, and down load them free at www.soundclick.com/cryforhelpkitmann Title: A CRY FOR HELP KIT MANN.
Kit Mann Ovation Plug it in |
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Joined:
June 2006
Posts: 7307
Location: South of most, North of few | Nothing to add to that except I absolutely LOVE mine! I don't think you will find anyone that owns one say anything different. |
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Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | I've heard they were pretty good. |
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Joined:
July 2010
Posts: 53
Location: USA | Too bad both of those listing are gone, I could have afford the UKII body, which would have satisfied my desire to build a guitar for awhile.
I think this has turned into a really resourceful thread. I'm glad there are a good amount of electric guitar players here. Just don't get me started on amps and effects. |
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UKII Sound, Attributes, and Operation