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Location: Texas | well, I just spent some time in Nashville...doing some recording sessions...had a great time and played with some great players...and some "legends"...
talked to many big sh&t guitar pesonalities.....whatever that means...
when confronted with the O question....conclusion......."all Ovations sound the same".... talking only about 6 strings....
bottom line, general opinion is:......... "tupperware, salad bowls, plastic backs"......... etc...
just like all fried chicken tastes the same...someone said...
well, in a way...they do...but...maybe I am bias 'cause I like them...
watchathink??? |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | I was reading an evilBay listing in which the seller stated...
"This has the distinctive Ovation sound that everyone Loves (or not, as the case may be)." :p |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | I think that in general Ovation has a unique voice.
Some will love it some won't. |
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Location: SoCal | As different as my Legend sounds from my 87C from my OFC slothead, they all sound similar, just different flavors of the same ice cream. If you like it, great. If you don't, well, that's why there are Taylors. Except to me, they all sound alike also. Like Gibsons have their certain sound and Martin theirs.
So what? |
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Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba CANADA | I find it very useful that most of these bigoted, close-minded nobs... also have big mouths. It makes it very easy to spot the personality-type...
"You use an OVATION!!... that's plastic crap, man!! Check out my FILL-IN-THE-BLANK (usually the same well known brand, supposedly handmade in California (near Pyongyang...) where the dedicated little 'elves' churn out 100,000 of them a year). Then they strum a few chords and it sounds smaller than their dick... and I laugh quietly to myself... |
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Location: SoCal | Playing a quality Ovation/Adamas changes a lot of minds. One of the best guitar players I know (plays mostly Gibsons and Martins), after playing and being around my guitars (mostly OFC slothead, FUD, 87C) has said on numerous occassions, "I could live with one of these as my only guitar".
I could care less if somebody wants to play something else besides my guitars, but it drives me nuts when they put my guitars down based on what they see or have heard from other people.... |
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Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba CANADA | Same here... a good friend of mine (also a well known player) uses a Gibson as his main acoustic.
The first time I picked it up, I thought, "This is the BEST sounding six-string acoustic I have ever heard...".
The next time I was in his studio I noticed it was missing. "Oh... I sent it out to be repaired... the necked bowed so badly it was unplayable...", he said. It came back (about two months later...) and sounded great again, but not-quite-as-good-as-it did-before...
Last I heard... It was gone again (more instability...)and he was talking about buying a Taylor... I suggested an Adamas, but some people NEVER LEARN!!, lol |
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Location: Florida Central Gulf Coast | Biased ownership loyalty is a fascinating, yet common and usually frustrating to others, human attribute. Whaa... moi...?  |
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Location: Campbell River, British Columbia | I just looked up at the guitar wall and saw three different O's with three different sounds...but what do I know? |
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Location: Tennessee | They all sound different. That's why I have the number I do. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. |
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Location: Yalova/Turkey | Why do I play a dozen Ovations until I decide which one´s sound I like most when I buy one? I found huge differences between different models, depending on bracing, top wood and sound holes... |
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Location: southeast michigan | Let me chime in here. Any acoustic guitar brand sounds different from sample to sample, that said, I think each brand may have some identifying character. Most Ovations that I have played seem very balanced in tone, Taylors seem annoyingly bright, Martins very warm, Gibsons have for lack of a better term alot of grunt (and I mean that in a good way), and Guilds sound like the perfect blend of Martin and Gibson. YMMV I'm playing a Custom Legend Model 1869 right now because that's what works for me. An acoustic guitar, any acoustic guitar, is for me an emotional matter. Each has it's own personality and as such they require some time. ttfn hurricane blue |
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Location: Brisbane,Australia | Whoever says that Ovations all sound the same needs their mouth washed out! I was one of the scoffers at one stage ie: plastic guitar, stupid roundback,etc. I was converted by a certain Richardd who appears on here now and again. He plays a 1687-8 anniversary and it blew my tiny little mind! Also have played his 1187-47 slothead..... WOW!!! |
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Location: Brisbane Australia | Roman........ya gotta come try out Ol' #45 sometime......
AJ |
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Location: Brisbane,Australia | AJ I wouldn't know what to play on it! And then you would only get it back after you wrestle it from my cold dead fingers! |
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Location: Brisbane Australia | No problem........I'd beat you with my 47RI.... :D
AJ |
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Location: Brisbane,Australia | You have one of those too! I saw the pics. Wanna trade a U681T, a bicycle and three lengths of copper wire for it?? :) |
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Location: Vernon CT | Originally posted by RomanS:
You have one of those too! I saw the pics. Wanna trade a U681T, a bicycle and three lengths of copper wire for it?? :) I'm starting to get the impression AJ has 2 or 3 of everyone made! ;) |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Why does anyone care what someone elses guitar sounds like? FTFF |
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Location: Brisbane Australia | Originally posted by Gallerinski:
Why does anyone care what someone elses guitar sounds like? FTFF Exactly!!
AJ |
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Location: NJ | you were obviously in the wrong studio.
if they care more about the instrument you use than the music you make you better RUN |
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Location: Brisbane,Australia | And your point is what Gallerinski? We can't just have a general chit chat about guitars without having to go to the Headmaster? :) |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | I couldn't give one shit what the hell you choose to chit chat about. Have fun. |
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Location: Michigan | My ute sounds just like my legend only more so and nothing sounds like my pacemaker.
Ditto what Al said, there are so many players out there who can sound better than me with a piano wire stretched over a 2x4. |
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Location: Atlanta, GA. | Most people who try out an Ovation in a music store are actually playing a Celebrity with "Ovation" on the headstock.
Celebs are good for their price range, but they can't compete with a higher-end Ovation. |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | My motto: If you can't dazzle them with your talent, then at least impress them with how nice of a guitar you own. |
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Location: Flahdaw | I always try dazzling them with my clothing selections first |
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Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Interesting discussion. There was a point in my life that what others thought mattered a great deal to me. In some areas, maybe it still does. As years go by, the need for external affirmation reinforcing personal choice wanes. With respect to my guitars, it only matters what I believe and what I hear, and it isn't always just about the guitar. It is a combination of the whole package . . . guitar, strings, pedals, amp, house board and whoever is operating it, and to a certain extent, how loud the bass player and drummer decide to play, and whether the vocalists are on pitch, etc. I'm always very satisfied with my sound, although I'm not always happy about my playing. It is never about the gear. I'm not that good, although the gear is. When you're in a band, the end product is always the sum product of the group's effort. You're just part of it, and your gear is just a part of your contribution. I think I would be satisfied with a Taylor or a Martin, and someday maybe I'll have the opportunity. I've been regularly using Adamas, Takamine, Gibson, Hamer and Fender guitars, and there was even a Guild and Epiphone on several occasions, too. Although it is my manufacturer of choice, Ovation does not have the market cornered on good sound. Neither does Martin, Taylor, Fender, Takamine nor Brand X. There is a lot of terrific gear out there. |
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Location: GATLINBURG TENNESSEE :) | (pardon my rant, but here goes ...) I probably mentioned this before, but last weekend I did a trek to Elderly Musical Instruments in Lansing MI, where they are known for carrying a huge inventory of the "best" high-end wood boxes. I spent half the day there sampling quite a number of guitars as my friend (who was alredy set on buying a Martin - the guitar of HIS dreams)checked out all their inventory. After playing several of each brand and model, I noticed that they each played and sounded a little different, but NOTHING was spectacular to me. Some had a little more bling than others, but nothing "did it" for me. I then snatched a deep bowl Elite LX from the wall and jammed for a while. That Elite played better and more consistent than anything else I had tried, and the sound was pure across the entire tonal range. To me, visual is 50% of the importance scale, and the wood boxes just appear to be slight variations of the same 3 designs. I left that day, once again convinced that USA Ovation/Adamas guitars are the best playing, best sounding, and best looking guitars out there, with LOTS of different choices. Yes the Collings were also nice, but I still liked the Ovations better. I have yet to have anyone convince me otherwise. I know ... It's MY opinion, but I'm sticking to it.
OH .. and did I happen to mention cost? ... anything that sounded "decently close" to a USA Ovation/Adamas was always in excess of $2500 and up. Maybe the problem with a lack of popularity is that Ovations are way under priced? If they started at 5 Grand, then everyone would probably comment on how wonderful they were. |
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Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | Originally posted by alpep:
you were obviously in the wrong studio.
if they care more about the instrument you use than the music you make you better RUN Exactly !!!
My usual response to "they all sound the same" is that "yes.. they sound like musical instruments not wood boxes" but you missed the best zinger of all for that area... "Yeah... just like all ribs in Memphis taste the same." |
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Location: Tennessee | Or if you're in Nashville ... "all country music sounds the same". |
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Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | Doh... not sure how I missed that one... but yes..
My two least favorite kinds of music.. Country and Western. |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | ... Or HIP and HOP
Frustrating situation that ovations always sound so much better then wooden guitars yet so few people buy them. Uneducated public I guess. We should band together and spread the word. |
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Location: Jet City | The black ones sound best. |
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Location: Hot Springs, S.D. | Got to agree with Damon. On wood topped Ovations, for some reason it seems that the black ones sound a bit richer. It's not the paint, but probably that the tops are a bit thinner?
But I have to tell you a story. I had a guy in here the other day who plays in a bluegrass band. He had a Martin, but it couldn't quite cut through the loudness of the banjo and mandolin and fiddle. All his bandmates said they couldn't hear him. So he got a Larravie. Now, IMO, Larravie makes some pretty nice guitars. But he said it still isn't quite loud enough. I let him play my new (old) 1687-7. He offered me $5,000! When I told him it wasn't for sale I could see the wheels turning. He was trying to figure out how much I would take, and how much more he could afford to offer me. (I'll admit, if he went up to $10,000, I MIGHT have considered it, but I wouldn't take a penny less.) I told him I would be on the lookout for an Adamas for him, mentioned Al's site, and I'm sure that he will end up buying one. He said the band would laugh at him when they saw it, but when they HEAR it, they will change their minds. Made a convert for sure. |
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Location: Blue Ridge Mountains | Why does anyone care what someone elses guitar sounds like? FTFF If true, then that would make 95% of the posting on this forum virtually useless!
Food for thought! |
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Location: Brisbane,Australia | True as he said who cares! I don't think the non-ovation players will truely appreciate these works of art till all the exotic trees are all cut down. And a little company that uses roundback designs will sit back and say, ' I told you so'!!
Hey Gallerenski sorry for my silly little remark back there, I made a dork of myself. |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Originally posted by MusicMishka:
... that would make 95% of the posting on this forum virtually useless I'd venture to say that 95% of my posts ARE virtually useless. But that still leaves 720 good ones !!! |
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Location: SoCal | Originally posted by Gallerinski:
Originally posted by MusicMishka:
... that would make 95% of the posting on this forum virtually useless I'd venture to say that 95% of my posts ARE virtually useless. But that still leaves 720 good ones !!! |
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Location: Flahdaw | I make sure all my posts are very carefully thought out so I don't make a fool of myself. |
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Location: Brisbane,Australia | Come on guys there are negative waves on here at the moment. Let's not forget the common brotherhood of the Ovation! Peace Out! :) |
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Location: Brisbane,Australia | Now there could be the catfight when we all start saying that our Ovations are better sounding and better looking than anyone elses on this site! Bring it onnn!!! :) |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Originally posted by Gallerinski:
My motto: If you can't dazzle them with your talent, then at least impress them with how nice of a guitar you own. I cannot play my guitar, but I do look good holding it. :cool: |
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Location: SoCal | Originally posted by dark bar:
I make sure all my posts are very carefully thought out so I don't make a fool of myself. Something new you're working on to distinguish yourself from the rest of us? |
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Location: Blue Ridge Mountains | there are negative waves on here at the momen You're new here aren't you...believe me, this ain't nothin.... |
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Location: Steeler Nation, Hudson Valley Contingent | Originally posted by RomanS:
Now there could be the catfight when we all start saying that our Ovations are better sounding and better looking than anyone elses on this site! Bring it onnn!!! :) I can't go there yet........
......I still don't have all the ones I want, so at least a few of the best looking/sounding ones are still out there somewhere. :p
Nothin' for it though lads. I'll be in the hunt a while longer yet.  |
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| Originally posted by moody, p.i.:
Originally posted by dark bar:
I make sure all my posts are very carefully thought out so I don't make a fool of myself. Something new you're working on to distinguish yourself from the rest of us? |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Originally posted by RomanS:
Now there could be the catfight when we all start saying that our Ovations are better sounding and better looking than anyone elses on this site! Catfight? Naw, that was 2 weeks ago.
If you want some interesting reading just use the SEARCH button and type in ...
"best sounding _____ I've ever played" |
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| I'll take "Make Every Thread About Me" for 200, Alex. |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | DAILY DOUBLE !!! |
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Location: Brisbane,Australia | What's the best yourve played then? :) |
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| Best Ovation - Q #10 or Slothead #35
Best overall - Beal's pre-war Martin |
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Location: Budd Lake, NJ | At the moment, none of the Ovations that live here sound like any of the others (and, no, not because the strings are all off of all of them. ;) ) All of them are different models, different depths, the two different pegheads, but almost all natural finishes. They really do all sound different...and I love their differences, too. There's a guitar for every mood...
Playing bluegrass, you get to hear a ton of Martins with a sprinkling of the other brands. A Martin dread strung with 13s and being hammered with an extra heavy pick will definitely blow my super-shallow Jewel out of the water--but that Martin neck will feel clunky and uncomfortable to me. But...same strings, same pick and my Gertrude, completely different ballgame--and when they play her, you can just see the light turn on. ("Wow, is this ever easy to play...where'd you say you got this?")
I call them my "stealth" guitars, because sometimes, they just don't see it coming.
--Karen |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | |
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Location: Utah | Originally posted by RomanS:
What's the best yourve played then? :) Best wood topped O - 2007 Collector's Edition
Best Adamas - U681T-SJ
Best Electric - Hamer Newport
But the others all are great guitars in their own way. The 2080 with the cutaway deep contour bowl is a delight to play and matches my style better than the Ute, which is 12 frets non-cutaway. The Viper has some killer tones in it. The 6778LX has the easiest playing action of any guitar I've ever played.
They're all good in their own way. Best depends on a lot of personal preferences. |
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Location: Illinois | Originally posted by cholloway:
Most people who try out an Ovation in a music store are actually playing a Celebrity with "Ovation" on the headstock.
Celebs are good for their price range, but they can't compete with a higher-end Ovation. I don't necessarily buy into that....My Celebrity sounds just as good as my USA Ovations, especially plugged in. I don't know if it's the solid top or the X bracing or what, but it's the guitar I play when I gig... |
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Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | Originally posted by RomanS:
What's the best yourve played then? :) Best Ovations - Slothead #57, OFC2, Q8/10
Favorite Ovations - Longneck 2080D 6 & 12 string
Favorite Guitar - Collings OM2MGSSCUTSB
:p :cool: :p |
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Location: Brisbane,Australia | You have an Original Slothead like AJ does! You lucky Duck! :) How many years of hard labour would I need to buy one of those? |
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Location: Brisbane,Australia | You have an Original Slothead like AJ does! You lucky Duck! :) How many years of hard labour would I need to buy one of those? |
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Location: Brisbane Australia | Finding one will be the hard part..........not to mention probably $15k+
AJ |
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Location: Brisbane,Australia | Yeah I can that you would have a really hard time getting someone to part with one and also the price! I could raise the money but I think that maybe the 47RI or the ofc reissue would probably be the best bet for me . But that Original must be a pleasure to play! Did Charlie Kaman make yours AJ ? |
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Location: Omaha, NE | I've been working on a studio project for the last few weeks. The engineer keeps going on and on about how much he loves the sound of my Ovation.
To record it, he puts a couple of mic's in front of me and feeds them into one stereo channel, and also mixes in some of the pickup output into another. I have the VIP, and we run it at about 40% "Image".
The result sounds pretty good to me, and him, and everyone who is hanging around the studio.
Plus it looks really cool. Last week we had a videographer there making a video, and she loved it. Got lots of shots of the guitar to use.
Hopefully I'll be able to share some of that stuff in the near future.
In the mean time, here\'s a vid I threw up onto the \'Tube last night . |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Originally posted by RomanS:
I could raise the money but I think that maybe the 47RI or the ofc reissue would probably be the best bet for me. If you want the 1-3/4 wideneck version OFC #8 drop me a PM.
The 47RI and the OFC guitar sound pretty close to the original. |
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Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | The OFC1 guitars came with the most original and cool case ever made for an Ovation. All Graphite and just a beauty to look at.
The 1 3/4" version of the guitar is even more rare. I think only 3 of the 12 had that neck.
RomanS if you are looking for the closest you will probably ever get to an original slothead, here is your wish come true.... like low hanging fruit from a tree! I'm betting if Gallerinski did not have an original slothead he would NEVER CONSIDER letting this one go. |
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Location: Colorado | Originally posted by Old Man Arthur:
Originally posted by Gallerinski:
My motto: If you can't dazzle them with your talent, then at least impress them with how nice of a guitar you own. I cannot play my guitar, but I do look good holding it. :cool: |
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Location: Jet City | Originally posted by RomanS:
What's the best yourve played then? :) UKII...
Which sounds nothing like my 1537 |
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Location: Chicago | Like the anatomical stupidity of "all women are the same"
A dude who promotes that view has erectile dysfunction, for sure! |
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Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Best guitar I've ever played is the Hamer Improv. However, because its sound is limited to jazz, it has only limited application for me.
Next to the Improv, and a whole lot more versatile, is my 1187 SSB Custom. However, for pure tone and sustain, it has to be Mark's No. 43. |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | "Best Guitar" will depend on a lot of stuff that has nothing to do with the guitar. My current "favorite guitar" for example would absolutely suck for live work because it has no electronics. Does that make it a bad guitar? |
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Location: Flahdaw | My best guitar sounds different from one day to the next. Seems every couple of days I like a different one of my guitars better. |
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Location: Indiana | If they hire you to do a session, they'll mic up what ever you bring to the date. I have never had a producer dismiss me because of the instrument I brought. I've had an engineer or two cast a skeptical eye initially... especially if they've never been exposed to an Adamas. Still, if you show up straight, on time, and do what you were hired to do, it's a non issue.
As for O's all sounding the same, I'm a believer that a large chunk of what an instrument sounds like is in the players fingers, not the guitar.
2 cents from Gnashville... |
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Location: Tennessee | Originally posted by RomanS:
What's the best yourve played then? :) Define "best" ... |
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Location: closely held secret | Come on, Bobbo... You know - like the "best" strings. |
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Location: Campbell River, British Columbia | If Ovations are as under appreciated as some of us navel gazers think, how come the company has been as successful as it is? hmmm?
Can't be the history. O's history is a great combination of punk innovation and sophisticated player acceptance. I fail to see the problem. (though greatly enjoy the jostling and slagging as much as anyone)
As far as catfights and getting along?...bite me. Bland universal acceptance is highly overrated. Creative differences is where y'wanna be!
(oops. looks like I posted a page late. responding to stuff on page 2.....I'm in another country, time zone, and reality...y'know.) |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | I don't think anyone is questioning that Ovation has had a history of success. Obviously Fender recognized that and I think it's quite an achievement to grow a company from a helicopter spin-off to something worthy of aquisition by arguably the largest musical instrument manufacturer and distributor in the world. Well done, I say.
We don't see real Ovations in music stores or catalogs, and we don't see endorsees. But that does not mean the product is not successful. Probably the shops are always sold out of the higher end models and you need to be lucky enough to be there on the day the next one arrives. The lack of endorsees is also understandable. Unlike Taylor, Martin and Takamine I think that Ovation doesn't need visibility, signature models, market hype and artist endoresements to sell their products. Basically they sell themselves based on reputation, performance and value. Probably they could not meet all future demand by limiting production to the relatively small US factory, so the exodus of production to larger and more cost effective Asian manufacturing plants is understandable.
I don't think you can call Ovation anything other than a huge success. |
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Location: Verona,Italy | Originally posted by Gallerinski:
I don't think anyone is questioning that Ovation has had a history of success. Obviously Fender recognized that and I think it's quite an achievement to grow a company from a helicopter spin-off to something worthy of aquisition by arguably the largest musical instrument manufacturer and distributor in the world. Well done, I say.
We don't see real Ovations in music stores or catalogs, and we don't see endorsees. But that does not mean the product is not successful. Probably the shops are always sold out of the higher end models and you need to be lucky enough to be there on the day the next one arrives. The lack of endorsees is also understandable. Unlike Taylor, Martin and Takamine I think that Ovation doesn't need visibility, signature models, market hype and artist endoresements to sell their products. Basically they sell themselves based on reputation, performance and value. Probably they could not meet all future demand by limiting production to the relatively small US factory, so the exodus of production to larger and more cost effective Asian manufacturing plants is understandable.
I don't think you can call Ovation anything other than a huge success. I disagree with your opinion about endorsers: they are important in this business, and we know that Ovation arrived where they are also thanks to people like Campbell, DI Meola, Malmsteen etc..etc...
I also think that unfortunately in the last 10 yeras they didn't introduce any radical change in design, for instance, a larger guitar, therefore today the brand is perceived as static from most of the guitarists, and it's not good. |
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Location: GATLINBURG TENNESSEE :) | Unless I've missed something ... I havent seen any radical changes in any of the other box guitar manufacturers either.
I do however believe endorsers are important, as they encourage others who want to sound like their favorites. But ... on the other hand, I didn't choose Ovations because someone else was playing them. I chose them because they impressed me first with the "look", then the high-tech marketing spooh. Then eventually when I was able to FIND one and play it, I loved the thing. |
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Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | endorsers are more important to other brands cause they all look the same.
when a performer plays an ovation/adamas you don't have to squint to see a name on the headstock.
you know what it is! |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Originally posted by cuthbert:
I disagree with your opinion about endorsers: they are important in this business, and we know that Ovation arrived where they are also thanks to people like Campbell, DI Meola, Malmsteen etc..etc...    
   
Not to mention a half-dozen dead folks... These artists don't sound the same.
I don't care if Ovations are taken-up by the next generation of artists since I don't like most of their music anyway. You realize that the average non-player has no idea what a Larivee is.... Or a Parker... or even an Adamas! Everybody on stage has a Takamine nowadays...
"endorsers are more important to other brands cause they all look the same.
when a performer plays an ovation/adamas you don't have to squint to see a name on the headstock.
you know what it is!" Amen! |
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Location: Brisbane,Australia | The biggest problem is that non-Ovation players have been and still have a problem with Ovation. Someone comes up with a good idea, immediate suspision sets in. And you have the orthodox traditionists sitting by the side lines smiling smuggly, holding their Martin, Taylor,Breedlove etc. It's ok to come up with a new innovation but don't you dare let on that you can use something besides wood to build a guitar. It makes me remember reading about Charlie Karman when he rocked up at Martin and offered to buy the place! What guts! Taking them head on! And when they said no, just pressing on and doing it his way.
As far as the evolution of Ovation I don't think the product has to constantly change. People still start getting all shifty when I I walk into a music store and ask about Ovation. They look at me and think, ' you poor kid, here play this guitar and forget about those silly plastic guitars you just mentioned ' |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Originally posted by bvince:
Unless I've missed something ... I havent seen any radical changes in any of the other box guitar manufacturers either. Excellent point. Geez, does a modern day Martin look any different than one 60 years old, other than one less zero on the price tag?
I think endorsees might help to get a few people to LOOK at a certain guitar, or maybe remember the name. But shite is shite and if the guitar can't sell on it's own merits, the it just ain't gonna sell. |
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Location: Verona,Italy | Originally posted by RomanS:
The biggest problem is that non-Ovation players have been and still have a problem with Ovation. Someone comes up with a good idea, immediate suspision sets in. And you have the orthodox traditionists sitting by the side lines smiling smuggly, holding their Martin, Taylor,Breedlove etc. It's ok to come up with a new innovation but don't you dare let on that you can use something besides wood to build a guitar. It makes me remember reading about Charlie Karman when he rocked up at Martin and offered to buy the place! What guts! Taking them head on! And when they said no, just pressing on and doing it his way.
As far as the evolution of Ovation I don't think the product has to constantly change. People still start getting all shifty when I I walk into a music store and ask about Ovation. They look at me and think, ' you poor kid, here play this guitar and forget about those silly plastic guitars you just mentioned ' True, most of them really HATE us and our guitars, I've been told several times by so called experts that I understood nothing of guitars because I chose an Ovation...endorsers are useful because they prove they are wrong, that's the point!
You can't convince them playing your instrument because they simply refuse, but if for instance, you tell them that '39 was recorded on a Ovation Pacemaker, and the guy is a fan of Queen, he MAY revisit his position, or at least you'll see a crack in his armour. |
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Location: Verona,Italy | ]Excellent point. Geez, does a modern day Martin look any different than one 60 years old, other than one less zero on the price tag? Yes. VERY different! Think about their product offering, it's capilllar...they have so many models that you can't even believe so many options are available, they have very good electronics, the quality is also improved IMO...not to mention that now they have a truss rod! :D :D :D |
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Location: Tennessee | Last time I looked, Ovation had 85 endorsees on their website. You gotta quit looking at the folk players and old tired hippies and holding them up as market leaders ... if you want to be like them, play Taylors or Martins. The people innovating in the music world today are playing innovative guitars ... not all of the "other" brands mentioned here. |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Originally posted by stonebobbo:
The people innovating in the music world today are playing innovative guitars ... not all of the "other" brands mentioned here. Other than Scratch-me King who's innovating on an Ovation? Oh wait, didn't the fat guy from "Lost" play a red legend? |
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Location: Utah | Innovation. Now that's an out-of-date word for Ovation. The plastic roundback was innovative 40 years ago. Carbon fiber was innovative 40 years ago. Multi-hole epaulets were innovative, yes, 40 years ago.
And yet Rainsong advertises that they are the first carbon fiber guitar. OK, maybe the first all carbon fiber, but the ad leaves the impression that they are the first to use carbon fiber in a guitar.
Active electronics? Innovative in the Breadwinner and Preacher Deluxe, 40 years ago. Copied in the 90's and today especially in high gain metal circles.
Let's see. Narrower nut and thinner neck so that an acoustic plays more like an electric. Innovative 40 friggin years ago. Now every acoustic maker is on that bandwagon.
Piezo pickups built in under the saddle? On board battery powered preamps in acoustic guitars? Yup, all innovative 40 years ago, brought to us by KMC.
If 40 years of success doesn't define tradition, what does? If hordes of copy-cat products don't define industry standard design, what does? If a full palette of endorsed artists of every genre doesn't define mainstream professional acceptance, what does?
KMC continues to refine and innovate, but why is there such an image that O's and A's are experimental oddball instruments, not really for the mainstream musician? |
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Location: South of most, North of few | Boy Serge, you've stirred the pot now. ;) |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | I love threads like this. You can pretty much say whatever you want and nobody can prove you wrong.
I still say the the biggest impediment to Ovation being the world dominant most sought after and admired brand is the plastic bowl. No matter how you shape it, how much carving you put on the trim, now much abalone rings the top it's still plastic and far too "different" for most people to take seriously. But that's what makes it an "ovation", I get that. Best to appreciate ovations for what they are and not lose sleep that people don't consider them in the class as wooden guitars. In the end what does it matter. Just play the guitar you love and be done with it. |
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Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | Originally posted by cuthbert:
True, most of them really HATE us and our guitars, I've been told several times by so called experts that I understood nothing of guitars because I chose an Ovation...endorsers are useful because they prove they are wrong, that's the point!
Experts don't bother me. I tell them I own Collings, Martins, Bourgeois, ADAMAS and to just shut the f**k up cause I play what sounds best to me. I could care less what some wanker thinks. |
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Location: Up North | Anyone who passes judgment on an instrument by what logo's on the headstock before even listening to it, can't be much of an expert. |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | FTFF |
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Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba CANADA | I agree with the previous comment that Ovations sell themselves!! There is so much pent up demand for their better playing models, rare collector's pieces and virtually ANY Adamas I that if Ovation closed their doors tomorrow it would be 'business-as-usual' here for the foreseeable.
Anyone that has ever held an Adamas in their hands knows that undeniable buzz the first time you strum one.... NOTHING ELSE sounds like that and I doubt anything else ever will!!
It is rare meeting of brilliant design, skilled execution and cutting-edge use of materials that discerning players will ALWAYS gravitate to.
How could you possibly improve on what is already there (... and why would you try?)!!
As I said in a previous post... every music store I go into now has 50 Taylors hanging on the wall. How could they possibly be building them to the standards that their reputaion implies when they are cranking them out like Big Macs... Don't believe me, take one down off the wall and try one... Then compare what you here to an Adamas. End of... |
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Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba CANADA | |
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Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba CANADA | I agree with the previous comment that Ovations sell themselves!! There is so much pent up demand for their better playing models, rare collector's pieces and virtually ANY Adamas I that if Ovation closed their doors tomorrow it would be 'business-as-usual' here for the foreseeable.
Anyone that has ever held an Adamas in their hands knows that undeniable buzz the first time you strum one.... NOTHING ELSE sounds like that and I doubt anything else ever will!!
It is a rare meeting of brilliant design, skilled execution and cutting-edge use of materials that discerning players will ALWAYS gravitate to.
How could you possibly improve on what is already there (... and why would you try?)!!
As I said in a previous post... every music store I go into now has 50 Taylors hanging on the wall. How could they possibly be building them to the standards that their reputation implies when they are cranking them out like Big Macs... Don't believe me, take one down off the wall and try one... Then compare what you hear to an Adamas. End of... |
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Location: Texas | I know TJ, this is great.
My session had no Ovations involved, these comments were just conversations with friends and other players about Ovations that came down to the various opinions...
And most of these great players use various guitars but still have an Ovation or two from the 70"s and 80's that they used for awhile...and still keep around in their arsenal...
Every guitar is like an individual instrument, It's the same regardless of whether the guitar is a Gibson Les Paul, a Fender Strat or a Martin acoustic. Each individual instrument seems to have this character and in-built virtuosity of its own. If you're lucky enough to pick one up and play it and own it, it can take you another ten miles down the road. Once it stops taking you down the road it's time to move on to the next one. My career has been divided up with those instruments. I had a fantastic Martin D-18 when I played bluegrass in the 70s, but it was stolen and I was never able to replace that. I have a fantastic 1965 Gibson ES-175D with a sunburst finish that I bought in 2007. I can get pretty obsessive, so I try to play my guitars in moderation and I spend a bit of time with each instrument.
In the end it is up to the individual to decide what works for you or doesn't.
And I still believe that the Ovation concept is a valid one and it is what it is. Like Dave said, you either love it or hate it.
A while back I decided to keep just THE one Ovation for my style and as the one and only O flavor in my arsenal.
So I chose it and love it, my Custom Legend cutaway.
It does everything I ask for and more.....waaaaaaaay more.
Next, it will be a super shallow bowl 1881 Adamas cutaway...
Cheers,
Serge |
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Location: Tennessee | Originally posted by cuthbert:
...endorsers are useful because they prove they are wrong, that's the point!
Right ... like when a whore tells you that you sure pack a big one and you sure are a great lover, it proves all your old girlfriends were wrong.
Bill Clinton and John Kerry are Taylor "artists". That'll prove to Moody that his opinion of Taylor guitars is dead wrong.
Originally posted by FlySig:
Innovation. Now that's an out-of-date word for Ovation. (snip) innovative 40 years ago ... (snip) innovative 40 years ago ... (snip) innovative, yes, 40 years ago ... (snip) Innovative (snip) 40 years ago. (snip) Innovative 40 friggin years ago. (snip) Yup, all innovative 40 years ago ... Huh? What about Lyracord GS? Virtual image processors built into the onboard preamp? The Advanced neck system? The contour bowl? The iDea preamp? The new set neck built into the 08C and the OFCII? CVT tops? The alpep boost button?
For what it's worth, Ovation USA's manufacturing methods and underlying technology have COMPLETELY changed over the last five or six years to a totally new method and new materials. It was a paradigm shift of unprecedented proportions. I believe EVERYthing being produced today are based on the new technology. And if you ask me, the new guitars sound way better than almost anything that's ever come before. It may not look a lot different, but these are not your father's Ovation and they totally blow his old roundback away.
Well there you go. If you want your guitar to conjure up Jim Croce before he augered in, or John Denver before he augered in, or Cat Stevens before he started facing east five times a day, or Glen Campbell when he still wore leisure suits, then yeah, Ovation should just pack up the tents and close down the circus. 90% of that market is already over in the Martin or Taylor camp anyway.
Originally posted by Gallerinski:
I love threads like this. You can pretty much say whatever you want and nobody can prove you wrong. (snip) Best to appreciate ovations for what they are and not lose sleep that people don't consider them in the class as wooden guitars. In the end what does it matter. Just play the guitar you love and be done with it. Truer words were never spoken. This topic comes up every few months and all it proves is that we all have different opinions and we look at our Ovations in just as many different ways.
Originally posted by Country Artist:
And I still believe that the Ovation concept is a valid one and it is what it is. You and me both. |
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Location: Verona,Italy | Originally posted by Grif:
Anyone who passes judgment on an instrument by what logo's on the headstock before even listening to it, can't be much of an expert. Please re-read my post, I used the expression "so called" experts... :p :p :p |
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Location: Verona,Italy | Right ... like when a whore tells you that you sure pack a big one and you sure are a great lover, it proves all your old girlfriends were wrong.
Bill Clinton and John Kerry are Taylor "artists". That'll prove to Moody that his opinion of Taylor guitars is dead wrong.
I really don't understand which problem you have with my statement, the first thing that Kaman did was to look for whores, ehm endorsers to prove that his instruments had some qualities, if he was following your concept of marketing Ovation would have shut down before 1970.
Having endorsers, real professionals is important in this business because it's natural for the guitarists to imitate their guitar heroes, not my words but Clapton's, who took his Strat after having listened to Hendrix, and Blackmore took switched after having listened to Clapton, I assume that you consider these two on pair with customers who go out whoring because they need to be "re-assured" of their measures... :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
Having said that, if a professional records a great hit with a certain sound, I look for that sound, and a disc is a relatively objective argument to use in a gear discussion, of course we are talking about important guitarists, no amateurs like Clinton and Kerry whose real job is politics, not music. |
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Location: Utah | Originally posted by stonebobbo:
Originally posted by FlySig:
Innovation. Now that's an out-of-date word for Ovation. (snip) innovative 40 years ago ... (snip) innovative 40 years ago ... (snip) innovative, yes, 40 years ago ... (snip) Innovative (snip) 40 years ago. (snip) Innovative 40 friggin years ago. (snip) Yup, all innovative 40 years ago ... Huh? What about Lyracord GS? Virtual image processors built into the onboard preamp? The Advanced neck system? The contour bowl? The iDea preamp? The new set neck built into the 08C and the OFCII? CVT tops? The alpep boost button?
For what it's worth, Ovation USA's manufacturing methods and underlying technology have COMPLETELY changed over the last five or six years to a totally new method and new materials. It was a paradigm shift of unprecedented proportions. I believe EVERYthing being produced today are based on the new technology. And if you ask me, the new guitars sound way better than almost anything that's ever come before. It may not look a lot different, but these are not your father's Ovation and they totally blow his old roundback away.
What I was trying to say is that there seems to be a public image that Ovations are a mediocre attempt at modernizing or innovating the 'accepted design' of the acoustic guitar. The salesmen at GC don't help that image, either.
All the things you mentioned are the new innovations, but are lost in the noise of the general image of the plastic roundback.
Rainsong is promoting their use of carbon fiber as if it is some new 21st century idea. Adamas was there 40 years ago and is now many miles down the road with improvements, refinements, and further innovations.
I guess what I am trying to say is that the Ovation/Adamas concept is now interwoven into the mainstream of modern guitar design and manufacture. Yet the image is out there that it is some quirky newfangled idea. The news isn't the roundback or the built in electronics. The news is that KMC has taken those concepts which they pioneered 40+ years ago and steadily improved, refined, and further innovated. |
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Location: Omaha, NE | All things considered, I think this has all turned out pretty well.
Do Ovation fans really pine for a world where the Ovation design became the standard, and all manufacturers were making roundback guitars today?
Or do we just pine for a world where the Ovation design is uniformly respected?
Sorry, can't have the latter without the former. If the design were uniformly respected in acoustic guitar circles, everyone would be making them, and then Ovations would stop being unique.
As it stands, it seems to be the case that the CT plant is going to be around for quite a while, and we'll continue to be able to buy all the new Ovations we want. What more do you need? |
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Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | Originally posted by Omaha:
All things considered, I think this has all turned out pretty well.
Do Ovation fans really pine for a world where the Ovation design became the standard, and all manufacturers were making roundback guitars today?
Or do we just pine for a world where the Ovation design is uniformly respected?
Speaking just for myself, I don't "pine" for a global change nor really care about the "respect" issues, I just don't really understand why it hasn't happened.
I have said this numberous times, and I still think it bears repeating... While there are some nice sounding guitars made of wood and even other materials out there... A round back guitar is the correct shape to emphasis the vibration of the top most evenly and result in uniform volume and tone up and down the neck. Frankly I more baffled as to why others haven't tried different variations such as a square looking body, but maybe round on the inside or something like that.
Of all the non-Ovation guitars I have played over the years, and I really only even have interest in higher end ones, very few have I found to be pleasing to my ears. If it "sounds like wood" (basically all mid-range), I'm not interested. However, most Ovations I have ever played range in sound from good to fantastic. I believe it's the bowl that is responsible for most of that as that is what is consistent on all the Ovations. Then of course plugged in... well.. nothing compares.. not even close.
So as I stated up top.. I don't pine for the days when everyone wakes up, I'm just surprised it hasn't happened. But then again, people still play Strats and Les Pauls when there are soooo many better built solid bodies out there.
Go figure... |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | And I will say once again....
"There is just an indescribable satisfaction about owning a guitar that everybody Hates!" |
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Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | well grasshopper
when the student become the master he allows himself to quote himself |
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Location: SoCal | Originally posted by stephent28:
well grasshopper
when the student become the master he allows himself to quote himself We'll let you know when it's time..... |
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Location: Texas | I thought anyone with at least 3 rows of guitars listed in their signature was automatically promoted to master… |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | that's true |
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Location: Brisbane,Australia | Where there is no fear, there is no danger. When one has learned the art of Ovation ,only then can one reach the ultimate state of happiness. :) |
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Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba CANADA | The fact that the craftsmen at Ovation have elevated the building of guitars to an art form does complicate things somewhat, but ultimately... a guitar is a tool, nothing more... nothing less.
There are musicians here at the OFC that are STUNNING players and there are collectors who have STUNNING collections (and don't really play...). Both are admirable!!
I have heard guys on street corners playing crappy guitars that took my breath away. But by the same token, I have also heard people playing absolutely magical instruments that couldn't channel the power that the instrument maker put into it, waiting to be released.
Guitars... music... art... everything is subjective and if someone wants to believe their Taylor (or whatever...) is better than an Adamas... more power to them!!
Thiry years from now, take both of them out of their cases, try them and see which one sounds better... I know where I'd put my money... |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | I've posted this before, only to get ridiculed ... but here goes. I think of Ovation guitars and Apple computers as being very similar in that 1) both are small players in the grand scheme of things, 2) both suffer from a majority of the public that won't even try them, 3) both have fiercely loyal users who know the product is superior to the "norm" no matter what the uneducated other 95% of the world thinks, and 4) both have an users attitude of "I'm right, they're wrong, end of story." |
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Location: Tennessee | And the owners of both aforementioned products are always the coolest kids on the planet. :cool: |
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Location: Sydney, Australia | I'm so cool! |
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Location: St Louis | Hey guys...
I don't get here much anymore but read this thread and thought I would chime in.
I belong(ed) to a blues guitar forum and recently somebody asked the membership to recommend a good acoustic blues guitar. I replied that I have an Ovation 1778T Elite (black if that makes a difference...) and often play blues with it.
The response to my post was overwhelmingly negative and borderline nasty.
I essentially told them to f@#* off, took my ball and went home...never to play with those children again.
To each his own...I love my Elite!! |
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Location: closely held secret | Yeah, we get that a lot... |
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Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Edited. Wrong friggin' topic. |
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Location: Nashville TN. | we all get a lot of that |
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Location: SoCal | Originally posted by Gallerinski:
I've posted this before, only to get ridiculed ... but here goes. I think of Ovation guitars and Apple computers as being very similar in that 1) both are small players in the grand scheme of things, 2) both suffer from a majority of the public that won't even try them, 3) both have fiercely loyal users who know the product is superior to the "norm" no matter what the uneducated other 95% of the world thinks, and 4) both have an users attitude of "I'm right, they're wrong, end of story." Toss in rotary engines w/ this grouping..... |
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All Ovations sound the same...