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Joined:
April 2012
Posts: 6
| I'm glad I decided to join the OFC. I've owned my Deluxe Baladeer since I came home from Vietnam in 1968. Arthritis won't let me play like I used to, but my Ovie is still with me and whenever I bring it out the memories just flood back (well, at least the ones I was lucid enough to remember, it was the 60's and 70's after all). I do have one question.I know there's a guy who has a Baladeer that's ser. #118 and I have #118 on my deluxe. Normal? |
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Joined:
December 2009
Posts: 686
Location: Route 66, just east of the Cadillac Ranch | Hi Daconrad. Ovations bring back fond memories for a lot of us. As far as I know early on Ovations were numbered sequentially regardless of the model so it would be unusual for 2 early Balladeers to have the same serial number, however there could be a #118 (1966) and a #000118 (1972). Perhaps other more knowledgeable members can chime in. There are lots of folks here that love the early Balladeers. Why don't you post some pictures of your Deluxe, we'd love to see it.
ps. Thanks for your service and welcome to the group. |
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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 7222
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | Welcome Daconrad,
I'll upgrade your membership to full access and move this into the general area when you respond so that more folks may chime in. |
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Joined:
April 2012
Posts: 6
| Thank you.
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Joined:
April 2012
Posts: 6
| Well, just looked again and the label says 118, and the neck to body frame support has 118 impressed into it. Also, I bought my Deluxe Balladeer around Nov or Dec. of 68. I am it's second owner as I went to buy a Martin Dreadnought. I had just bought a car, so no D-18. The clerk at the store tried to sell me something cheaper but most were not worth it. He then told me about a guitar that had been bought by a guy who returned it a couple of days later complaining about the round back. The price was right, I think around 140 or 150, and even though I also had reservations about the round back, I played it and I was hooked. It took a while to get used to the back, but the full, belltony sound was just too sweet. And the action.....smooooooth.I've now owned this friend for around 44 years, and I hope my son values it as much as I do when I leave it to him.
This D.B. is well used. my fingers left a worn area just below the rosette, one of the ears on the head broke off when my former sister-in-laws boyfriend tried to sell it to pay off drug debts, The only time I ever loaned it out, before this I had let friends play it when we played sets around the state. After this I never even let anyone but my son play it.
But probably the biggest thing is the bridge. Thats the original, but one of the steel string slots started to wear out (I believe it was the E 6th. When Ovation sent me a new bridge I found it too flimsy. A friend who repaired guitars convinced me I could just drill pin holes and put in pins. I wish I hadn't, but I did. It has held up all these years and seems fine. BUT I WOULDN'T DO IT AGAIN.
The case was purchase separately in 83,but I still have the original fiber case I got with the Ovie.
I'm now going to try to attach some pics to this post. Hope it works. |
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Joined:
April 2008
Posts: 2985
Location: Sydney, Australia | daconrad - 2012-04-11 11:50 AM
But probably the biggest thing is the bridge. Thats the original, but one of the steel string slots started to wear out (I believe it was the E 6th. When Ovation sent me a new bridge I found it too flimsy. A friend who repaired guitars convinced me I could just drill pin holes and put in pins. I wish I hadn't, but I did. It has held up all these years and seems fine. BUT I WOULDN'T DO IT AGAIN.
We've all done dumb things at one time or another.
Edited by TAFKAR 2012-04-11 1:22 AM
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Joined:
April 2012
Posts: 6
| Don't I know it. If I could go back in time.....but I dream. What is done is done. Sorry about pics, can't seem to find a way to DL them to this site.
I tried to follow the directions to join the other OFC and DL there. I think that worked, but haven't figured out how to transfer them to this forum.
 (D. Balladeer #1xfx 1_026.JPG)
 (D.Balladeer #2xfx 1_027.JPG)
 (DSC_0021xfx 1_029.JPG)
 (D.Balladeer #5xfx 1_028.JPG)
 (DSC_0001xfx 1_030.JPG)
Attachments
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 D. Balladeer #1xfx 1_026.JPG (7KB - 1 downloads)
D.Balladeer #2xfx 1_027.JPG (4KB - 0 downloads)
DSC_0021xfx 1_029.JPG (6KB - 0 downloads)
D.Balladeer #5xfx 1_028.JPG (8KB - 0 downloads)
DSC_0001xfx 1_030.JPG (8KB - 0 downloads)
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Joined:
April 2012
Posts: 6
| Good, finally found a way. |
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Joined:
December 2009
Posts: 686
Location: Route 66, just east of the Cadillac Ranch | Since Dave also has #118, looks like you have a bona fide anomaly. Beautiful guitar and I wouldn't worry about the bridge. It looks like it was well executed and as long as it works I'd say it's a good solution, after all the bridge can always be replaced. Thanks very much for sharing the pics. |
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Joined:
January 2006
Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Welcome, daconrad. I'm sure that some of us became Ovation owners in basically the same manner as you . . . going to he music store intending to buy something else and walking out with an Ovation. For me, it was in during the summer of 1972. I was on a trip to Idaho to play at a wedding and my crappy Sears acoustic guitar was just not cutting it, so I stopped by a music store in Boise totally committed on buying a Gibson acoustic (because I had a Gibson archtop electric). After I had pretty much settled on a Gibson J200, the salesman asked if I had seen the new ovations? I replied that I had seen them on the Glen Campbell TV show, but didn't really know anything about them. He said that they were the "up and coming" guitar preferred by many pro artists and pointed out two models hanging on the wall. He grabbed one, flipped it around, then swung it like a baseball bat pretty hard against the edge of his counter. It bounced off the counter like hard rubber, then he handed it to me for inspection. There wasn't a mark on it. I was so impressed that I said I'd take the other one still on the wall. It was an acoustic only Legend. I kept it for almost 10 years until it was stolen from my motorhome at a campground at the beach in Southern California. I replaced it with the Legend Ltd which I still own. I never did get the Gibson, and it would be another 25 years later that I finally bought an acoustic other than an Ovation (a Takamine EF75). |
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Joined:
September 2011
Posts: 402
Location: New Hartford CT | Great story. You can always send it back to the Mothership for a new bridge and a once over. They still do excellent repair work. They must have some 5 point bridges...? |
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Joined:
April 2012
Posts: 6
| Thanks for the suggestion, but I think I'll just stay with the current setup. It's worked so far.
I may be a little paranoid, but I'm somewhat leary of letting my Ovie out of my possession even for repairs.
Thanks for the info. |
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