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Posts: 15665
Location: SoCal | With the help of Noah who loaned me his U681 12 string, I was able to compare 3 Ovation/Adamas 12's last night. We had some friends over yesterday and pulled out my Adamas I 12 string ("Big Blue"), my Ovation Glen Campbell 12 string, and Noah's Ute 12. 3 very very good guitars.
A quick note for those that don't know, the GC 12 had a whole new body put on a 1969 neck. The top is Adirondak spruce and is A braced. It has a much deeper and more mellow sound than the standard GC 12 string, while retaining that clear "cut right thru" sound.
The #1 preference by all was Blue, the Adamas I. It was just a hair deeper and fuller sounding than the Ute. The only thing we could figure was the slightly deeper bowl due to the mounting ring. Right on it's heels, was the Ute, a really great guitar. It was slightly more comfortable to play than Blue due to it's slightly less deep bowl and shorter neck. A really great guitar.
Coming in third (and I don't know if you could say the sound was inferior -- it was just different) was the GC. A brighter, less mellow sound. Yet extemely pleasing.
Any of these three guitars would suit me for a 12 string and anybody blessed to own an Adamas 1 12 or the Ute 12, owns maybe the best 12 string out there (put the Adamas II 12 in there as well.
I haven't played an Adamas 12 string long neck so it's not included in this. But then from everything I've read, it's a whole different animal. |
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Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | JEEPHUS PAUL!!!
You should know better than to play 3 12String O's in an EarthQuake Zone!!! |
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Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | . . . . Bobbo, Get a haircut you freakin' hippy. |
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Posts: 10583
Location: NJ | u681 t 12 still available.
last one.
it couild make it for under the tree!!! |
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Posts: 709
Location: Germany | Wow! Thanks for the review. Your house must have been full of sound with these excellent 12-stringers singing.
One of my next projects will definitely be a GC 12-string rebuild comparable to yours. You say it has got an A-bracing. I went through all the old Ovation catalogs and found that the original GC-12s had an Ovation fan bracing (standard in the 70s and early 80s). Strangely enough the 1618 reissue specification says it has a VT12-bracing (of which I have no idea how it looks like). Why did you choose the A-bracing?
Karl |
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April 2004
Posts: 13303
Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | The original Adamas I 12's are getting extremely hard to find and as a consequence more expensive.
Anyone thinking about getting a GREAT 12 string, should consider grabbing Al's last UTE 12.
I am fortunate to have "Big Blue 2" and a Long neck 2080-12 (along with my custom Baxendale) or I would be all over a UTE12.
What a great Christmas present for yourself! |
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Posts: 8307
Location: Tennessee | Originally posted by Jeff W.:
. . . . Bobbo, Get a haircut you freakin' hippy. 'Twasn't me. Probably just one of those freaks from the cloning lab during my alien abduction incident. BTW, there haven't been any hippies for over 20 years. We're alternative now. |
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Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | ;) |
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Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | ". . alternative . ."
which "A" in AARP is that?? . . . . |
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Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | heh-heh
(The same one used in "Do Not Resuscitate") |
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Posts: 15665
Location: SoCal | Karl, you're right that the original slothead 12's were all fan braced. I never cared for the sound of them. Way too bright for my ears and the bass notes sounded like plastic to me (I know that there are a lot of people who love these old guitars -- this is just my personal opinion).
I had played two old slothead 12's that had all new bodies put on them. One belonged to Temp, the other to Jeff W. I was amazed at how great the sound was compared to my old 1969 GC 12 (it was a gift from a buddy). My old guitar sounded like crap and played even worse. So I sent it to the factory and had a whole new body put on the old neck. It came back and is now a great 12 string. When I was playing it last night next to the 2 Adamas 12's, I never felt like my sound was inferior (my playing on the other had was massively inferior). At most, the sound was just different. But it was still wonderful.
Having the GC 12 and Big Blue is great as I've got 2 different sounds depending on my mood. I'm very very fortunate..... |
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August 2002
Posts: 8307
Location: Tennessee | Originally posted by cliff:
". . alternative . ."
which "A" in AARP is that?? . . . . Ain't that the pot callin' the kettle black ... :p |
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Location: NJ | just askin' is all . . . . |
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Posts: 4389
Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | That looks like a fun evening. |
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Posts: 13988
Location: Upper Left USA | Three Amigos..
Three chords, three frets, three flavors...
Sweet. |
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Posts: 4394
Location: East Tennessee | Yea but the shirts are rather plain looking. :D |
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3 12's - comparison