Posted 2016-12-29 10:32 PM (#531554) Subject: Balladeer Model #4861
Joined: February 2011 Posts: 10
Location: PA
Any help would be appreciated. Just picked up a Balladeer with case for $100 off Craigslist. It is a natural finish. OP24 electronics. Blue oval sticker inside says made in Korea. Serial #9001092. Does anyone know what year this was made. I can't find any serial number data base for this guitar.
Posted 2016-12-29 10:52 PM (#531558 - in reply to #531554) Subject: Re: Balladeer Model #4861
Joined: September 2006 Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR
1986-1989
I am guessing by the OP24 preamp
The 4861 was also issued in 1998, but I believe that year had the OP-24+.
The serial numbers on Asian Ovations were not really track-able back then.
Posted 2017-01-01 5:18 PM (#531633 - in reply to #531554) Subject: Re: Balladeer Model #4861
Joined: February 2011 Posts: 10
Location: PA
I contacted the Ovation website about this guitar with model and serial number and they responded with "This one was built in 2009 in Korea at our KPBO plant." So I don't know what I have now. Where did you get your info, Old Man Arthur?
Posted 2017-01-01 7:16 PM (#531634 - in reply to #531554) Subject: Re: Balladeer Model #4861
Joined: September 2006 Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR
I am pretty sure that they didn't make 4861's in 2009.
They had stopped making "Ultras" in 2008.
In 2009 FendrOvation was beginning to make AX and TX "Ovations" in Korea.
Fender was ruining things back then.
Whoever told you that at Ovation was probably going by the "9" at the beginning of the serial number. (Yes... I am saying that the person at Ovation is incorrect)
HERE is a wayback archive link to the 2009 Ovation website.
You will not find a 4861. Look under Balladeer because that is what they called the 4861.
I bought my first 4861 in 2006 (why I joined the OFC) and it was old then.
I bought another 4861 Sunburst in 2010. Both were old then.
BTW-- I found photos of my first and second 4861's.
Here is the serial number... I cannot see (or remember) if it began with 7 or 9, but it was at least 5 years-old according to the Seller in 2006.
Posted 2017-01-02 8:56 AM (#531643 - in reply to #531554) Subject: Re: Balladeer Model #4861
Joined: February 2011 Posts: 10
Location: PA
Thanks for that info. I thought that the Ovation people may have been wrong. Mine looks exactly like the pics of your natural top. The case is the same too.
Balladeer Model #4861
