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Location: Phoenix AZ | This sounds crazy to me, but can anyone confirm or have memory of this ...
Short Version: Were the original shiny bowl ovation guitars intended to have the bowls painted by their owners?
Long Version: I used to be somewhat friendly with the founder of Milano's Music in AZ. They were one of the very first ovation dealers out west back in the day. I showed him one of my shiny bowl guitars many years ago and he commented something like "oh, you've got one of those self paint guitars that you're supposed to paint the bowl anyway you wish." I ignored the comment and completely forgot about it. But I just heard the same thing from someone else unrelated. That not only were the shiny bowls intended for the owners to paint the bowls themselves, but there was a number of them that actually shipped with an "Artists Kit" which wasn't musical, it was actually a little kit with some paint brushes and paints.
I know this sounds too wacky to be true, but I heard essentially the same thing decades apart from two different sources. Is this at all related to the Contemporary Folk Classic model with it's red, blue or green bowl? Same timeframe.
Would love to hear if anybody else knows something about this (and WOW would I like to find one of those original Kaman Artist paint kits. |
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Location: Pueblo West, CO | Hmmm...
Weren't all the original Ovation guitars shiny bowls? (1966-1967)
I looked at the catalogs/brochures on Jerome's site and it looks like the textured bowls started in the 1968 model line.
I do admit that if I wanted to apply a custom finish to the bowl I'd want to start with a shiny bowl instead of a textured one. |
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Location: SoCal | I've heard this before and always thought that it was too wild to be true. Anybody know? Don't think anything is in a catalog, but when I first started calling the factory in the 90's, somebody there mentioned it......
Edited by moody, p.i. 2020-07-07 7:40 PM
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Location: Canada | There must be some pictures of hippies with painted Ovations somewhere... |
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Location: When?? | I once saw an Ovation in a music store that had a smooth bowl colored a glossy maroon, with a natural top.. I was just a kid and don't recall what the model was, or whether it was new or used.. but remember it looked really nice and had a very high price tag. This was around 1970, in northern Utah. |
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| If I recall correctly, one of the primary reasons that Ovation started textured bowls, was that it was too labor intensive and time consuming to produce "perfect" shiny bowls without blemishes. If this is true, and they dedicated so much time to perfecting the shiny bowl, it seems to contradict any indications that the bowls were designed to be painted by the owner. |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Well, then there is This:
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Location: When?? | @Arthur - "Well, then there is This:"
Now THAT I would like to have. Very cool
Suppose anyone has ever turned a textured bowl into a shiny bowl? That would take an awful lot of sanding and buffing, but would give a smooth surface to apply a paint, and then polish it out to a gloss. Or even something in between. Anybody have any junk bowls willing to donate to experimentation?? |
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Location: Pueblo West, CO | I've got a 1624 SMC bowl that'll never be used again. |
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Location: Pueblo West, CO | Old Man Arthur - 2020-07-07 10:56 PM Well, then there is This:
Ah, the salad bowl by Hohner.
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Location: SoCal | DanSavage - 2020-07-08 4:07 PM
I've got a 1624 SMC bowl that'll never be used again.
How large a caliber bullit holes? Or perhaps it was thrown by a trebuchet?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVMmmMqmQdY
That's me in the Ovation jean jacket on the far side.....
Edited by moody, p.i. 2020-07-08 7:54 PM
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | d'ovation - 2020-07-07 5:52 PM
There must be some pictures of hippies with painted Ovations somewhere...
You'd think? But no.
I looked.
And I have seen some ugly paint-jobs on eBay. 
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Location: 6 String Ranch | Anyone ever build model cars? Remember Testors paint? If I recall correctly they were trying to get a set of 12 of those paints private labeled “Ovation” for painting the bowls. Remember the time period. After a bowl or two you could get real creative. But the buy in quantity was too high and it never went anywhere. There were a bunch painted as part of trying to talk Testors into the deal. There were maybe 20-30 of them done up I think, maybe a few more. I think some were blown out through dealers. Wonder where the rest of them are? |
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Location: Always beautiful canyon country of Utah | Beal knows everything!! |
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Location: closely held secret | moody, p.i. - 2020-07-08 5:52 PM
DanSavage - 2020-07-08 4:07 PM
I've got a 1624 SMC bowl that'll never be used again.
How large a caliber bullit holes? Or perhaps it was thrown by a trebuchet?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVMmmMqmQdY
That's me in the Ovation jean jacket on the far side.....
And me behind the camera. #5 was the best, we filled what was left (the body) with 2x4 cutoffs. Flew much better. Hard to believe it was 13 years ago. |
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Location: NJ | i think there was a problem with kids huffing testor's paints and glues |
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Location: Indiana | I had never heard of this! I was both a modeler and an Ovation fan in the 60's. Had a lot of Testors paint (and glue)... but fifty-cent Revell kits were my budget limit. |
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Location: Pueblo West, CO | alpep - 2020-07-10 5:10 PM
i think there was a problem with kids huffing testor's paints and glues
Model glues, yes. Testor's paint, no. Testor's paint is simple enamel, so there's little to no fumes.
Model airplane dope is another matter entirely. Serious fumes from that stuff. |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Why do you think that they call it "dope" 
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Location: Pueblo West, CO | Old Man Arthur - 2020-07-11 2:32 PM
Why do you think that they call it "dope"
I know from first-hand experience.  |
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Location: When?? | edit.. edit.. mind change.. delete.
Carry on.
Edited by Love O Fair 2020-07-12 2:20 AM
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Location: 6 String Ranch | I was more into AMT models. Must have built at least 25 Forty Fords |
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Location: Colorado | I can still smell model glue and paint tho....anyone wanna donate to me a beater - and I will try out Krylon and put dayglo Rustoleum on the strings for Moody.
M |
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Location: NW Washington State | The winner and still champion! 
-Steve W. |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | That one is BLUE now.
And no longer mine.
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Location: Phoenix AZ | #blueguitarsmatter |
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Location: SoCal | #allguitarsmatter |
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Where Shiny Bowls Intended To Be Painted by Owners ???