Posted 2021-01-13 11:55 AM (#554738) Subject: What am I missing.... Ovations sound ...not that good?
Joined: June 2015 Posts: 46
Greeting all.
I am not new to Ovations, I have had many for many years, (check my list please), but for the life of me cannot get decent sound repreduction from the onboard electronics. I always seem to have to add a sound hole pickup or mic them.
What is the secret?
I have acoutic amps, PA systems and some quality Electric amps that I have seen others ( Fender Twin comes to mind) use with some success.
Posted 2021-01-13 12:22 PM (#554739 - in reply to #554738) Subject: Re: What am I missing.... Ovations sound ...not that good?
Joined: May 2011 Posts: 751
Location: Muenster/Germany
Maybe you need a 1995 Ovation collector´s, sometimes they uccur. These have the Oavtion pickup and a micro. Besides that these are within the most beautiful Ovations ever made.
Posted 2021-01-13 2:27 PM (#554741 - in reply to #554738) Subject: Re: What am I missing.... Ovations sound ...not that good?
Joined: December 2001 Posts: 7209
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest
"cannot get decent sound reproduction from the onboard electronics" Is not something one hears often. I would be curious what specifically you have tried, with some thoughts.. I generally start with flat eq on the board, a nice signal appropriate for analog or digital and go from there. Your best bet is going to be something that is full-range. Something designed for acoustic guitar (depending on what it is) or PA is the best. Amps popular for keyboard and sometimes bass work well too, just depends. Maybe others have some input on this, but my experience when running a PA has been how to make all the other guitars sound as good as the one guy with an Ovation.
Posted 2021-01-14 6:30 PM (#554753 - in reply to #554738) Subject: Re: What am I missing.... Ovations sound ...not that good?
Joined: October 2005 Posts: 4025
Location: Utah
I've never heard an Ovation sound bad unless the sound man screwed up or it was played through an electric guitar amp. A good sound man can make an Ovation sound amazing.
I've played various Ovations through a variety of acoustic amps, and they all sound good if they are of decent wattage and speaker quality. Small, cheap amps tend to have crappy speakers and bad cabinet design, so any guitar will sound crappy through them. 30W and larger amps generally have higher quality sound, not due to wattage per se, and that is a good point in the price vs performance curve to start.
If you can, get the amp off the floor so you are hearing the amp not the building. A kitchen chair works fine for that, or a dedicated amp stand. I think all the acoustic amps I've owned or played with have a little metal gizmo on the bottom to lift the front off the floor, and they work quite well.
Start with all the eq flat and all effects off. You can pull the mids down a bit but not too much, and that usually helps it sound more alive. That is the classic "bathtub curve".
I like a little bit of acoustic emulator added in. Through digital magic, the tone is changed to sound more like a live acoustic guitar rather than plugged in. But these kinds of effects are not needed, they just add a bit of icing onto the cake.
Posted 2021-01-15 1:33 AM (#554756 - in reply to #554738) Subject: Re: What am I missing.... Ovations sound ...not that good?
Joined: December 2004 Posts: 552
Location: Denmark
On the topic of perceived sound a hearing test may reveal a hearing loss of 30 to 60dB so if an old guy or gal find that other people mumble there may be a good reason. For comparison tone controls can be +/-15dB. Many people also have to overpower the everpresence of a tinnitus, so a sound engineer with good hearing is a good start. Most people get by because perception, hearing and listening are not the same. No reason to dis the proposal by cholloway.
Just sayin'
Besides that, liking or not liking the amplified sound of acoustic guitars with piezoelectric transducers has been a topic of intense discussions since the appearance of the first Ovations. Some people think that the newer onboard amplifiers are better than the older. I am one of them. Not for the sound though, but because of the onboard tuner and notch filter. But then, I very rarely play amplified so You cant use that to anything :-)
The secret is to do what you do if that gives you the sound you like.
Posted 2021-01-16 10:52 AM (#554769 - in reply to #554738) Subject: Re: What am I missing.... Ovations sound ...not that good?
Joined: March 2005 Posts: 12750
Location: Boise, Idaho
If given the choice between growing up and trying to be funny, I'll choose the latter. Having grown up, I took the suggestions concerning hearing loss and tinnitus quite seriously. Seems like everyone my age has a hearing problem. I have ringing in my ears after spending too much time using a chain saw without hearing protection. Dumb move.
Posted 2021-01-17 8:22 PM (#554788 - in reply to #554738) Subject: Re: What am I missing.... Ovations sound ...not that good?
Joined: February 2016 Posts: 1768
Location: When??
@ProfessorBB - >>>What am I missing.... Ovations sound ...not that good?<<<
Sound quality opinions aside.. they do have a very intriguing look when viewed them from behind.
(though not to be confused with the aforementioned prison lingo)
Posted 2021-01-18 1:07 AM (#554790 - in reply to #554738) Subject: Re: What am I missing.... Ovations sound ...not that good?
Joined: December 2015 Posts: 287
Location: Katmandu
When recording I have noticed that you get the best results when you mic up your high-end Ovation acoustic for one channel and use the signal output of the preamp for the other. This way you get an impressive mix of both worlds, a very bold acoustic sound on the one hand and the immediacy and a strong, even signal of the preamp on the other.
Too often, even in professional live recordings, only the preamp output is used and not very proficiently, resulting in either a very quacky sound (usually associated with undersaddle pickups) or an overly remodeled sound engineered after the fact and sounding indistinguishable to an electric guitar (think Telecaster).
For an excellent use of an Ovation in a recording setting see Cat Stevens's "Wild World."
Modern undersaddle pickups and preamp systems (I am mostly referring to L.R. Baggs systems here) do sound decidedly more "acoustic" out of the box (but far from perfect), and I would prefer those over the admittedly now antiquated pickup and preamp system still used basically unchanged by Ovation from their heydays in the seventies.
Recording acoustic guitars well, especially in a live setting, is something that still leaves a lot to be desired for no matter on which side of the aisle you stand (Ovation fan or not) or which equipment you use. I will never forget Eric Clapton expressing his dissatisfaction with his live acoustic sound not sounding acoustic enough on a recent concert of his.
Posted 2021-01-18 2:28 PM (#554791 - in reply to #554764) Subject: Re: What am I missing.... Ovations sound ...not that good?
Joined: December 2001 Posts: 7209
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest
Juiced - 2021-01-16 4:00 AM To all of the people that I have helped and that have helped me on this site, Good Luck, Stay safe and keep playing. To the others that waste time "trying to be funny" ...grow up. Later.
Cool... I wasn't trying to be funny, soooo I don't have to grow up !!!
Posted 2021-01-21 10:15 AM (#554832 - in reply to #554738) Subject: Re: What am I missing.... Ovations sound ...not that good?
Joined: January 2021 Posts: 11
Location: Chicago, IL
If you are a bedroom player like I am, you may find the room geometry and furniture impacts the sound considerably. For example, I find having a carpet in the room results in a warmer sound. There is more bass when the amp is at a corner.
Obviously the guitar and hardware has the most impact to the sound. But adding a carpet or moving the amp in the room may sometimes help and it is easier than changing gear.
Edit: Oops! did not realize he is gone. Maybe too much juice was the reason for not getting the best sound.
Posted 2021-01-21 8:53 PM (#554836 - in reply to #554738) Subject: Re: What am I missing.... Ovations sound ...not that good?
Joined: May 2008 Posts: 1553
Location: Indiana
There are people who don't like the way Ovation's sound. That's fine.
I, personally, don't care for Gibson or Larrivee acoustics.
To each his own.
That's what I'd say to the OP if he'd stuck around.
Now it's just us again.
Posted 2021-01-21 9:28 PM (#554838 - in reply to #554738) Subject: Re: What am I missing.... Ovations sound ...not that good?
Joined: March 2002 Posts: 15651
Location: SoCal
I've learned that I sound the same no matter what I play (kinda crappy). I think most people do. So you play whatever makes you happy, and if it makes you happy, then it's a great guitar......
Posted 2021-01-28 7:49 AM (#554913 - in reply to #554738) Subject: Re: What am I missing.... Ovations sound ...not that good?
Joined: September 2005 Posts: 3618
Location: GATLINBURG TENNESSEE :)
I’ve found that effects pedals help when you’re not happy with the sound that your guitar and preamp are making. There are some nice acoustic exciter effects out there, that allow you a lot more room for shaping your desired sound. I also just got turned on to the Digitech Mosaic pedal that does a good job at simulating a 12 string sound on an acoustic or hard body guitar.