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Posts: 741
Location: Fort Worth, TX | Last weekend I was in another city way out west in Texas visiting my oldest son and his soon to be wife. We had a cookout that included my son's future in laws. My son told me his future father in law was a guitar picker and to show him the luthier built cedar top/HOG dread I recently acquired. He and I went inside and I handed him the guitar and was immediately regaled with stories of his rock band's years on the road in the 70's. My kinda guy. I guess from the playing I heard he was strictly the rhythm player or it had been since the 70's when he last played. Then he layed on me fascinating news, in addition to a PRS electric he had an "early Adamas" I would probably like. I told him about the Balladeer I traded for the guitar I was showing him now. We were going out to his house the next day and he kept pressing me on what I thought this cedar topped guitar was worth because he loved the sound of it.
Here's how it came down on the Adamas. He brought it out to me in a very crowded living room where two birthday celebrations were taking place. I wasn't sitting by a light and couldn't read the label for the model number/serial number. It said Ovation (logo) on the headstock, not Adamas. It had a "clothlike" texture to the top and epaulets on both sides with about 4 different colors of wood around the holes. It was a reverse blue burst. What struck me was how HEAVY it was! It had two brown plastic knobs and stereo cord jacks. It sounded nothing like Adami I've heard on Youtube clips, but more like my Balladeer I recently traded. He was interested in trading me for the cedar topped dread but I said I had to do some checking on it first and would be back in Lubbock at Christmas at which time we could trade. So does this sound like an "early Adamas" (his words)? I know this isn't much to go on and wish I had a pic of it as well, but can anybody give me a ballpark on what it might be worth? It definitely lacks the distinct Adamas sound but aside from the Ovation logo on the headstock looks just like every pic of rev. blue burst Adamas' I've seen. I can't stress enough how heavy it was! There was no carved headstock or bridge, just a carved wooden bead around the top. The guitar had a shiny bowl with no visible flaws. Could this really be an early Adamas?
Edited by DaveKell 2012-11-13 7:04 AM
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December 2003
Posts: 13987
Location: Upper Left USA | Likely a custom but we do our best nit-picking with pictures!!!
It does sound exciting though. |
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Posts: 823
Location: sitting at my computer | Perhaps an Ovation K-Bar neck on an Adamas body? +1 on nit-pickin' pics  |
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Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | Why not contact your friend and have him look inside the guitar and email you the information on the label.
He could also email some pics.
There have been a few cases where the headstock decal did not match the guitar. |
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November 2011
Posts: 741
Location: Fort Worth, TX | stephent28 - 2012-11-13 9:34 AM
Why not contact your friend and have him look inside the guitar and email you the information on the label.
He could also email some pics.
There have been a few cases where the headstock decal did not match the guitar.
I've already emailed my son to have him pass on that request. Nobody has addressed my comment about the excessive weight of this guitar. I've never held an Adamas before. Do they tend to weigh substantially more than a Balladeer because this one does? |
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Posts: 1249
Location: Texas | Dave,
It sorta was, if you knew what to look for.
The K-bar Ovations are heavier, if you are not accustomed to them. It is noticeable. The 1537 is a weight monster... it may not be all neck, but it has to be a contributing factor, imo.
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August 2002
Posts: 8307
Location: Tennessee | SOB addressed it. It's the K-Bar neck. No doubt an Adamas 2 with the standard K-Bar neck. Add to that the bowls of the time (most likely sometime in the 90's) and preamp, and you wind up with a heavy guitar. I've seen several Adamas 2 guitars with the Ovation logo on the headstock get posted up here over the years.
See if you can't find a 90's vintage Elite or Legend and check out the weight of them. You'd be surprised. FWIW, the K1111 has got to be one of the lightest Ovations I have ever held.
But that's all guesses and we can't really know anything until there is some actual information about the guitar itself.
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March 2002
Posts: 15664
Location: SoCal | If it's a 2 knobber (wooden knobs, not plastic) then it's early 80's. That k-bar neck may be heavy, but boy do they stay in tune..... |
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October 2012
Posts: 349
Location: Denver, CO | Sounds like you're well on your way to moving up, again, Dave. Hope you make the deal. Did you play it plugged in? I don't know how well the old Os stand up, but '80s electronics can be sketchy...
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November 2011
Posts: 741
Location: Fort Worth, TX | My son texted the guy and he said he's not ready to trade. I'm quite surprised to say the least. I wasn't sure if I'd do it myself anyway since it didn't sound at all like I expected an Adamas to sound. I was also put off by the weight of it which was the heaviest acoustic I've ever held. Who knows, if he changes his mind when I'm back at Christmas with my guitar and my OCD kicks in we still might trade! |
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Is This an Adamas?
