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Location: Texas | sad
Edited by Country Artist 2014-04-29 9:55 PM
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Location: Texas | is just that..................I love my old Ovation guitars..............my Country Artist is my main love...........really............
and I'm sad....... |
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Location: SoCal | Three 'glads'. First that I still had it and I could send it back to you. Second, Goober sent me his that he used when he was with Jerry Reed. Worked out well for all parties. Third that we have the community here that allows us to communicate in situations like this. That won't change.
Edited by Tony Calman 2014-04-30 12:30 AM
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Location: Louisville, OH 44641 | I own 7 Ovation Guitars...each one made in Connecticut. Wish I had more.
Is Fender planning overseas Adamas models or just letting the entire line go? Not that I'd buy a Chinese Adamas anyway...but just curious. |
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Location: Louisville, OH 44641 | I own 7 Ovation Guitars...each one made in Connecticut. Wish I had more.
Is Fender planning overseas Adamas models or just letting the entire line go? Not that I'd buy a Chinese Adamas anyway...but just curious. |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | stellarjim - 2014-05-02 8:05 PM
Is Fender planning overseas Adamas models or just letting the entire line go?
Fender has not had an original idea since Leo died.
How many ways can you re-issue a Strat, Tele or Jag?
Fender is still making the same old guitars that it has made for fifty years!
Just now they make them in China and Indonesia.
And they will make them look Old for you for extra money.
Fender would not be into Adamii, as recent history has proven.
There is just not enough volume sales...
and even if you make it in China, they won't be cheap.
Think about it... How many Adamii have you touched?
I have Never seen a Rainsong, Blackbird, Emerald or Composite Acoustic guitar in person.
The only Adamii that I have ever seen were at Apple Music Row, OFC Gatherings...
or in my own possession.
Fender is all about volume.
Oh... And if Guitar Center closes, Fender will be outta business.  
-edit for Spelling-
I get so upset about this stuff. 
Edited by Old Man Arthur 2014-05-02 11:04 PM
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Location: Always beautiful canyon country of Utah | I saw a Rainsong once in a store. It was not a bad guitar but I like Adamas more. |
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Location: Utah | Fender is all about volume.
I'm a diehard capitalist. If it weren't for profits we wouldn't have all the niceties of modern life. But profit is not the only thing of value! Some things are important and worthwhile, and they don't translate to mass production. They may only be marginally profitable, yet worth doing. Fine musical instruments will never be a high volume high profit business, yet there is an ample opportunity for small businesses to thrive and for a number of employees to earn a good living.
My son's violin was made by a local master luthier who makes a nice living with a thriving small business.
Adamas is in that same realm imo. A nice upper end O is in that realm. Corners cannot be cut enough to make a mass market low price instruments yet simultaneously be a fine instrument which has had skilled artisans apply much attention to the details. |
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Location: SoCal | Not many have even seen an Adamas, let alone get to play one. With only a few exceptions, you would be lucky to see a US Ovation at a dealer.
Even artists, with a few exceptions, paid for their O/A guitar. Great guitar needs marketing. Web site is good but will not make the sale. IMHO, OFC, Witko's Gallery, and Jerome's (OvationTribute.com) have done more for O and A marketing than any other factor (NAMM, ads, dealer support, public relations to include working with guitar magazines for reviews, placement on TV and YouTube, etc.)
And, besides the guitar, IMHO our past Customer Service and custom shop were 'heads above' other companies that could have been highlighted to dealers and the general public. |
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Location: VA | My heart sunk when I read this. I probably have purchased my last Ovation. My next Acoustic may be a Augustino LoPrinzi. I can almost feel the quality bleeding out of the Ovation lineup. Very sad day. |
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Location: Flahdaw | FlySig - 2014-05-03 11:27 AM
But profit is not the only thing of value!
Mercedes, BMW, and Lexus aren't cheap. Rolex watches aren't cheap. Ruth Chris Steak Houses aren't cheap. The Four Seasons Hotels aren't cheap. Etc. But they are all doing quite well, thank you.
The buying public, for whatever reason, decided that they were NOT going to pay much money for a USA Ovation or Adamas. Maybe it was bad marketing, who knows. |
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Location: Utah | darkbarguitar - 2014-05-05 3:36 PM
FlySig - 2014-05-03 11:27 AM
But profit is not the only thing of value!
Mercedes, BMW, and Lexus aren't cheap. Rolex watches aren't cheap. Ruth Chris Steak Houses aren't cheap. The Four Seasons Hotels aren't cheap. Etc. But they are all doing quite well, thank you.
The buying public, for whatever reason, decided that they were NOT going to pay much money for a USA Ovation or Adamas. Maybe it was bad marketing, who knows.
There is a substantially larger market out there for a Merc, BMW, Lexus, etc. There just isn't a large market for guitars which cost over $1000, and then moving up from there the market declines exponentially. Car nuts will buy a new car every 4 years. How often will the typical guitar nut buy a $4000 guitar?
A smaller manufacturer or a family owned business will feel reward in many ways. Pride of name, pride in seeing the product being used, pride when a skilled customer praises your product, etc. But when the owners are faceless investors, they only care about % ROI. The money men tend to value expansion and market share as indicators of success, as long as they are also getting good ROI. Growth fuels EPS ratios on stocks, which means more personal wealth (at least on paper) for the investors.
I believe this is why we see the WalMart mentality taking over. MBA money men would rather sell many more units at the low end of the market, thus gaining market penetration and market share, thus boosting stock values.
Fine musical instruments just don't have the market size to generate a large number of dollars in profit. There may be a good ROI on a small scale, but not on a large scale. |
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Location: GATLINBURG TENNESSEE :) | Something tells me that some day, there's gonna be another big move to the "retro"'style, and Adamas/Ovation guitars are gonna become in big demand, driving the price through the roof. People eventually grow tired of things staying the same, then the come full circle to things that have stood the test of time. These instruments have just faded out of the lime light since the 80's. We here at the OFC are some of the luckiest people in the world, in that we have been enjoying one of the best kept hidden secrets of the century. There is an immeasurable amount of ignorance and a lack of true knowledge about these fantastic instruments.
Edited by bvince 2014-05-05 7:46 PM
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Location: Flahdaw | That's what I mean. As a capitalist, I'm torn. A business needs to be able to make a decision based on profitability, and sometimes it's hard and hurts people. If people were buying USA O's and A's, then Fender et al would keep making them. Maybe Fender is to blame, but the bottom line (pun intended) is that they weren't selling in large enough numbers to continue making them. Still sucks tho.
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Location: moline,illinois | Just because an item doesn't sell in high numbers or make large profits doesn't mean a corporation can't make them and use them to there advantage in overall sales and product recognition.car companies make limited edition vehicles to showcase there products and draw customer attention.fender could have continued to make the Adamas guitar if they had any intention of advertising the ovation line and demonstrating there ability to make a quality musical instrument.Put that beautiful guitar onstage with a hit music star and the next generation looking to emulate them would be buying celebrity copies right and left,make a knock-off artist series on the cheap to get people into the brand then put good US ovations on the music store shelves so these serious about there art could find a quality ovation and they'd sell.fender lacked the desire and/or willingness to actively promote one of the best guitars ever made. |
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Location: Flahdaw | 2wheeldrummer - 2014-05-05 11:22 PM
Just because an item doesn't sell in high numbers or make large profits doesn't mean a corporation can't make them and use them to there advantage in overall sales and product recognition
Sure, a high profit company can do that. But when a corporation is losing millions and millions of dollars a year, it doesn't do silly things like continue to make an item they are losing MORE money on for "product recognition". Besides, what positive "product recognition" did they have, other than from people like us here? The general guitar buying public doesn't CARE about USA Ovations.
Cold, hard, business decision, but that's capitalism |
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Location: Jet City | Of course the general public doesn't care about USA Ovations... they've hardly seen them, let alone felt/played/listened to one. The only advertisements in the catalogues for years now have been overseas models. For DECADES the only endorsers have been obscure or irrelevant, or both obscure and irrelevant metal-heads.
The cold hard decision was made because they fucked up so badly already. I'd like to say it was all Fender's fault, but the lack of marketing and product placement was an issue long before. I was actually hoping Fender could turn things around, throw a bit of cash in the right areas, get some REAL NAME endorsers, and revitalize the dying (and now dead) brand, but sadly it was nothing more than a pipe dream. |
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Location: Michigan | What Damon said... |
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Location: Texas | Yes, Damon hit the nail on the head...except I never thought Fender would do anything but what they did. Their investment in promoting and harvesting Ovation was laughable. FMC is suffering a death by a thousand cuts. So they are amputating to focus on what vital parts they can attempt to triage, in hopes of saving something. |
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Location: Jet City | bvince - 2014-05-05 5:45 PM Something tells me that some day, there's gonna be another big move to the "retro"'style, and Adamas/Ovation guitars are gonna become in big demand.... I'm sure Eastwood is gearing up the factories now. |
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Location: Flahdaw | Whatever the reason, or whoever's fault it was for the general public's apathy, it was just too late. Way too many years of neglect and apathy by the parent company. No marketing, no big name endorsements.
LOTS of big, mega corporations make stupid decisions all the time (New Coke, the Edsel, Windows Vista, MSNBC) but they are usually smart enough to get out when they can't take the losses anymore. Capitalism is ugly, but it beats the alternative.
The best we can hope for is they try to sell the brand. THAT would be a typical capitalist move... |
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Location: Nashville TN. | damon67 - 2014-05-06 10:13 AM
Of course the general public doesn't care about USA Ovations... they've hardly seen them, let alone felt/played/listened to one. The only advertisements in the catalogues for years now have been overseas models. For DECADES the only endorsers have been obscure or irrelevant, or both obscure and irrelevant metal-heads.
The cold hard decision was made because they fucked up so badly already. I'd like to say it was all Fender's fault, but the lack of marketing and product placement was an issue long before. I was actually hoping Fender could turn things around, throw a bit of cash in the right areas, get some REAL NAME endorsers, and revitalize the dying (and now dead) brand, but sadly it was nothing more than a pipe dream.
agree |
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Sad
