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October 2014
Posts: 270
| I haven't seen this yet but the seller says the label was missing when he bought it in 1976 but "An Ovation knowledgeable guy looked and said it was a 71-73 Balladeer."
Can anyone confirm what model this might be and any clues for which I should be looking? Any idea of how the lack of a label would affect the value?
I've asked for but not yet received a photo of the back of the neck to see how many pieces it is. 
The case looks newer to me: 
Edited by BCam 2017-09-08 8:09 PM
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February 2014
Posts: 704
Location: moline,illinois | I would say it's a 1971 balladeer K1111,it's acoustic only with a winged bridge and looks just like a picture of a 71 balladeer on the ovationgallery.com website
the case is definitely newer,71 would be a brown case,I would look inside the bowl to see if its handlaid,look at the neck construction,bowl finish and type of tuners those will help date it.
A lack of label would lower the value for true collectors but from a players viewpoint how does it sound and play those are the most important to me
Edited by 2wheeldrummer 2017-09-08 8:41 PM
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Posts: 270
| The seller replied that it does have the 5 piece neck and that the tuners have the Ovation name on them. |
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January 2009
Posts: 1249
Location: Texas | Has to be a 71 with that bridge. It is a transition balladeer with the wing bridge, where they went from shiny to textured bowls. Tuners should be grovers or klusons...paper tag or oval? Serial?
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March 2002
Posts: 15664
Location: SoCal | The Balladeers from those days had Kluson tuners while the Artists had Schallers. The guitar could be either as we can't tell the depth from the photo. The winged bridge definitely says 70-71, probably not later than 71. By 72 Ovation was selling acoustic electrics and had gone to the current style bridge. The bowls from that time were all hand laid and by the time of the winged bridge, all were also textured. The depth of the bowl and the tuners will tell if it is a Balladeer or Artist.
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October 2014
Posts: 270
| Thanks, this is all good information and confirms what the owner has to say.
Jay, there is no label and the owner says he can't tell what shape the label might have been, which is why I posted here before traveling to see it.
I'm going to take a look at it. |
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January 2009
Posts: 1249
Location: Texas | Bob... You might him look on the neck block on the inside of the guitar. There may be a remote chance it is stamped on it... Depending on how early the guitar is |
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October 2014
Posts: 270
| I checked the guitar out this morning and, unfortunately had to reject it.
It has the shallower bowl so it's apparently an Artist, not a Balladeer; I was looking for a deep bowl. The cracks are more significant than the owner described. They're 4"- 6" long, longitudinal, one each side of the bridge and one below and aren't just finish cracks. The action is fairly high (I didn't bother to measure it) and the saddle is already pretty low, about 1/8". I didn't have a straight-edge but, sighting along the fretboard it points about to the base of the bridge.
In confirmation of it's 1971 vintage, it has a hand-laid, textured bowl, a winged bridge, and, from the remaining adhesive, appears to have had a rectangular label. I couldn't find any serial numbers inside or outside.
Oh well, maybe next time. Thanks for all the input. |
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Is this an early 70s Balladeer?
