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| I have a C2079LX that has pretty much been in the background of my acoustic stable since I bought it in the early 2000s. I've been using my Taylor 714ce or my Martin HD-35 for gigging. However. recent difficulty with my left hand has led me to using the Ovation as my primary gigging guitar. I have sold the Taylor and the Martin is starting to collect dust. The Martin is fine for recording or jamming, but I don't really want to use it on a 3 or 4 hour gig.
Consequently I'm looking to Ovation for a back-up gigging guitar. However, the new Ovation landscape since the sale of the company causes me to be a bit cautious in making a selection. I don't want to pay the full freight for a top of the line model, and am looking at the offshore models, specifically the TX 2078 or possibly the AX version of my 2079.
As you know, even large guitar centers do not always offer the full Ovation line, so I am not excluding the idea of mail order. I see you can now order directly from Ovation but pay the MSRP. Other online retailers offer a reduced price but are there pitfalls with using this option?
Any opinions on guitar selection or purchasing method are welcome. |
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Location: Steeler Nation, Hudson Valley Contingent | Give Al Pepiak a call at Lost Art Vintage. |
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| I know who Al is, I bought the 2079 from him and he will be a component of my research. Right now I'd like the opinions of the board members. |
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Location: Utah | The pitfall of an online seller is you don't get to play the instrument before you buy it. Around here, though, the opportunity to find a new O or A in a store is pretty much zero, so it may be a difference without meaning.
My opinion, fwiw, is any of the Ovation family of new guitars will be a good value for what you pay. I haven't played one of the DW Asian made guitars but they get good words on this forum, so I would be confident in buying one. However, I have always found the USA guitars to be that step above Asian guitars, which is of course how they are intended to be. Whatever your budget allows is going to be ok.
Another option is to buy a used recent USA model. There are many LX era guitars available with the modern Op-Pro family of preamps. Or even an older 1970's A-braced Custom Legend with the FET preamp. You can pick those up pretty cheap and they are perhaps the best sounding O's ever made. |
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Location: SoCal | How much do you want to spend? |
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| Thanks, guys. I'm thinking of keeping it below a thousand. I should add that the closest retail outlets to me are Guitar Centers, three of which are located in various directions about 90 miles from me. Not insurmountable. I do have another question:
I see from comparing specs that the TX 1778 has a superior top to the TX 2078 as well as a better pickup and pre-amp, but has a mid depth bowl as opposed to the deep contour bowl which is what I have on my C2079LX. This I assume accounts for the $100 price differential between the two. I am slightly hesitant to go for the mid depth bowl having previously owned a SS 1869, but it is not a huge consideration since I plan to use it primarily plugged in. Perhaps I have just answered my own question.
I am aware, BTW, that neither guitar comes with a case, also not a big deal
Edited by 71Jasper 2017-09-22 1:35 PM
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | 71Jasper - 2017-09-22 11:34 AM
I am aware, BTW, that neither guitar comes with a case, also not a big deal
 I remember when ALL higher-end USA Ovations came with a Nice Case.
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Location: NJ | check out my website I have a bunch of ovations in stock
priced nicely
al |
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Location: Texas | "The pitfall of an online seller is you don't get to play the instrument before you buy it." Yep...I think your chance are slim to none in finding any Music Store with an American made Ovation. |
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Location: Katmandu | If I were you, I'd shoot for the secondary market. With a budget of a grand, you can pick from a great selection of preowned top-of-the-line US-made models, vintage or not. Just looking at Reverb makes me drool.
Edited by leonardmccoy 2017-09-23 5:36 AM
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Location: Texas | If I were you, I'd call Al and see what he has that fits your budget. |
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Location: CA | I almost hate to say it, but GC occasionally has some pretty good deals on Ovations. I've bought two there over the years. Both were in excellent condition and priced at the bottom end of what I could get the equivalent guitar for on eBay or Reverb. If you go to the GC website and click on 'used guitars', you can view every Ovation (or any other brand) for sale by the company. The way I understand it, if you like one, GC will ship it - for free - to your local outlet for your convenience. I don't know for sure what commitment they require to do this - pay for it ahead of time? some downpayment? - but presumably if you went to check it out and didn't like it, you wouldn't have to buy it. |
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Location: moline,illinois | I have bought a number of used ovations off of GC's used site,some were great,some had undisclosed issues and a couple were rare and they had no idea what it really was(i found an 1158 custom legend 12 string on there a couple years ago for a great price,they didn't know it was a CL just a 12 string of course they shipped it without the case DOHHH!!!)
All that being said you can have it shipped to your local store,you will have to pay shipping but they do have a 2 week return policy so if your not happy you can get your money back and they frequently have a wide selection of used O's online,most are celebs and AX's but there will be a few USO's
Edited by 2wheeldrummer 2017-09-28 6:14 PM
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Location: moline,illinois | For some reason my reply posted twice,oh well might as well put up a pic!!!
Edited by 2wheeldrummer 2017-09-28 6:13 PM
 (IMG_1118.jpg)
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Purchase of a New Ovation
