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Joined:
April 2003
Posts: 15
Location: Denmark | Has anyone experience with problems when playing an Ovation both sitting and standing? I have heard some having problems with the guitar "sliding" down due to the round shape of the back! The guitar will instead of being 90 degress on your thighs, lying flat down when you sit down and play!!!
best regards
Christian |
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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 7251
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | I see this complaint from time to time too, and it's mostly from people that try hugging the guitar and it also I guess has something to do with familiarity. If the top part of ones leg is parallel with the ground, it won't slide. A lot of "box" players are used to sitting on stools where that part of the leg is slanted toward the floor, and yes... it will then try to slide. I play I guess (from I've been told) classical style with the lower bout between my legs. It's easier to play the higher octaves for me. |
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Joined:
November 2002
Posts: 1196
Location: Lafayette, Louisiana | For me the round back has always been comfortable to hold and play. In fact awhile back I had used a friends Washburn at church, and I could not wait to play my Ovation again. I find the Ovation works well for me standing up as I can tilt the guitar a little towards me. With a flatback acoustic guitar I find myself trying to tilt it with no luck. I was watching a video of Roy Clark the other day as he performed in Branson. He held up an Adamas 12 string and said the back of that guitar and the front of him didn't agree. I have never found an ovation guitar uncomfortable. Quite the opposite....Paul Hebert |
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Joined:
November 2002
Posts: 27
Location: North Carolina | I've had the round back against my round front problem when standing. The first time I stood up with my Balladeer it tilted up and I had a hard time playing it. I never have had a problem playing while sitting. Over the last several months I have gotten use to playing it standing so no problem. |
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Joined:
November 2002
Posts: 1300
Location: Madison, Wisconsin | When I first got my Legend, I simply couldn't play it standing up. I had to have a stool. Since that time, I've lost over 40lb. and I no longer have any problem with the round back. I agree with Paul, it's kind of nice to be able to tilt the guitar a little to take a look at the neck when you need to. |
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Joined:
December 2002
Posts: 68
Location: Texas | I have an old 1112 Balladeer that I just got back in December. I had a few friends who had said I would not be happy with the deep bowl round back. I talked to my mentor who began teaching me guitar back in 1973, who has played an Ovation since 1968. This was about 2 months after I bought mine. I mentioned to him what my buds had said when I was getting ready to buy her and how I actually felt very comfortable with her. He noted to me that neither of us have big guts.
I guess having a guitar that does not have a corner edge to lodge in the fat may may be detrimental for some folks.
-Shaft |
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Joined:
May 2002
Posts: 3005
Location: Las Cruces, NM | Any good picker doesn't give a shit as to what it looks and feels like, you grab it by the neck and pick out what ever you been thinking about. If you have to think about what the shape of the guitar is, you ain't got any music to play, you're just standing there posturing and hoping to be mistaken as a star. A picker plays music not a guitar!! |
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Joined:
June 2002
Posts: 6202
Location: Phoenix AZ | I never thought about this problem, so I guess it's not a problem. I baby-sat a friends Martin for a few months (very nice guitar) and I did notice that everytime I plyed it I would get a painful line across my thiegh and also my chest from the sharp edge of the guitar back meeting the sides at a some stupid angle like 90 degrees. Dave |
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Joined:
July 2002
Posts: 280
Location: Waterloo, IL | I found the simplest solution to my deep bowl Balladeer sliding down while playing was to put the guitar strap on it and adjust it to help hold the guitar in the right place. Maybe when I have as many years playing Ovations as some of the others here I won't have the sliding problem any more. :D
Chuck
Still floating around in the Middle East
(but heading home) |
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Joined:
December 2002
Posts: 939
Location: Fort Worth, Texas | I think it's just a matter of getting used to it. In the last year or so I went from playing sitting down all the time to playing standing up most of the time and graduated from a deep bowl Celebrity (sitting down) to a shallow bowl Legend (standing up). I'm comfortable playing either one as far as the round back is concerned (allthough the Celebrity seldom gets out of it's gig bag these days). I always have a strap on no matter what...
Willard
Since that time, I've lost over 40lb. and I no longer have any problem with the round back
That quote should inspire me to lose some weight so the guitar is more round than my gut! |
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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 7251
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | I thought about losing weight, but then I would blow my excuse to by Parker guitars (they have concave backs) |
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Joined:
January 2003
Posts: 38
Location: Denver, Colorado | It's just getting used to playing an ovation. If you ever noticed, Glen Campbell usually was seated when playing the deep bowl and when he was jumping around the stage standing up, he had a viper or one of his hard bodies in his hands. I have a special stool that I use for my deep bowl where my right leg is elevated enough that the guitar has nowhere to slide. When I have to stand and perform, I play my super shallow bowl legend (plugged in of course). Also, wasn;t there a product out there for awhile that stuck to the bottom of the bowl and they claimed that would keep it from sliding? I seem to remember something like that. Never bought it though. |
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re the round shape of Ovation
