Posted 2012-02-22 6:03 PM (#450868) Subject: Why "they" and "we" love the Ovation sound
Joined: February 2012 Posts: 58
Location: Triangle area, NC
Sorry if others have posted on this but ive been looking for some thoughts about why I love the ovation sound. Came across this video series on youtube and it "spoke to me. I agree with so many of the things these artists were saying: easy to play, tone is incredible, balanced, inspires me, etc....
Posted 2012-02-22 6:20 PM (#450870 - in reply to #450868) Subject: RE: Why "they" and "we" love the Ovation sound
Joined: May 2006 Posts: 4227
Location: Steeler Nation, Hudson Valley Contingent
I've seen those before, but they're definitely worth a look.
I like Ovations for their even tone, durability, and comfort. I've played them for so long that traditional woodboxes feel awkward to me. (Though that doesn't keep me from playing tradtional builds.)
Posted 2012-02-22 9:02 PM (#450873 - in reply to #450868) Subject: Re: Why "they" and "we" love the Ovation sound
Joined: December 2006 Posts: 6994
Location: Jet City
I'm assuming y'all are talking about the acoustics, so even though I fell in love with the UKII's sound first, I'll stay on topic.
And after all that, Steve stole my thunder. Like he says in the video, "It's a great acoustic guitar for electric guitar players". Can't explain why, it's not just a neck profile, because I own several different ones, and they all play better than any wood box I've ever played. Funny thing is I had played my UKII for more than 20 years before ever really trying a roundback acoustic.
I went into the store looking to buy an Artist series Seagull, but the guy handed me a 1778LX right after I played the Seagull and a Taylor 300 series. The Taylor was put back right away. Didn't like it at all, playability or sound wise. So the Seagull was it until that Ovation just blew me away. I know everyone here talks about the wide-necked offerings, but I'm all about the skinny neck. It's what I like, it's what I'm used to.
The thing that sealed the deal was the tone though. It was a sweeter and more balanced tone than the Seagull for sure. To my ear, it just sounded better. Still, I'm a UKII guy. It's got a tone of it's own too. Very excellent for anything from classic rock to high gain metal, and just like my experience with the acoustics, I don't know a guitar that plays better.
Posted 2012-02-22 11:44 PM (#450877 - in reply to #450868) Subject: Re: Why "they" and "we" love the Ovation sound
Joined: March 2002 Posts: 15665
Location: SoCal
My main guitar is a 29 year old 1537. Along with having a mellow sound it's got balls. I'm not into the thin airy sound I hear from Taylor and other guitars. I like a guitar that has some substance to it. Combine that with great wood in the top, wood binding around the body, and a number of other things and you have a great guitar. I've had it for almost 20 years and which.e I've played other guitars, I keep coming back to the 1537.....
Posted 2012-02-23 9:03 AM (#450885 - in reply to #450868) Subject: Re: Why "they" and "we" love the Ovation sound
Joined: January 2006 Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains
I totally agree on the midrange clarity of Ovation and Adamas models. I find that very litttle EQ adjustment is required, and I run most of mine totally flat or just bypassed, preferring to use pedals for effects, but nothing on EQ. And the playability of the neck and the OM body size, particularly in the SSB configuration, is just perfect for me.
Posted 2012-02-23 12:16 PM (#450890 - in reply to #450868) Subject: Re: Why "they" and "we" love the Ovation sound
Joined: March 2008 Posts: 2683
Location: Hot Springs, S.D.
After playing tons of them in my job as an inspector, I got spoiled. I would find myself grabbing an Ovation at home instead of my Gibsons or Guild or Martins, simply because Ovations are easier to play. If a guitar is easy to play, I sound better. It just happens that the tone is beautiful too, so not only do I sound better because of the playability, but the type of music I play sounds better because of the tone. The fact that they are so pretty to look at is just a bonus.
Posted 2012-02-23 10:41 PM (#450914 - in reply to #450868) Subject: Re: Why "they" and "we" love the Ovation sound
Joined: November 2008 Posts: 400
Location: Northwest Arkansas
Number 1: I got the DVD of this video when I bought my Adamas. Number 2: I got hooked on Ovations when I got my Adamas. Number 3: I have a 1979 Martin D-35, A nice 1994 EG334C Takamine, A Gretsch, a Yamaha, and I play my Celebrity SSB GC 057 more than any of them. NOTHING plays better than an Ovation or Adamas. Nothing.
Posted 2012-02-24 2:48 AM (#450922 - in reply to #450868) Subject: Re: Why "they" and "we" love the Ovation sound
Joined: December 2001 Posts: 7224
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest
It's the tone for me. If I've said it once I've said it a 1000 times.. Wood guitars sound like they are made of wood. I want to hear the NOTES not what the guitar is made of. When you hear a great sounding piano you don't think "wow great sounding tone they are getting on the wood piano, grand piano, upright paino etc.." no, you just think "what a great sound. It likely isn't even a piano you are listening to because frankly samples of pianos have been used liberally in recording for quite some time. It's more likely that if you hear a piano and "think" it's a sample because of the way it sounds, it's probably the time a real piano is being used. Even the wood topped Ovations do not sound like "wood". An "A" sounds like an "A" not like a "wood sounding A".
There are exceptions. If you are performing live and performing period music of the early blues era as example, while you could get that "sound" on an Ovation with the right EQ, it wouldn't look right and wouldn't really sound right. You would be going for that wood-box-with-strings sound and it wouldn't be in costume if you were playing live trying to transport people back to another time. It would be like the Re-enactment folks who forget and leave their watch on, or take a cellphone call while on the battlefield. It's just spoils the moment.
But for music, for tone, for the sake of music and tone, I honestly do not see another option. I don't mean to be a fanboy about it. I actually had high-hopes for Rainsong. They had gone the complete CF route and I thought, well that's perfect. I thought for sure Ovation would have to follow suite, but as it turns out... those Rainsong guitars (the ones that did sound good) sounded like wood guitars. That was in fact their appeal. I feel they were imitating the sound of some of the classic wood guitars. For me, if I wanted that sound, I would just buy one of the originals, not a copy.
In a way, I think Taylor has specifically targeted a vanilla sound. It seems to work for them. I have to admit they make some gorgeous looking guitars that do not sound like any other wood guitar, and yet sound like every other wood guitar out there at the same time. I bet if you took a Taylor neck and top and just glued them onto an appropriate sized Ovation bowl, you'd have a pretty decent sounding guitar, but it would not sound like a Taylor, it would sound like an Ovation, or more to my point, it would just sound better.
And as I like to point out... the FIRST stringed instruments.... all had round backs. I'm just say'n.
YMMV When I strum a guitar, or hear a guitar, I want to hear music, I want to hear tones. I think if I can identify the box it came from not because of clarity like Ovation but because of coloring like what a material like wood does to the tone, then epic fail. Just like a few weeks ago when I was awoke to the sound of a gorgeous guitar being played. I'm referring the Marley on Letterman. I didn't know who it was, or what they were playing. I heard WOW and wanted to know what type of acoustic guitar that was... Yeah, I had a feeling what it might have been, but it was National TV latenight... but sure enough, I was pleasantly surprised that it was indeed an Ovation. Similarly in December I saw the Trans Siberian Orchestra. That was the only time I have ever heard such a fantastic sounding guitar, and it wasn't an Ovation. Of course, I doubt whatever it was sounded anything like I heard it unplugged, but plugged in... it was perfect. Like an Adamas.
With an Ovation, you get that sound plugged in or not. No need to imitate or try to emulate something else. Ovation sounds like a guitar should sound.
Posted 2012-02-24 9:14 AM (#450931 - in reply to #450868) Subject: Re: Why "they" and "we" love the Ovation sound
Joined: September 2005 Posts: 3618
Location: GATLINBURG TENNESSEE :)
Big dittos on moody's 1537 comments. I bought my first 1537 in 1987 I believe, and after doing the GAS thing here, going through lots of Ovation and Adamas guitars. she's the one I would keep above all others. I have to say though... I WOULD like to try out one of the new wood-topped Adamas guitars in about 20 years, to make a good comparison.
Posted 2012-02-25 9:45 AM (#450981 - in reply to #450868) Subject: Re: Why "they" and "we" love the Ovation sound
Joined: October 2005 Posts: 4049
Location: Utah
Why do I love the sound? Tough question really, because I love how various Ovations look and how they feel. Great wood looks great in traditional guitars, but I don't like the feel of a traditional box any more.
But the sound? I think I like the cleanness of it. As was said, you don't hear "wood" you hear "Guitar".
As much as I loved the 2007BCS, when I bought an Adamas 2080 the clarity blew me away. For the first time ever I could hear every individual note in a strummed chord, not just the combination of notes.
I know my Ovations and Adamas are going to always sound amazing plugged in. The new OpPro digital preamps, Studio and VIP, have outstanding effects to elevate the plugged in sound from just plain amplified to a truly professional quality. Live or recorded it is easy to plug in and sound great. Plugged in there are a lot of good sounding A/E brands out there these days, but at open mics and local shows I have heard a lot of bad plugged in acoustics because the sound guy (usually the musician) hasn't spent enough time getting the eq tweaked.
Posted 2012-02-25 2:13 PM (#450987 - in reply to #450981) Subject: Re: Why "they" and "we" love the Ovation sound
Joined: September 2006 Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR
FlySig - 2012-02-25 7:45 AM
I have heard a lot of bad plugged in acoustics because the sound guy (usually the musician) hasn't spent enough time getting the eq tweaked.
I have decided lately that I just keep my EQ settings flat, run the sound through the "Mic" setting on my Roland, and let the Ovation sound like itself.
(I use a Roland CubeStreet battery-powered amp outside)
Although I do use a touch of reverb... I have decided that the Ovation sounds just fine without any modification.
The OP-Pro has the EQ Bypass so I can decide if I wanna sound like DiMeola or Etheridge (pick or strum) but otherwise, I don't mess with it. (Mid-Shift does about the same thing on an OP30 or OP24+)
When I take-out an electric guitar I will use all those nifty knobs on the Roland.
But when I am using the Ovation, I want it to sound like itself... Just a tad bit louder.
(to get over all that traffic noise)
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Why "they" and "we" love the Ovation sound
