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November 2013
Posts: 163
Location: Phoenix, AZ | I will be looking at a model 1615, 12 string next week, called the guy yesterday, he was on his way out of town till next week. It is a 1981, and I am curious if this is a hand laid fiberglas bowl.. is that possible, or were hand laid bowls used only on Custom Legends? |
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April 2008
Posts: 2985
Location: Sydney, Australia | It's highly unlikely that it's a fibreglass bowl, but a visual inspection on the inside would clear all doubt. |
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Joined:
November 2013
Posts: 163
Location: Phoenix, AZ | Thanks, I looked at photos of a 1979 1615 Pacemaker on the Ovation Tribute website, that one was definitely a hand laid fiberglass bowl. Two years later, they may have changed it, who knows... |
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September 2006
Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | If you look inside the bowl and see fabric "weave" it is fiberglass.
If you look inside the bowl and see injection-molding dimples it is not.
My (long-gone) 1981 1115 had weave.
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Joined:
November 2013
Posts: 163
Location: Phoenix, AZ | Thanks Arthur, if your 1115 was fiberglass, this 1615 may be as well... hoping so. |
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June 2012
Posts: 2317
Location: Pueblo West, CO | Prior to 1982, all bowls except Applause were hand-laid FG.
There were a few different 'generations' of hand-laid bowls. The materials stayed the same, but what changed was how they were laid up. 1st Gen. bowls (1966-1968) were vacuum-bagged over a male mold. 2nd Gen. bowls (1968-1981) were simple layups in a female mold. 3rd Gen. bowls were vacuum-bagged inside a female mold which is put inside an autoclave. I'm not sure exactly when the factory started using the autoclave.
I've had the opportunity to play 1st and 2nd Gen. bowls and they're equally good in terms of lightness and resonance. If I had to give a nod to one or the other, it would go to the 1st Gen. bowl because the vacuum-bagging squeezes out the excess resin which makes the part slightly more flexible, and thus, slightly more resonant. I have not played a 3rd Gen. bowl, but I would imagine it's similar to the 1st Gen. bowl.
If it's a 1981 hand-laid bowl, then as others have noted, you will be able to see the weave of the cloth on the inside the bowl.
FWIW, SMC bowls are still fiberglass. They use roving fibers inside a prepreg matrix of partially cured resin and fiberglass strands. The hand-laid bowls use woven cloth and liquid resin.
Lonnie - 2014-10-07 2:18 PM
I will be looking at a model 1615, 12 string next week, called the guy yesterday, he was on his way out of town till next week. It is a 1981, and I am curious if this is a hand laid fiberglas bowl.. is that possible, or were hand laid bowls used only on Custom Legends?
Edited by DanSavage 2014-10-08 3:24 PM
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Joined:
November 2013
Posts: 163
Location: Phoenix, AZ | Thanks Dan!, very informative. In my opinion the fiberglass bowl has a much better tone. Can't wait to see it... |
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1615 12 String - Fiberglass Bowl?
