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Posts: 3111
Location: Nashville TN. | Originally posted by STK:
Kam Sa Ham Ni Da to you, too. Oh yeah, forgot the Click to get one more credit to my postings :D
No visit to the C factory yet. But if more of the OFC members show up in Seoul, I might be able to arrange?! I will take out the members to Korean BBQ with a lot of Kimchi (spicy cabbage). Tupperware is only one I know thus far destined to show up here sooner or later due to work. It would be interesting to see a tour like Jerome has at New Hartford.
http://www.ovationtribute.com/Ovation_Factory_Tour_2007/Ovation_Fac...
Is actually a Kaman Factory or is it a contractor?
I'd be interested in seeing it.
Depending on cost. |
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Location: Nashville TN. | Just out curiosity how do prices compare in S Korea and USA.
This Celbs retail is $350
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/CelebNQ
This Custom Legend $1500
http://www.samash.com/catalog/showitem.asp?SKU=O17195&ovchn=FRO&ovc...
What they sell for in S. Korea?? |
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Location: Seoul, Korea | PEZ: First of all thanks for asking me all these questions so I can post more replies.
On the price of the guitar: Last time I went to Nakwon mall of music instruments in Seoul, the Celebrity model were all in US$300 range. Now with US Dollar being weaker since then, I would say the price is almost the same. The good thing of buying Celbs in the U.S. is that you are guaranteed an A grade guitar. Let me explain using Hyundai automobile. When Hyundai exports cars to the U.S., the cars usually have thicker steel plates, more options and usually costs much less than the ones you buy in Korea.
The Custom Legend (Made in USA) will cost you around US$2,000 or slightly more. There is certain room to haggle. |
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Location: Seoul, Korea | On the Celbs factory tour, I have not been there myself. However, if there are enough OFC members interested in it, a visit similar to Mothership probably can be arranged. Having said that, I cannot believe the factory would be on par with the one in CT.
The trip to Seoul including accommodation will costs you close to US$2,000. FYI, That is one Custom Legend. Seoul is the second most expensive city in the world after Moscow, believe it or not. I promise to take you out for Korea BBQ and kimchi fest twice per day on the house. |
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Location: Seoul, Korea | PEZ: On your first question on Fender and Gibson holding up their guitar prices despite its cheaper brands such as Epiphone (Made in Korea and China) and so on. IMHO, Fender and Gibson have a totally different brand recognition even by non-guitar playing population. And even more so with guitar afficionados. Furthermore, the electric guitars from Fender and Gibson are industry standard which is why there are so many copy cat models of Fender Stratocaster and Gibson Les Paul. Not that I am a marketing guru but I am not really sure what brand strategy is for Ovation/Adamas/Celebrity guitars. The new owner Fender probably will have to limit the number of models and focus more on money making models only.
I have a guitar book by Tom and Mary Anne Evans named "Guitars". It is a guitar encyclopedia going back close to 20 years or more. There are two pictures of Ovation only in a 500 page book while Gibson/Fender/Martin have at least 20 pictures or more in the acoustic and electric section. On Ovation, it is written "on past evidence, guitarists are quite conservative about the shape of their instruments (witness the lack of success of Gibson's Explorer and Flying V when they first appeared). It is also possible that they are wary of the built-in preamplifier." |
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Posts: 4903
Location: Phoenix AZ | Just my 2 cents, but I'm guessing that the delination between the korean and usa instruments is not so black and white. What I mean is, the upper end of the imports might very well be better made and better sounding guitars than the bottom end of the usa line. For $500. that solid top Ultra with contour bowl, abalone rosette and OP-Pro is one hell of an instrument. Certainly not the best, but better than some of the usa models I have seen in terms of sound, features and build quality. As far as 'pigeon-holing' guitars based on where they are made, I disagree. If Fender decides to move balladeer and legend production to Korea, do those models automatically become beginner to amature level instruments? I don't think so.
Dave |
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Posts: 3111
Location: Nashville TN. | Originally posted by Tupperware:
Just my 2 cents, but I'm guessing that the delination between the korean and usa instruments is not so black and white. What I mean is, the upper end of the imports might very well be better made and better sounding guitars than the bottom end of the usa line. For $500. that solid top Ultra with contour bowl, abalone rosette and OP-Pro is one hell of an instrument. Certainly not the best, but better than some of the usa models I have seen in terms of sound, features and build quality. As far as 'pigeon-holing' guitars based on where they are made, I disagree. If Fender decides to move balladeer and legend production to Korea, do those models automatically become beginner to amature level instruments? I don't think so.
Dave Agrreded as long as they are made with the same materials and workmanship. |
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Location: Nashville TN. | Originally posted by STK:
On the Celbs factory tour, I have not been there myself. However, if there are enough OFC members interested in it, a visit similar to Mothership probably can be arranged. Having said that, I cannot believe the factory would be on par with the one in CT.
The trip to Seoul including accommodation will costs you close to US$2,000. FYI, That is one Custom Legend. Seoul is the second most expensive city in the world after Moscow, believe it or not. I promise to take you out for Korea BBQ and kimchi fest twice per day on the house. I would think it would be a lot more automated,
as the Celbs are mass produced.
The quality control on them as pretty impressive.
I would think it would be a very modern plant.
For the money they are impressive guitars.
There is no better acoustic/electric in that price range.
Every now and then there a magic one that sounds real imppressive. When I was hosting an opem mic I saw lots of them come through.
I had no idea Seoul was that expensive.
For that matter Moscow..... |
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Posts: 3111
Location: Nashville TN. | Originally posted by STK:
PEZ: First of all thanks for asking me all these questions so I can post more replies.
On the price of the guitar: Last time I went to Nakwon mall of music instruments in Seoul, the Celebrity model were all in US$300 range. Now with US Dollar being weaker since then, I would say the price is almost the same. The good thing of buying Celbs in the U.S. is that you are guaranteed an A grade guitar. Let me explain using Hyundai automobile. When Hyundai exports cars to the U.S., the cars usually have thicker steel plates, more options and usually costs much less than the ones you buy in Korea.
The Custom Legend (Made in USA) will cost you around US$2,000 or slightly more. There is certain room to haggle. With the cars they have meet US DOT safety standards. They cost less here???
Why is that? |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Originally posted by PEZ:
Agrreded as long as they are made with the same materials ... Hey, plastic is plastic. |
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Location: SoCal | Marin OM vs. cheap Epiphone..... wood is wood........ |
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Location: Seoul, Korea | Moody: Wood is wood, but it is not. It is almost impossible to harvest new Brazilian Rosewood which is why the very best guitars have side and back made out of Brazilian versus Indian. Many of the cheaper guitars are made out of laminated wood and not solid tonal wood. There is also the age of the wood. The AAA grade spruce has denser wood grain than AA and so on. You can almost count the rings. At least this is what I have been told when I visited the luthier shops in Madrid, Spain, last year.
PEZ: It is called dumping/protection from U.S. car makers' point of view. Hyundai Sonata 4-cyl model starts at US$20K here while you can get it for around US$15k with more options in the U.S. Lexus LS460L costs close to US$200K here while it costs around US$75K in your neck of the wood. |
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Location: NJ | I believe Moody was just trying t'be facetious.
Unfortunately, he's as adept at Humour as he is at Spelling . . . |
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Location: Seoul, Korea | With the cars they have meet US DOT safety standards. They cost less here???
Why is that? PEZ: This also applies to the USA made Ovation. It is so much cheaper in the U.S. than, say, the U.K. or Germany. Our OFC members in these countries have told us so. In Sweden, the VAT (value added tax) you pay for merchandize is 25%. So for a guitar that cost US$1,000, you would pay VAT of US$250 on top. You are lucky to live in shoppers' heaven.
P.S. The junior title is gone next to my ID. I can now stop posting. Thanks, PEZ. :cool: |
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Location: Seoul, Korea | I believe Moody was just trying t'be facetious.
Unfortunately, he's as adept at Humour as he is at Spelling . . . Cliff: I need to be more crisp like you. Click. ;)
BTW, when you live in one of the densest cities in the world, it is difficult to keep one's humor up. Will remember to temper Moody's comment from now on. Am a confused individual who has had four citizenships in the past - Korean to Swedish to American to Singaporean (recent). Family and Guitars keep me sane. |
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Location: SoCal | Bite me guys. I was poking fun at Witko..... |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | STK, most of us are sarcastic most of the time, except when Moody says, "bite me." He really means it. He's into that sort of thing. As you probably know, all Californians are into kinky stuff.
Personally, I tend to exaggerate, especially when I complain about my wife. She never has whipped me one time, even after I bought her that outfit and whips when we were in California last summer. Exaggeration is my only fault.
We had a South Korean foreign exchange student living with us a couple years ago. She had all sorts of fun with the vocabulary and kept trying to find words that I didn't know. We had more fun with her pronunciation. "Peace" was "piss" and "sheet" was "shit" and "beach" was "bitch". Christmas was time for singing "Piss on Earth". We missed her this Christmas. |
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Location: NJ | Whitehead had a Korean foreign-exchange student as well . . .
. . . they never DID find her . . . . |
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Location: SoCal | he musta bit her..... |
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Location: Tychy, Poland | someone mentoined prices of US-made ovations in Europe, it looks like these:
take retail price in US add 25% of import tax, then add 22% of VAT tax then add another 20% for shop and there is a price of a guitar. Simple?
$1000 guitar + $250 import tax = $1250 + 22% vat = 1525$ + 20% for seller =1860%...
...and then You have discounts. |
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Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | What's the value added tax? How do they add value except by taxing it? |
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Location: Tychy, Poland | they take retail value of guitar from their book , then they add (before adding vat) import tax, then they add to a taxed value, so it's bigger.
And what is funny, in Europe (at least in Poland)there is no lifetime warranty. In Poland Ovations get a 12 month warranty (Korean made) or 24 months warranty (US made and Adamas).
Importing used guitars is MUCH cheaper because if they do add anything, they add 3 or 7% of import tax, but i don't know on what basis, and there is no VAT on used guitars so so-called "private import" is much cheaper...
... did i mention that i will be on market for v.good / mint condition 1614 in may or june :-)?? |
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Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | So there really is no value added, its just more tax. It should be called the tax on tax tax. |
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Posts: 1380
Location: Central Oregon | Originally posted by an4340:
So there really is no value added, its just more tax. It should be called the tax on tax tax. I liberal utopia. |
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Location: enid, ok | A tax by any other name is still a tax. Click! |
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Is this really an Ovation
