If you asked SWMBO, she'd say there's a LOT more redundancy than I. To her it seems silly to have 4 A-Braced Legends, but come on now: Deep non-cutaway, SSB, Mid and Deep... no redunacy there right?

But now that the pretty white guitar is basically brand new, and matches up with the 12er for that extra sumthin' special if they're up on stage, and the sparkly pearl white gleaming so pretty in the lights, the other Elite SSB will no longer be touched.

Sad but true.

So, here's the one that started my SSB obsession, the '84 Collector's Edition.

I chose the '84 as my first try because of one reason. The dude that ran the show says it was the best one ever made, and I seem to remember him saying something like it was the only Ovation (Adamas not included) that he still played, and that it's been his main player since the beginning. Even to the point of having that particular guitar's neck changed just so he could have a 1 3/4 nut on it.

That's a pretty big endorsement, so I went with it and sure 'nuff, here I am with 4 SSBs.

This one had a special nut put on and strung Nashville style. I fiddled with it that way for a week or so, but couldn't take it anymore. I needed to see how it would do for me in a normal setting, so now she's back to her ol' EJ16 wearin' self with the original nut.

I love the use of BLACK in this. As much as I can remember, this was a pretty radical jump in looks for Ovation. I think it's the first with black tuner buttons, a black peghead veneer, and of course the ebony stain rubbed over the spruce top for that antiqued brown/black effect.

Included will be the case, nashville cut nut, and the magazine article with some gas station dude holding one.

$800 plus whatever it cost to get it to you. Come visit for the NW Gathering... Shipping's free then

I thought AJ was meant to be THINNING the collection?