|
|
Joined:
April 2002
Posts: 51
Location: Hot Springs, Arkansas | Hello, again, Lads (and Lasses). I have a chance to procure a steel string Viper (A/E), which I am told was the prototype for the current model and made in '94 or so. From the pics I've seen, it seems to have something other than the current issue pre-amp found in the production Vipers. However, it looks very unique and I think that the top (natural) may even be quarter sawn book matched. (Could this be?) I know there was some discussion a few weeks ago about this guitar and I wondered if anyone thought any more about it since then? It looks like a pretty collectable piece to me. Any thoughts/info about this guitar?
----------------------------
Morse |
|
| |
|
Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | There was one prototype and it was made at Hamer. Different preamp and there is a different peghead angle, 14 degree I think, than the 7 degree Big O. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
April 2002
Posts: 51
Location: Hot Springs, Arkansas | Hi, cwk2. Thanks for the reply. Did you ever see the guitar, or know about how well it was built? Is it anything special? I am curious about why the Hamer guys built it, rather than the Ovation team... Any info on that?
-------------------------
Morse |
|
| |
|
Joined:
April 2002
Posts: 51
Location: Hot Springs, Arkansas | Hi, cwk2. Thanks for the reply. Did you ever see the guitar, or know about how well it was built? Is it anything special? I am curious about why the Hamer guys built it, rather than the Ovation team... Any info on that?
-------------------------
Morse |
|
| |
|
Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 10581
Location: NJ | Hamer makes a similar guitar called the duotone so probably it was a natural step to have them make the viper plus Hamer is a Kaman company as I umderstamd Jol helped design the preamp |
|
| |
|
Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | It was a great guitar. I played it etc. Hamer made it because they were doing wood bodies and it was easier for them to do the first one. This was right about the time of the duotone, just before it actually. It had EMG electronics that Jol Dantzig designed. It's a very cool guitar and definately worth having. The Epaulettes are slightly different as well. You can only really see this holding this one and a new one side by each. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
April 2002
Posts: 51
Location: Hot Springs, Arkansas | About these Protoypes. Are they made with more care, better materials, or are they just kind of "one-offs" that are meant more for experimenting/trying new ideas with, with not much attention to cosmetic detail?
Thanks!
Morse |
|
| |
|
Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 10581
Location: NJ | yes yes and yes
generally prototypes are hand made and done with more care.
engineering samples are a different stories |
|
| |
|
Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | What Al says is true. However they also tend to be a little cruder sometimes since the production tooling usually hasn't been made and they are all or mostly hand made. This is why the production versions sometimes will have more flowing lines, better blends etc. Also protos sometimes will have a feature that got bounced in the final version. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
April 2002
Posts: 51
Location: Hot Springs, Arkansas | Thanks, guys. I went ahead and bought the Viper Proto from the fellow. He says that it is very, very nice and is the best one he's played. The photos look real good and the top looks like book matched spruce (could this be?) In other words, the two pieces of the top look like mirror images of each other. Would they have used such on the proto? Also, it appears from the pic to have the pre-amp you described. The volume control is an inch or two south of the slide controls. It's definitely not the same as the one on current models. My seller also said the back was the "black almost vinyl rough textured material" found on other Ovations. I assume that maybe the mahogany back is coated, but I don't know for sure, having never actually held a viper before.
I really appreciate your thoughts and comments on this. When i get it I'll give you a detailed description.
----------------
Morse |
|
| |
|
Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | All spruce tops are book matched. The Mahog body was sprayed with bowl paint. Looking forward to your touchy feely report when you get it. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
May 2002
Posts: 1445
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada | Hey Morse, congrats on your new toy...I know you have been looking for a "special" Ovation and it would appear that you have found one!
Wayne |
|
| |
|
Joined:
April 2002
Posts: 51
Location: Hot Springs, Arkansas | Hey, Wayne! Yep, I'm pretty tickled. I'll send a full description when I get the guitar. The fellow I'm buying it from said he found it hanging in a pawn shop in Nashville. He said it was real dusty and had one string missing! I would love to know it's history, but I suppose that's lost forever. When he got it he had the action adjusted and cleaned up and said it's the best playing Ovation he's ever seen!
Hope that's true, but I'll let you know when it gets here.
------------------------------
Morse |
|
| |
Viper Proto
