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Joined:
July 2003
Posts: 27
Location: Somewhere in cyberspace | Hello everyone! I'm new here, just found this page while doing some research. But actually, it's nice to see some familiar faces. I've conversed with Alpep several times at his guitar shows, and corresponded briefly with Samova a few years ago, back when he had the ElectricOvations site.
I was shocked to see the high prices for the Ultra GP due to the guy from Queens of the Stone Age picking one up (see my bewildered post in the For Sale section). I've had my GP since '86 and it has always been something of an underdog. I've even been laughed at for owning it. I've always had a "reverse snob appeal" attitude about it, proud to play a great guitar that only I and nobody else was on to. Hell, if my band The Hazmats had achieved any kinda success back then, maybe this "gotta-get-a-GP" explosion would have happened sooner :) It's great to see people turning on to this great guitar, even if sometimes for the wrong reasons. Great to finally meet other owners and fans of the GP (previously, I've only known about myself and Samova).
One unanswered question that has bugged me for years: just how many of these were produced exactly? Can somebody finally give me a definitive answer, how many total and how many in each color?
Also, what is the actual model number? It's 14??
Thanks.
- Big Beat, proud Ultra GP owner since 1986. |
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December 2001
Posts: 10583
Location: NJ | You spoke to me and want to admit it???? you fool.
who are you? I don't recognize your screen name |
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Joined:
July 2003
Posts: 27
Location: Somewhere in cyberspace | You probably wouldn't recognize my real name either. Let's just say I've attended your past six or seven NJ shows and bought some drum junk from you at a couple of them. Does that make me a fool, too? |
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December 2001
Posts: 10583
Location: NJ | how much more drum stuff you want???? |
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March 2002
Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | Did the Hazmats ever play at the Canal House in Wharton? |
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December 2001
Posts: 7236
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | No one really knows exactly how many were made. The number that keeps surfacing in the haze is about 800 which based on research seems reasonable.
I think they were assembled in the USA, and even if not, and I think the assembly point is where the "magic" happened. I'm just theorizing here, but as a set neck, this guitar took a little more skill to put together. I think the folks doing the actual assembly realized that, and as most were probably players, they didn't have to build too many of them, the parts were high quality, etc etc.. they just put a little more effort into the fit and finish cause it was a shorter run, fun project.
I don't think Marketing intended to treat them any different than the GS's, but the GS's were not of the same quality wood, not set necks, and had an assortment of configurations. They had a cool body style, but that's where is stopped. Also, they made a bunch of them. The GP probably should have sold for more than it did at the time of release, but that's a whole different story. I have seen several of the $500 - $800 dollar currently new guitars waltz through my studio recently. Ibanez, Schecter, Epiphone of similar configuration. Although great guitars, they don't have "it" and from the other side of my brain, they don't have the playability and the tone of this almost 20 year old guitar.
So after some thought... my point..
1. Sure Josh is helping to make it popular, and thank you Josh. As cwk2 said to me, "Ovation" finally gets on the cover (ref Guitar Player I think) and it's a guitar they haven't made in 20 years.
2. At the time, the luthiers got to put a guitar together that wasn't a slap it together copy, so they had some fun and went the extra mile making them very consistant with excellent fit and finish. This is speculation, but there are certain things that at the time could not be done by machine, and they were done extremely well on this guitar, and consistant. I don't think Ovation would have sold this guitar at the price they did if they knew how it was built. The GS guitars sold for only $100 less than the GP's and there is at least that much different in Hardware value alone, not to mention finish, and workmanship. They should have sold for at least $200 more than they hit the market at the time.
3. They are rare. Sure there are a lot of rare guitars. But this one really plays well, and it has that "it" factor somewhat just because of the headstock, but who really knows.
Is the price really that for out? I don't think so. A little high, yes, but over the top, not yet. The reason I say this is look at old DanElectro and Silvertone guitars. Some of early ones are in at least the 500-600 range, and lets just not go there on quality and playability.... Some Micro-Frets are really up there too, they look cool, have the "it" factor in many cases, but they don't play all that well, just look great.
Anyway.. that's my few pence worth on the topic. I think the GP's are a fluke in a good way. I don't think the price will ever go down in price, as guitars don't tend to do that. Once they hit a level, then that becomes the reference point for many years, especially if it is a good guitar to start off with.
Only time will tell. |
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May 2002
Posts: 114
Location: NoHo, CA | Amen brother! |
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July 2003
Posts: 27
Location: Somewhere in cyberspace | Cliff,
no, but we played a lot of places around New York City and Long Island in the early 90's, Buzzcocks/Dead Kennedys/MC5 retro-punk kinda stuff.
Mr. Ovation,
thanks. I've heard numbers between 250 and 1000. I once wrote to Ovation in the late 80's asking about my guitar, but they never replied. It would be nice to know.
Is one color more rare than the others or were the numbers pretty much equal? The cherry-red ones seem to be a bit more common, followed by the sunbursts. I've never personally seen a black one. Mine is cherry red, super clean original condition. It was once photographed by Steve Cherne for the Blue Book, though they never used the photo.
Were there four different model numbers, one for each color, or was it just one model number for all the GP's? I've looked in the price list on this page and it's in the 1400 series, but which one(s)? |
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July 2002
Posts: 327
Location: Houston, TX | Yeah, the number I always heard was around 250. They were assembled in Marion, North Carolina, which is a beautiful little town of about 8000 situated at the base of the Great Smoky Mountains. I grew up about 15 miles from there.
I still wonder if there are GP's floating around the hills up there. |
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March 2002
Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | ". . . Cliff,
no, but we played a lot of places around New York City and Long Island in the early 90's, Buzzcocks/Dead Kennedys/MC5 retro-punk kinda stuff. . . "
Oh, thank god.
I saw a band last year here locally going by the name "Hazmats" and frankly, . . . well, I'm not gonna go there. |
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July 2003
Posts: 27
Location: Somewhere in cyberspace | Cliff,
no, that wasn't us. There's also a band in Jersey now with the same name. A couple of our old fans actually went to see them once, thinking that we got back together, which is how I heard about them. I'm pretty sure we were the original Hazmats. I did a lot of research when we chose that name, precisely to avoid this sort of confusion. Oh well, the band is history, the name is up for grabs. But I still have the guitar :) |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | The latest issue of Brit magazine "Guitarist" has a full page pic of JH & his GP. The best bit is that the caption says something like "This obscure Ovation guitar can fetch as much as $500"
I've seen maybe a dozen in the UK, all Sunburst. The one I bought a few months ago was sunburst. At least I think it was, I only owned it for a couple of hours. |
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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 7236
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | Just fuel for the fun fire, but has anyone actually played a Strat that was really worth the $7000+ price tag of some of the older ones. That is one guitar I will never understand. I have played a few old strats, and they are fun guitars, that play well. If you change out the pickups, tuners, bridge and pots, you can make a really good guitar out of them. |
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March 2002
Posts: 1380
Location: Central Oregon | I certainly never have Miles. That is one of the few higher quality guitars that I would never wish to own. They put that top volume control knob right where my little finger wants to be. I generally anchor the heel of my hand on the bridge & that just won't work on a Strat. Not for me anyway. I've played a few of 'em & I invariably hit the volume control within a few seconds. The only thing worse is those "Whateverthehelltheyare's" with the clamp that locks the strings just past the nut & then has all those dinky little "fine (de)-tuning" knobs on the bridge. I can de-tune one of those pieces of crap as fast as I can screw up the volume control on a Strat.
Btw, the Ovation bridge is the most comfortable of any guitar I've ever played. Even the Celebrity I had was very nice as far as my right hand was concerned. My left hand wasn't very happy though. With the new Elite I'm happy all over :)
I'm also leaving for Alaska on vacation this Sunday. It's 104 here today & a lovely 65 in Kodiak (my alma mater). Haven't been there since 1969 but I hear the halibut fishing is still great.
Life is good :)
Nils |
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December 2001
Posts: 7236
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | Halibut... yummmmmm
Kahler trems do take a little to get the hang of, but I'm at the point where I only tune with those little knobs and I instintively go for those tuners first. But it's a matter of taste thing. I actually like the layout of the strat, but I just never played one I liked. I like the Viper because of the big knobs and the same reason you don't like the strat. I use the volume all the time to play (when I did play), to do leads, get crunch etc.. |
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Welcome this Ultra GP owner to the club!
