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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 613
Location: Zion, Illinois | I have a Glenn Campbell 12-String I bought back in 1974.
The top is spruce with a very wide grain.
For you old-timers, what grade spruce did Ovation use in 1974.
I've just look at an Ovation Glen Campbell Ovation on Ebay and it appear to me to have a much narrow grain (which ='s a better quality/sound)
anybody know the quality of the top of my 12-string?????
bradley |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | I think Ovations standard tops were classed as AA, which is usually around 10-12 lines per inch. Tightness of grain is only one way that spruce is graded. I've heard some spectacular guitars with very wide grain. My old Texan has about 8 lines to the inch at it's widest and sounds killer. There's lots of other factors in a top. Spruce grading was discussed a while ago, try a search. |
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Joined:
January 2003
Posts: 20
Location: MN | My Dad has a six string, about the same year. I think its called the Balladeer. At any rate, it is very nice looking guitar and sounds great! The finish and the sound hole in lay (also neck and bridge) are excellent! Nothing aginst my CC01, but someday I want to upgrade to a model thats that nice.
Why don't they make a deep-bowl with electronics other then CC01? |
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Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | As I recall,
Back then the tops were
A, Balladeer range
AA, Legend
AAA, Custom legend
With in these ranges there were s/b grade, the -5s, and some 12 string grade which were usually the stiffer tops (to stand up to the extra pull) |
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Joined:
October 2002
Posts: 181
Location: Queens, NY | Ovation used to (or still does?) make a CC026, which is a deep bowl Celebrity with electronics. They still show it on their web site, but if you download their 2002 Catalog (PDF file) it shows that it's been replaced by the CC024, which is a mid-depth bowl.
I too own a CC01 (Mahogany). Nice guitar for the money. Very underrated IMHO. |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 873
Location: puerto vallarta, mexico | you got me counting------my 1983b collectors edition has aroung 40 lines per inch and has some really cool looking squiggly lines in the grain around the soundhole. the top is perfectly flat after 20 years. someone stripped the electronics out of it and for an acoustic practice axe, it is my favorite. i was helping a guy who owns a seagull figure out the timing for some stuff he wanted to do for open mic night. he plugged his in and the 83 didn't need to be. without the electronics that ss bowl is awesome and my shoulder dosen't hurt as much as it does playing the deep and even deeper adamas bowls. the 83 even matches my twin ukII's. (one for gigs and one incase i ever play for the queen). they are made of very tight AAA urelite with about 75 bubbles to the inch. man, i love my ovations.
is the artist bowl still being made? that was a nice compromise. my first balladeer has that bowl. |
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Joined:
January 2003
Posts: 43
| You know, top grading is a funny thing. When I buy tops, I tap every single one I look at, regardless of the grade.
An Example:
I attended a demonstration at a local music shop a few years ago when a big guitar manufacturer brought in some guy to give a talk on their instruments, how they are built, and the woods they use. He started talking about tops, then proceeded to pass around a "A" top. Everyone looked at it and passed it around. When I got it, I tapped it. The speaker gave me a puzzled look and continued. He passed around a "AA" top, and once again, I tapped it. He looked at me again and realized that I might know more than the average Joe. Then he started his talk on how they used the "AAA" tops and passed one around. The rest of the audience Oooed and Aahed at the "AAA" top, but now the back row, where I was sitting, waited for me to get the top and make my opinion. I tapped it. Everyone looked in anticipation as I tapped the top. The speaker was looking right at me and asked me to hold my comments and he would like to talk to me after the presentation. I agreed and didn't say a word to anyone about my findings, but the presenter knew what I knew. The "AAA" top looked beautiful, with tight grain and bearclaw figure, but it was sonically dead. When I say dead, I mean dead. The "AA" top was outstanding, the "A" top was pretty good, but the high dollar "AAA" top was a dog. After the talk, he asked me to step aside and asked me what I knew. I told him, and he smiled and agreed. He asked me not to say anything because that top was a dog and that is why he had it to show. That made sense to me, so I agreed to keep my mouth shut and not ruin his evening. The nice thing is he gave me a bunch of goodies for being nice and supporting him in his talk when I was asked my opinions. I simply evaded the issue when asked.
So the point is, don't judge a guitar by the woods they use, or the top "grade". Judge it by the sound. That is really all that matters anyway, isn't it?
Photogazer |
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Joined:
December 2002
Posts: 939
Location: Fort Worth, Texas | Photogazer brings up an interesting point for me. My foray into buying things on the Internet is some CDs and Universal Monster Little Big Heads (that's another board :p ). Unless I collected guitars as a living, or could afford it, like many who post here, I have a hard time buying a guitar on-line when I haven't actually played THAT guitar...
I could possibly go and find the same model and try it out, but I can't help believe some individual guitars of the same model would feel/sound/play/etc. different.
A music teacher I took a mariachi class from last summer told us you can have 20 of the same guitar and one will be "no bueno" and the next "muy primo".
I know any USA Ovation is made with care by the craftsmen, I would still want to strum it... |
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December 2001
Posts: 7248
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | One would think any of the Carbon or Woven top Ovations of the same model would all sound the about the same, but I have a feeling that acoustics are not that kind, even when dealing with artifical tops. |
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August 2002
Posts: 110
| Photogazer,
So what you're saying is never to buy AAA tops? And AA is the best?
Which top is the sturdiest? |
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Joined:
January 2003
Posts: 20
Location: MN | I think he is saying - make sure you like the sound (regardless of price).
Who knows, the best sounding guitar at a store, may not be the most expensive. For some of us that can't afford much (faimly needs first) that can be a real comfort. |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 15686
Location: SoCal | That is exactly what he is saying. Too much of the time, people are sucked in by hype or what a salesman says. When you play a guitar in a store, listen to it, feel it in your hands, and see what your senses tell you. It's amazing how ofter a medium priced guitar will beat the snot out of a high end one.
Seven or eight years ago, before I found Big Blue (Adamas 12 string), I almost bought a Seagull 12 string. About $450 and just wonderful to play and hear. Everybody else in the world was buying Snaylors and Juilds. |
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Joined:
January 2003
Posts: 6
Location: Gardnerville Nevada | It has been my understanding that the grading of tone woods is done for appearance only and not for sound. The higher the grade of wood the more uniform and "pretty" it looks. The tone a wood makes can vary even in wood that looks the same. The better luthiers will tap tone their guitars as they are constructed and make adjustments to the bracing etc. etc. to try to maintain as consistant a tone as possible with the materials they have to work with. We have all heard stories of that single inexpensive guitar that sounded as good as the big dollar guitars tested. It could be very true that it sounded as good but the reason for it is probably a coincedence that the tone wood used just happened to work with its mass produced bracing and other construction. |
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Joined:
May 2002
Posts: 3005
Location: Las Cruces, NM | Theory is that the densely grained tops with straight, parallel grains will vibrate with the least amount of damping of non parallel wood cells. This generally works, but as with all theories, there are exceptions due to low density of the wood, poor construction, thickness not proper and many other variances. That's what makes a guitar with quality control good, the poor tonal quality will cause it to be rejected as those problems are obvious to experienced guitar makers. (I don't know what this means except you can rely somewhat on a reputable manufacturer). |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | One of the primary factors in choosing wood for soundboards is the strength to weight ratio. I.E tops that are stiff but light generally sound good and produce a balanced response. Tight grain is a good indicator of stiffness, but perfectly good-sounding guitars can be built using lumber with wider grain. Some of the factors in AAA grade & above are purely cosmetic. |
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