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Joined:
January 2009
Posts: 29
Location: Germany | Hello,
I found an Adamas 1581-7 (#6747) on Ebay: Click here to see the Adamas at Ebay
As you can see by the pictures, the left corner of the headstock is broken (and lost, it can't be glued :( ). I contacted the seller who says that everything else is ok (neck, frets, tuners, ...). He bought the guitar used six years ago and the corner was already broken. So he couldn't tell how this happend.
Sadly the guy lives to far away for visiting and checking the guitar.
Certainly this guitar is not for collecting and will be hard to sell (if I should ever want to). But for the same reason it might be available for a low price. - And Adamas guitars are rare and more expensive here.
Reading a lot in this wonderful forum, I learned that the 1581 is a very good sounding guitar (can you confirm that?). So I'm quite curious and thinking if it might be reasonable to try to get it just for playing. Or is it just another G.A.S. attack? ;)
Can anyone please help with my questions?
* What do you think about this offer?
* What would be a reasonable price limit?
* Just in case someday I'd have the idea (and the money): Will it be possible to change the neck? Any idea about the price and where to ask for it in Germany?
* As the seller has no further information: Any idea when it was built (OP-24, serial-# 6747)?
* Any advice what else to ask the owner?
* @German members: As there a much more guitars offered in the U.S.: Did you ever import a guitar from the states? What experience did you make? How much was the tax (VAT & import customs)?
Many thanks in advance and best regards,
Juergen |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 15680
Location: SoCal | A beautiful guitar. It was built in 1994 (I think). I can't comment on the prices as I can't convert the amount to U.S. dollars, but in the U.S., it's a $1500 guitar, even with the damaged headstock.
That headstock can be fixed by a competent woodworker. In 1972 I bought an Ovation with an ear missing. A friend who did some woodworking in his garage made a new ear for it and all you could ever see was a fine line. It's not a big deal. |
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Joined:
September 2005
Posts: 3619
Location: GATLINBURG TENNESSEE :) | It appears to me to be in good shape also. From what I can see in the photos, the repair would be very easy for anyone with a little woodworking experience. If it were mine, I would do the repair myself, and it would look fine. With all the great woodworkers you have there in Germany, I am sure you could have it repaired fairly inexpensively. I definitely wouldn't worry about replacing the neck, unless of course you wanted it to be like new. If that is the case, buy it and ship it to the factory where they will do their magic. I agree with moody on the price, but with the broken headstock, I personally wouldn't pay over 500 Euro for it. |
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Joined:
November 2002
Posts: 3664
Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | buy it, if you can. |
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Joined:
October 2005
Posts: 4081
Location: Utah | If it is in good condition, that price is a steal! Even with the damage it is worth twice that. I don't see how you can lose money on the deal, if you don't like it for any reason I think you could sell it for a profit. |
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Joined:
January 2009
Posts: 29
Location: Germany | Many thanks for your fast replies!
Your support helps a lot, as I was afraid that my wish to buy another guitar would lead to a rash decision. – Especially as I could not assess the consequences of the damage of the headstock. It is very relieving to read that this is not a serious defect.
@moody: Many thanks for the probable manufacturing date. If built in 1994, the official retail price should have been 2199 U$.
If it’s now a 1500 U$ guitar, it’s about 1100 € (1 € is worth 1.40 U$) .
If I win the auction, I’ll ask woodworkers and luthiers for a repair.
@bvince: I’m happy to read that you think the guitar looks good and that a repair of the headstock should be possible and affordable. So I won’t have the neck being replaced.
And thank you for your price-limit (500 € would be 700 U$).
I’m curious how much the price will rise. At least I'm a little optimistic, as there are three details that might help:
The damage,
the comparatively expensive shipping (when you see that it just goes from Austria to Germany, within Germany it should be just around 10 €) and
that it’s located in Austria, where the local market is smaller and it’s too far for most Germans to drive by for testing and collecting it.
I can see from your signature that you also have a 1581. Does it have such an overwhelming sound?
It certainly will be very different from my guitars. I found some videos on YouTube where 1581s are played. They seem to be louder, brighter and sharper than my 1998 CE & 2006 CE.
Right?
@seesquare: Yes, I’ll see if I can get it. – The replies are very encouraging.
@FlySig: With the condition of the guitar I have to believe to the seller and he has 100% at Ebay.
Well let’s see how much the price rises until Sunday evening (central Europe time).
You are writing it’s worth twice the actual price, then your limit would be about 700 €, the same as bvince’s.
It’s a good help to have identical estimations about that. I would even pay a little more, as the prices here in Germany seem to be higher than in the US.
Thanks a lot again and have a nice weekend,
Juergen
P.S.: I'll tell you, if I could win the auction. – Keep your fingers crossed! |
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Joined:
June 2005
Posts: 496
Location: California | Good luck |
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Joined:
April 2008
Posts: 1851
Location: Newington, CT | Good luck! |
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Joined:
January 2009
Posts: 29
Location: Germany | Hello,
bad news about the auction:
The winning bid was 1027,- € (1400 U$). :(
That was more than I was willing to pay and more than you recommended.
So I will just wait and see if I can find another interesting offer.
Many thanks for your valuable help and kind regards from Germany,
Juergen |
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Joined:
April 2004
Posts: 13303
Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | That would have been a good price if the guitar had been perfect. You probably did well by passing at that price.
Keep your eyes on the OFC for sale section. Some really nice guitars in the targeted price range appear with some frequency. |
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Joined:
April 2006
Posts: 848
Location: Munich, Germany | Hi Juergen,
this was on my radar as well, could have been a great campfire guitar, but it got ridiculously expensive.
But: If you're not only looking for Adamas models but other Ovations as well: I want or need to clean my closet, suffering from too many guitars and too less time to play them all.
Some of them can be seen in my signature. If something is of interest, tell me. Or tell me, what you're looking for, maybe I'll find it in some of my cases.
Best regards,
Kurt |
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Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 12761
Location: Boise, Idaho | Juergen,
Alpep had the last of the 1581 reissues (with a deep bowl like the originals) that he offered for sale here for not much more than the one you were looking at. You might be wise to check with him and see if he has one left. He ships overseas all the time. It may be worth it to have a new one with a full warranty. |
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Joined:
September 2005
Posts: 3619
Location: GATLINBURG TENNESSEE :) | OH YEAH!!! The ones Al has (had??) would be exactly what you are looking at, but NEW (: ... His prices were the best I've seen. A new guitar for a used price. You may get lucky if he still has any.
My 1581 is my favorite go-to guitar. It's not the most expensive, and I am beginning to like the wider necks as my hands have grown old, but the sound(to me) is unprecidented. It has a huge low end and the mids and highs are clear as a bell. Mine is a little different in that it only has holes on the bass side, but you could probably get a simular affect using the Ovation hole plugs on the high side. (I'm currently using them on my Adamas 12 string)I would not call it my "best" guitar, because they each have a bit of unique sound and playablity, but I believe it would be the last one to leave if I had to get rid of all of them. |
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Joined:
January 2009
Posts: 29
Location: Germany | Hello,
again a lot of thanks!
After the first disappointment it was a help to learn that it was right not to buy at this high price.
I will keep my eyes open and if I find something interesting I'll let you know - and probably ask for your advice.
I look at lostartvintage and was surprised to find a 1681 with cutaway. But maybe that's a typo.
Right now I'm hesitating a little if it's really reasonable to spend such a lot of money on another guitar.
When I tell you that I still suffer from the side-effects of a bone marrow transplant, you'll understand, that my "income" is quite limited. - But hey, the leukemia is gone, and it's f***ing good to be alive!
Therefore from time to time I enjoy to do unreasonable things! ;)
You are a wonderful community and I am really happy that I found you!
All the best to all of you,
Juergen |
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Joined:
January 2009
Posts: 29
Location: Germany | Hi,
after getting so much support from you, I think I owe you the "end of the story".
Bernie offered me his 1681, a wonderful 29 years old lady that he upgraded with an OP-Pro Studio preamp, new frets, ...
Now I have a wonderful playable and sounding guitar - and a real beauty, as he did a very good job refurbishing and upgrading.
I'm still surprised that I don't have any problems handling the deep bowl, as I had with an Applause AE32 years ago.
So many thanks to the forum for the big help and especially to Bernie for this fair trade!
Best regards,
Juergen |
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Adamas 1581 with broken headstock-corner at Ebay - Opinions?
