|
|
Joined:
November 2005
Posts: 1126
Location: Omaha, NE | I'm curious about the reliability of Ovation electronics. I've never had any problems with mine (I've got an Adamas 1597 with the Optima pre-amp). It works just fine, every time.
I also have a Taylor 714ce with the Expression System. It also works just fine. Compared to the Adamas, I'd say the ES sounds a little more natural through the PA at church, but I think the Adamas sounds better through my Marshall AS50. Its a close call either way. I also much prefer the Optima's tuner, notch filter, battery indicator and the easy battery replacement hatch. But I'm also glad the ES doesn't require that big holes get cut into the beautiful rosewood sides of my guitar.
Anyway, over on the Taylor guitar forum, there is a cadre of folks who complain about ES failures (and another cadre professing their love for the ES). Things like going completely dead and leaving them high and dry as a gig is about to start. No fun.
I'm interested in a little perspective. Anyone here ever have their electronics go MIA at an inopportune time? My sense is that Ovation electronics set the bar pretty high, and that reliability is a big part of that. Also, do these things have a lifespan? Do you expect (for example) a pre-amp to go south after 20 or 30 years?
TIA! :D |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 15678
Location: SoCal | The preamp in my 1537 is 23 years old and is a 30 year old design. Stil works perfectily..... |
|
| |
|
Joined:
October 2005
Posts: 4075
Location: Utah | Omaha, electronics should last a very, very long time. In my former life I did failure analysis on military electronics as well as being a semiconductor engineer. There is something called "The Bathtub Curve" which describes failure rates over time. In essence, there is a high failure rate with new product, then the failure rate falls nearly to zero for a long, long time, then the failure rate starts to increase as things wear out.
So, infant mortality is when something fails when it is nearly new. You shouldn't see this if the factory burns in the product properly. They should power up the preamp and run it for a few hours, maybe at increased temperature, to weed out the weak units. Then when you get it, it should run flawlessly until it starts to wear out with old age.
Wearout comes in a variety of mechanisms. Almost all are mechanical in nature if the circuit is properly designed with adequate margins. Mechanical failures include volume controls or sliders becoming noisy or outright failing, switches failing, wires breaking from handling (such as battery connectors), and vibration induced breakage of wires or solder joints.
Failure of the electronic components such as semiconductors, capacitors, and resistors can be due to inadequate margins being designed in. For example, using chip resistors designed for a specific maximum wattage, but then running them very close to that max. A good design would use resistors spec'd at much more than what it will ever see in the application. Poor cooling will stress the electronics, and again it's a matter of designing proper cooling and then using parts that are spec'd to work at higher temps than they will see in the application.
Not knowing what kind of failures the Taylors have, it's impossible to comment on why they might be inferior to Ovation. However, if Ovation preamps have no problems with noisy pots or sliders, and the switches keep working, it speaks of the high quality mechanical components. It is said that you cannot test in quality, meaning that you have to build quality product in the first place. Once you build in quality, you then have to test and stress so that you weed out the infant mortality failures before delivering to the customer. When this quality product gets to the customer, it should last a very long time if it is used within design tolerances. Most preamps don't get all that many hours of use and not that many power cycles, so they should last decades IMO. Just think of how many hours a TV or computer get used compared to a preamp.
If Taylor has a problem, it could be poor quality build (e.g. bad solder joints), poor quality design, or lack of proper burn-in before delivery. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 1817
Location: Minden, Nebraska | I've never had a preamp go dead, but I have had a couple of Ovations requiring pickup replacement. But never in the middle of a gig.
One of my church band guitarists uses a Taylor with an Expression system. It does sound really good, but not so noticeably better than my Optima to justify the kind of price he paid for it. A well EQ'd OP-24 can sound superb. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
November 2004
Posts: 286
Location: North Idaho | My 22 yr 1547 has not given a hint of trouble over the years of heavy usage.
I also have a Taylor W14CE, but frankly don't use it enough to give the ES a true testing. Have a taylorholic friend with a 9 month old 814CE who had great success with the ES plugged in with the worship band for the first six months. It's now spent considerable time in the repair shop, and a backup guitar with a baggs system is close at hand and often used. He plugs into the church PA and frankly the baggs equipped Tacoma sounds much better than the ES. It seems to be the ES doesn't balance properly with the PA--maybe just operator error or maybe the ES just . . . |
|
| |
|
Joined:
August 2003
Posts: 4619
Location: SoCal | Problem is that sometimes they do fail...had to replace the saddle on my "project" 1669; understand that some of the two-knobbers have failed.
Prior to the reissues coming out, I was cautioned about the two-knobbers as the factory didn't have spare parts. And, if the unit went out, would have to upgrade to a newer pre-amp. Even though the factory had the old pre-amp design made for the reissues, units may not be available in the future for separate purchase. Course, with Dave taking pre-amps out of his guitars, he may be the future source to go to :p |
|
| |
|
Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | they are very reliable. there tends to be more problems with the pickups than preamps, and then not very many of them. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
April 2006
Posts: 103
Location: Townsville, Australia | I had an op pro that failed early; Ovation replaced it and so far so good, but only 3/12 along the track. |
|
| |
Electronics ever die?
