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Joined:
December 2004
Posts: 1116
Location: Keller, TX | I saw (but did not play) the Elite Special that Ovation was touting as the possible/probable 07 Collectors. Beautiful guitar. Custom Elite style with bearclaw spruce top, contour bowl.
Did anyone pick it up and play it? What was the sound like? |
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Joined:
February 2005
Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | I did. In fact Rick came hunting it down because I took it in the other room where I could hear it...
Beautiful looking guitar, bearclaw, ebony bridge & fretboard, very classy looking black saddle, nut and headstock.
Played nicely, sounded like a Custom Elite should. Personally, I loved it, and would consider buying one.
That being said, other than the VIP, It was certainly no better than the one Fred won. When I say that, I only mean I didn't see anything about it that would make it a "Collector", unless Collector now only means they make a limited number of them. |
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Joined:
December 2004
Posts: 1116
Location: Keller, TX | Originally posted by Waskel:
That being said, other than the VIP, It was certainly no better than the one Fred won. When I say that, I only mean I didn't see anything about it that would make it a "Collector", unless Collector now only means they make a limited number of them. That's what I was afraid of. |
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Joined:
June 2004
Posts: 580
Location: NW NJ | I agree with Waskel - I played it, it was nice, but I can't stop thinking about #47, and, more in the realm of something I can afford before they're all gone, the 2080 (teardrop Adamas) --- oh my - that thing just sings! |
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Joined:
January 2005
Posts: 4903
Location: Phoenix AZ | I briefly played the '07 proto. It is a beautiful looking guitar. The epaulets are TOOOO COOOOL. Hard to describe - inlaid wood with tons of thin black vains. Really nice. The bearckaw top and abalone trim also very nice. VIP, Contour Bowl, etc. All in all a very nice package. For someone looking for a deep body Elite, THIS would definately be the one to buy. However, if you already have a deep Elite I would wonder just what this one brings you additionally. Certainly it sounds no different than a C2078 (at least to me) and everything except the epaulets can be more or less ordered on other instruments. My opinion - Nice guitar? YES. Collectable? NO, not in the sense of what I think the collectors series should be all about.
Personal opinion - Put SIDE PORTS in it like Bauerhillboy's elite. NOW you have something different. You don't just cut plain holes either. You make little sliding louvers for each hole so the user can slide them open and closed to "tune" the fundamental frequency of the body. Just an idea.
Dave |
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Joined:
July 2004
Posts: 474
Location: Anchorage, Alaska | Personally I'm a bit disapointed with the "Collectors" and "Limited" editon numbers coming out of Ovation. It seems like they advertise say "Special Edition XYZ. Only 100 being made. Pre order now"... Then you find out later that they forgot to stop at 100, and not only made more than the 100, but also put out some FSR's to further dilute the "Limited" edition. Why or How can they sell factory seconds (FSR's & B stock) of limited editions and collectors? Am I missing something here? |
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Joined:
February 2005
Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | Originally posted by Tupperware:
The epaulets are TOOOO COOOOL. Hard to describe - inlaid wood with tons of thin black vains. Really nice. Oh, yeah. Forgot about those. VERY COOL. Spaulted maple, single piece, beautiful black veins running through it, set off by the black bridge, saddle and nut. Thanks for reminding me, Dave. Did anyone get a picture of it? If not, I might be able to pull one off the video I took in the meeting room. |
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Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 1421
Location: Orange County, California | I played it very little. It sounded nice, and I love the look. It fits what they try to do with the collectors. Each year for the last several, they've tried to take a standard model, highlight the newset features, add a little "Bling-Bling", but keep it somewhat affordable. the '06 Koa-llecters ia a great example of that. the '05 was the first with the the OP-Pro and the contour bowl. It was not opressively expensive either. Even if somone paid full boat retail, it's still a better deal than a $3K MarTayAvee... :D :p
From a marketing standpoint, having a model that stands out from the rest with "a few" special features unique to it like exotic woods, or the VIP in a Elite, WITHOUT IT HAVING A $3K LIST PRICE is a good way to atract more esoteric buyers. I personally wont buy something just because it looks cool. But, if it's cool AND it sounds good, AND there's only X number of them being made..... I can feel the GAS pains coming on.
A couple of us saw tops with bracing attached getting ready to be put on bowls downstairs that were made out of SOLID QUILTED MAPLE. They were Elite Tops, and I was told there was a proto floating around for a couple of months to see if it was stable. Frank told us about it when we were in the "Wood room". I bet that one has a unique voice, looks stunning, and hopefully wont break the bank to produce.
There's my vote. Unique voice, exotic looks, top shelf features, keep it somewhat affordable.
Acually, my vote is to re-issue the black "Studiomaster" Adamas Proto with the two round ports awith 3 "jail-bars" accross them (the middle one had a piece of fret wire in it), hand carved tuners knobs, hand carved volume knob that looked like an Adamas "diamond", inlaid metal bars on the edge of the 1 7/8" wide neck!! (cue porn music in your head) If you played it, you know what I'm talkin' about!! Uh huh... yeah, that's it... :p :D |
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Anybody play the 07 Collector's demo?
