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Location: Central Oregon | I can't believe it! What a difference from that Korean thing! Thank you OFC for getting me on track! This new Elite (sure enough, 1858!) is WONDERFUL! The action is PERFECT, right out of the case. Not even similar to the Celebrity *action* (if you could call it that). For two guitars that look so much alike the difference in playability is hard to fathom. The neck on this Elite is WORLDS better! It is Black Cherry Burst, btw, exactly what I ordered.
When I talked to the people at the store on the phone I asked how the action felt, because if it was going to need to be set up I was going to wait until tomorrow to pick it up after the luthier was done with it. I didn't want to make two trips to Bend (85 mile round trip). They said come on over & take it for spin & see what I thought cuz I would probably be happy with it just like it came. They were right!
I managed to put it down long enough to take a few pix & stop by here. I will post some pictures after while. Right now I'm going to read about the OP40 & the read the other stuff that came with it, it's way more sophisticated than that OP24. Speaking of sounds, this Elite sounds terrific, (even unplugged) & I haven't begun to seriously fiddle with the OP40 yet.
Oh yeah, there was a stick looking thing in a special compartment in the case. When I pulled it out it turned out to be a giant allen wrench for adjusting the neck! How thoughtful :) The case is head & shoulders above the Celeb case in quality too, really, really nice! Everything is really really (really) nice!
I am one HAPPY camper!
Nils |
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Location: the BIG Metropolis of TR | Nils,
Ain't nuttin' like gettin' a new geetar!!! :eek:
ENJOY :D ENJOY :D ENJOY :D
Remember what I said about feeling HIGH?
I'm happy for you!!! (and jealous too - lol)
. . . . . . . .
Hurry and post dem pics! - Mike :cool: |
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Location: High, in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado | I told ya Nils... I Knew you would like it... The Elite's is where I got my inspiration for my "handle"... I love them!.. Enjoy your new procurement...
Dale |
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Posts: 15682
Location: SoCal | Congrats Nils. Your post was wonderful to read. I'm looking forward to seeing the pics.
On another thread, somebody asked why I didn't have a high opinion of Celebs vs. USA Ovations. I think you said it well. I still don't have a bad opinion of Celebs, but it's a Corolla vs. a Lexus. |
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Location: Central Oregon | Yep, you guys were all right!
I'm glad you're all getting some enjoyment out of this as well. If I hadn't blundered into this site I'd probably still be playing that Celeb & wondering why it felt so much different than Kip's. At first I thought I must have been drunker than I thought that night. :)
I had to put it away for the night, my wife went to bed. (Then again, I might go out in the garage & play it some more after while.) I've been playing it for almost 4 hours & my fingers are fine & my arm isn't cramped up at all. There's no way I could play the Celeb for more than a half hour or so, it was just too damn much work. It sounded pretty good, but it was hard to play. Like, cramps in the forearm hard to play if I tried to get past the 5th fret.
This Elite sounds loads better & it's as comfortable as an old pair of tenny runners. It's *easy* to play. The neck feels very similar to the one on my 50 year old ES175, smoooth like butter. This is what I thought I was buying when I bought the Celeb.
Btw, your "Corolla vs. Lexus" analogy is a *very* good Paul.
Short side story- My wife's uncle bought a Corolla last year. I've worked in a body shop my entire life so he was telling me his car had a lot of road noise & the seats were a little hard & it rode sorta rough, etc, then he started asking me how to make it quieter & smoother, yada, yada. Oddly enough I told him pretty much what you guys told me- Get rid of it & buy a Lexus :) Good advice in both cases.
Where was I? Oh yeah.
I loaded the pix onto my computer but the only ones that are any good are the one of the head & the one of the label. The picture of the guitar looks like crap. You can't see the color at all well. I'll take it outside tomorrow & give it another shot. The Black Cherry Burst is simply lovely but it doesn't show the red at all well in the picture I took in the house. I want to show you all a nice picture that does it justice.
I filled out my registration card a bit ago & in the "Reasons for buying an Ovation" space I very prominently mentioned the Ovation Fan Club online. I figured it couldn't hurt.
I'll try to get a decent picture tomorrow.
Nils |
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Location: Back in the Valley of the Sun Mesa Az. | Well I guess some of us find a way to be happy with a "Corolla", especially when we're working with a "Gremlin" budget, and an aging home.
Just paid out $4100.00 yesterday for a new roof, looking at a new heating system in the neighborhood of $5000.00. Just replaced my well pump and pressure tank Saturday($500.00 plus), got the wife all new appliances, and a living room set she has been dreaming of. Fixed the kids car, gave to my church... own a celebrity.
Not complaining though, I am blessed to have what I do (thank God, and Alan Greenspan for the current interest rates for mortgage refinance!). In the end, it's all Gods, I'm just borrowing it.... I know someday he will borrow me his 1537 Elite, and his CL 12, but I think David retired his harp, and is hogging the "O"'s right now!
Peace, my Ovationary friends,
Norse(You guys won't believe my latest 12 string escapades, when I get some more time, I will fill you in... now it's 1:00 am, and I need to figure out how to cut a dishwasher into my cabinets by morning)man1 |
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Location: Fort Worth, Texas | Congrats on the new guitar.....
You're enthusiams is virtually shining off of the bulletin board!! :D
Enjoy. |
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Posts: 1380
Location: Central Oregon | I finally got some pix posted. They came out blocky looking after uploading, but they're still better than what I had from last night, at least you can see the color. I'm not sure how large of a file I can upload. I'll try them again with a little higher resolution.
Ah, these look considerably better this time, take a look :)
Nils |
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Location: Central Oregon | Originally posted by Norseman1:
Well I guess some of us find a way to be happy with a "Corolla", especially when we're working with a "Gremlin" budget, and an aging home.
Just paid out $4100.00 yesterday for a new roof, looking at a new heating system in the neighborhood of $5000.00. Just replaced my well pump and pressure tank Saturday($500.00 plus), got the wife all new appliances, and a living room set she has been dreaming of. Fixed the kids car, gave to my church... own a celebrity.
Not complaining though, I am blessed to have what I do (thank God, and Alan Greenspan for the current interest rates for mortgage refinance!). In the end, it's all Gods, I'm just borrowing it.... I know someday he will borrow me his 1537 Elite, and his CL 12, but I think David retired his harp, and is hogging the "O"'s right now!
Peace, my Ovationary friends,
Norse(You guys won't believe my latest 12 string escapades, when I get some more time, I will fill you in... now it's 1:00 am, and I need to figure out how to cut a dishwasher into my cabinets by morning)man1
You're right Norse, now is the time to refinance. Yesterday we signed the papers to redo the house we're living in at 4.75%. We also had the rental next door re-appraised so we can redo that one next week. We'll do another one as soon as we get back from Alaska. That one will be good, we'll drop from 9% to somewhere around 5%. I love having other people buy me houses. Sometimes it's a pita, but it's worth it.
Did you get the dishwasher in there or did you give up & wash the coffee cup by hand? :p
And what about the 12 string escapades?
Nils |
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Location: SoCal | Nils:
I looked at the pics and your guitar is beautiful. I'm a bit envious.
But maybe now it's time to put some money into your lawn? |
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Location: Central Oregon | I'm glad the pictures came out better that time.
Don't worry about the lawn, that spot is going to have a storage shed on it as soon as we get the check from refinancing the house behind it. That piece of dirt came as part of the yard when we bought the house next door. Since we now own both yards I moved the fence. Our renters still have a lot bigger back yard than we do. We aren't done yet. :)
I finally found something for the luthier to do to my Elite. After 6-8 hours of playing it I noticed a slightly sore spot at the base of my left index finger. There's a tiny sharp corner on the fretboad side of the bottom of the nut. Oddly enough it's in the exact same spot as the sharp corner that was on my Celebrity, not anywhere near as noticable, but it needs to be smoothed out. (After all, one of the reasons I bought locally is so I could have it my way. :) ) Their luthier did such a nice job on the Celebrity I think I'd be a fool not to have it custom set-up by him while he's got it. I've played it enough now that I think it would be even better if one shim could be removed from under the saddle without causing a buzz. I suppose it might lose a little punch but I'm so damned deaf I really doubt if I'll ever notice. I play by myself 95% of the time & I care as much how a guitar feels as I do how it sounds. If it doesn't work it can always be put back.
I'm a little confused about the onboard tuner, but I want to read the book a little more before I ask a dumb question. It probably won't stop me from asking the dumb question, but it will put it off for a while.
Nils |
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Location: SoCal | Ask the dumb question Nils. Hell, the worst that you can get is a dumb answer. And I'm very qualified to give those. |
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Location: San Bernardino, California | There's an old saying: "Dumb questions prevent dumb mistakes." |
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Location: Central Oregon | Thankfully I think I figured it out. Here's what had me confused-
The guy at the store told me he'd just tuned it. It was in tune, but it turned out that it wasn't in tune to standard pitch.
What happened was, I had a friend come over to try it out, & while she was singing a song & playing the Elite, I picked up my Gibson to play along with her. That's when I figured out that it wasn't tuned to standard pitch. It was one fret off. I'd just tuned the Gibson with my handy dandy ST757 so I knew it was right. I couldn't see how it could be possible for it to be out of tune since the Elite has it's onboard tuner.
Then I read the book some more & I found that you can push the tuner button a second time while playing a note & it will set itself to calibrate all the strings to that pitch. The book says it's for use if you need to tune to an "out of tune" instrument. Apparently it resets itself to standard pitch when turned off & back on.
I don't think I'll be needing that feature. At least now I think I understand it.
I had turned the tuner on & looked at it, but I didn't understand how the lights works until I read the book some more. It sounded fine so I left it alone.
I don't know if it was intentional or if the kid was just poking buttons like I was, but it was easier to play before I tuned it to standard pitch.
No matter really.
I talked to the guy I bought it from today & it's going back over next Tuesday to have the nut worked over & smoothed out & the action set lower. It's very good, but I think it can be even better for what I want it to do.
I'll have him string it up with some 10 super light D'Addarios while he's at it. I measured the strings that are on there & they're 12's.
I think I'll keep the strings that come off of it & use 'em to restring my 175. I've been wanting to try some 12's on it anyway.
I also figured out that I have to have the EQ IN/OUT button pushed in for the EQ to work, rather than out. Same with the pre shape button. Apparently that throws the whole shebang into neutral when I push that one. It sounds good, just pretty basic. I think I can figure out some uses for that.
While I was tinkering around with the buttons & sliders I got it to make some pretty cool sounds, especially through my ZOOM 505.
Damn I love this thing! :)
Nils |
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Location: SoCal | This is just an unasked for suggestion, but I would suggest that you not put anything lighter than lights on your Elite 12. The lighter the strings, the less tone you'll get out of it. But try some of everything on it and go with what gives you, overall, what you're looking for.
Also, the strings on your Elite may not be the best choice for your 175. You're putting acoustic strings on an electric guitar. But you won't do any harm to the ES175, so it might be interesting to try.
Your tech may have tuned the Elite down 1/2 note to protect the neck on the guitar. Ovations have always been built to be tuned to concert pitch. Not everybody knows that. For years, 12 strings were tuned down 1/2 to 1 full note so as not to put too much stress on the neck. Not a worry with Ovations.
Lastly, even tho' I love the tuner built into the OP 40 on my old GC 12 string, nothing beats a good electronic external tuner. When I got my first 12 string (Big Blue), I bought one. This was years after tuning all my 6 strings with a tuning fork on the A string and an ear for everything else. I only do that now when I have to. The electronic tuner may have ruined my "tuning ear", but all my guitars sound much better. |
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Location: Scotland | The onboard tuners can be recalibrated to a reference other than 440Hz, which is probably what happened. The manual explains how to do this. It should reset itself to 440 automatically. |
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Location: Central Oregon | Thanks Paul, I think that is exactly what happened. This OP40 is much more sophisticated than the OP24. Learning all this stuff is fun, not as much fun as playing it, but fun. :)
Nils |
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Location: Central Oregon | Originally posted by moody, p.i.:
This is just an unasked for suggestion, but I would suggest that you not put anything lighter than lights on your Elite 12. The lighter the strings, the less tone you'll get out of it. But try some of everything on it and go with what gives you, overall, what you're looking for.
Also, the strings on your Elite may not be the best choice for your 175. You're putting acoustic strings on an electric guitar. But you won't do any harm to the ES175, so it might be interesting to try.
Your tech may have tuned the Elite down 1/2 note to protect the neck on the guitar. Ovations have always been built to be tuned to concert pitch. Not everybody knows that. For years, 12 strings were tuned down 1/2 to 1 full note so as not to put too much stress on the neck. Not a worry with Ovations.
Lastly, even tho' I love the tuner built into the OP 40 on my old GC 12 string, nothing beats a good electronic external tuner. When I got my first 12 string (Big Blue), I bought one. This was years after tuning all my 6 strings with a tuning fork on the A string and an ear for everything else. I only do that now when I have to. The electronic tuner may have ruined my "tuning ear", but all my guitars sound much better.
Hmmm, well OK, I'll leave the 12's on the Elite & see how well he can get it to play with them on there by re-working the action before I try 10's (if I feel a need to try 10's at all after it's worked over). I'll buy a another set of 12's for my Gibson.
I am a little curious though, my ES-175 is acoustic/electric & the Elite is acoustic/ electric, what would be the difference? Other than the Elite is a 12 string & the 175 is a six. I actually play the 175 unplugged more than I play it plugged in, that's why I want to try 12's on it.
Once I figured out how to operate it the built in tuner seems to work very well, about as easily as the Seiko ST757 I've been using.
Thanks for the suggestions :)
Nils |
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Posts: 35
Location: Canton,GA | Wher did you get your 12string? is there a secret store out there that gives great deals?
please email me |
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Location: SoCal | The difference between the two guitars is that one is basically an electric, with an electrics pickups, and the other is an acoustic with an acoustics pickups. They operate in different ways.
Believe it or not, the ES 175 has a laminated top and sides. It looks great (hell, it's a great guitar and I'd love to have one), but it was built to be plugged in.
Try different strings and see what you like best. If they sound right and feel right to you, then nobody can tell you that you're wrong. And that's the bottom line. |
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Location: Central Oregon | Originally posted by moody, p.i.:
Believe it or not, the ES 175 has a laminated top and sides. It looks great (hell, it's a great guitar and I'd love to have one), but it was built to be plugged in.
Try different strings and see what you like best. If they sound right and feel right to you, then nobody can tell you that you're wrong. And that's the bottom line.
Well I had to look. You're right, the 175 definitely has a laminated top. As long as it was out, I played it for an hour or so, (unplugged). It still sounds pretty damn good, even strung with D'Addario electric 10's. I think I might take it over to Bend with me & have it professionally cleaned, set up & restrung with 12's. I don't know if it has ever been gone over by a pro. I know it hasn't for the 15 or so years I've owned it. It just had it's 50th birthday a few months ago, it could be a birthday present. :)
Nils |
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Location: SoCal | Nils:
When you get a chance, post a pic of your 175. Those are really such wonderful guitars and have been the jazz standard for many many years. A 50 year old one is almost priceless. What kind of pickups does it have? Humbuckers, or P90's? |
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Location: Central Oregon | It has a single P-90. I'll post a picture although I don't have a really good one & no time to take another right now. I'm leaving for the weekend after lunch. I'll be back Sunday.
Nils |
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Location: Central Oregon | OK, picture all posted. It's in really good shape, especially considering it's 50 years old. Plays smooooth, like buddah :)
Nils |
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Location: SoCal | Nils:
That is one beautiful guitar. I would be willing to bet that it was very early in the ES 175 production run. Have you ever contacted Gibson to determine how early it is? That guitar has got to be worth a shitload of money. |
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I got it! Holy crap this sucker is SWEET!!
