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Posts: 228
| I did find an excellent thread via Search in which the differences between the TXs and the Ts were delineated and, to a degree, denigrated, but my question centers on the contour of the 2078TX.
I'm thin, so a rounded back poses no problems in regard to comfort, but I do have a bad shoulder that has kept me away from acoustics in general.
Being that there are differences in bracing, et cetera, I know that this question becomes problematic, but all other things being semi-equal, does the contour mean a sacrifice in tone and projection?
Thank you. |
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Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | I don't think that we ever really cleared-up the T vs TX debate with a side-by-side test.
As to the contour bowl... I like contour bowls, but I play seated.
I just dug-out my 2078T Contour Sweet-T to remind myself that I don't like playing while standing.
I have developed this thing where I wear the guitar off to my right side, and high-up on my torso.
The contour bowl did force me to hold my guitar more perpendicular, and now I do that with all my O's.
But I still don't like playing while standing. I can do it, I just don't like it.
And, No. I actually think that the contour bowl increases volume and projection over the mid-bowl.
But comparing the 1778T to the 2078T isn't quite the same cuz the old T has it's own flavor. Y'know?
And, No. I don't hate contour T's, I have two of them. :p |
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Posts: 843
Location: CA | As stated several times before, I don't like the contour bowls. I'm skinny and the guitar just doesn't feel right — it feels a bit like a dog that's doesn't want to be in your lap and is subtly trying to get away. Sold MY Sweetwater T for this very reason, although I liked everything else about it. Soundwise, I don't know or care if they're different than a 'regular' deep bowl. I will never own another contour Ovation. And since we're on the subject, I sure wish Ovation would stop making all their Collectors and other high-end guitars with ONLY contour bowls. Or at the very least, make a third of the Collector run with regular deep bowls for the guys who don't like the contours.
I know, picky, picky, picky.... |
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Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Hey Oddball, Good to hear from ya'...
You disappear, only to reappear to talk bad about contour bowls.
You've been lurking and just had to pounce on this one? :p |
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May 2008
Posts: 4996
Location: Phoenix AZ | If you don't like a contour bowl then don't play one.
Did I miss the memo stating "you must play this guitar" ? There's about a gazillion different guitars out there, so go find the one that's right for you.
CLICK. |
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Posts: 2491
Location: Copenhagen Denmark | .. Coffee .. ? .. |
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Posts: 1486
Location: Cincinnati | I've never understood the love for the T. At one time it may have been a good value, but there are much better guitars in the same price range. I'd find something else or save a few more dollars and move up to a better guitar. |
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Posts: 4067
Location: Utah | The contour bowl makes the guitar sit and feel very much like a traditional wood box. So, if your shoulder gives you problems with a regular wood guitar, you probably won't like the contour bowl.
The mid bowl tends to roll a bit skyward when played standing. Not a lot, but a bit. It feels odd at first, but after a couple of sessions you stop noticing it, and when you go back to a non-round back guitar it feels odd. One thing about the mid bowl is that you have to learn not to hug the guitar tight with your right arm, or it will roll up. Relax your right arm and it finds a nice angle.
I think that the mid bowl would be less of a problem for your shoulder than the contour bowl, if you can't play a regular wood acoustic guitar.
Outside of that, I prefer the contour bowl for sound. A bit bigger and fuller. |
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Posts: 6268
Location: Florida Central Gulf Coast | "So, Do You Guys Hate the Contoured Ts?"
No I do not! In fact, I consider the contour bowl a major improvement in the Ovation design.
If full sized 'O's are a playing issue for you, try to find a parlor such as the '97C. One of our members has a shoulder issue and purchased a '97C. I believe she's pretty pleased with it.
Have you tried a SSB? Plugged in, they can be very rewarding. |
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Posts: 13996
Location: Upper Left USA | Soundwise I think the Contour bowl is the best one yet. The early deep hand laid bowls are louder but they are also feedback magnets in a loud environment.
SSB's are very comfortable and may be what you need.
I haven't played a TX yet but if they would make an SSB "T" it would be a worthy candidate.
Any chance of a Contour SSB showing up soon? |
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Posts: 4996
Location: Phoenix AZ | There's two kinds of customers ...
One kind goes to a restaurant and doesn't like the food. So he never goes back. His point has been made. The other kind goes to a restaurant and doesn't like the food so he feels compelled to setup a protest out front warning other people not to eat there either. |
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Location: Hot Springs, S.D. | There's a third kind of customer - the one who asks people who've been to the restaurant before if they liked the food and why. |
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Location: closely held secret | I totally understand Dave's response. Alison, the question wasn't posed as "Do you like it?", but "Do you hate it?".
Kind of fishing for negative responses.
I didn't care so much for the contour bowl at first, but I have issues with changes anyway. I've certainly grown used to it, now it feels perfectly natural and comfortable, sitting or standing. |
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Posts: 15676
Location: SoCal | I don't hate the contour bowl, but for me, it addresses a problem that I never had. So I don't feel a need to switch to it.
Other people took to it like a duck to water. Nothing wrong with either attitude.... |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | People forget that there are many different sizes and shapes of woodbacked guitars, too. There's probably a bunch of debate on which is better, but I don't care what they think.
As far as the contour, I didn't like the way it fit against my body at first. I've never liked how a square back guitar cuts into my chest either. I can't tell on the sound, because the only contour bowl I have played much is the LAV Koa, and it sounds different than my spruce or cedar or bubinga or graphite or plywood topped guitars. Different is good. |
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Posts: 3111
Location: Nashville TN. | I never got comfy with the contour bowl.
I wear it high up on my chest and not comforable there, I did not like it sitting either.
I perfer Deep or mid bowls. |
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Location: big island | ya' gotta look at it using the other side of your brain. "contour" does not refer to the shape of the guitar's back. it refers to the shape of the player's front. ;) in america especially, more players have a contoured front that fits into the shape of the guitar's back. |
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Posts: 7233
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | Originally posted by 2ifbyC:
I consider the contour bowl a major improvement in the Ovation design. I HAVE a Belly and NEVER had an issue with the round back guitar. I've said it before and will say it again. If you are sitting, and the guitar is touching your belly, or it rolls off your leg, you are holding it wrong. Period. I don't even care if I get flamed. I'm 90 lbs overweight, can't see my feet. My OFC Adamas does not lean against my body when I sit to play it. It sets on my leg, where it belongs.
As for the contour, could care less about the aesthetic, although I realize that was one of the reasons they built it... that and tired of people who couldn't figure out how to hold a guitar... but for me... the better projection and tone sold me on the countour bowls. |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | I don't remember you being that fat, Miles. Maybe you just have small feet. |
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Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | Originally posted by Mark in Boise:
I don't remember you being that fat, Miles. Maybe you just have small feet. LOL!! I'm gonna use that one... that's too funny... "I'm not fat, I just have small feet"... priceless..
Seriously... while I am very overweight, I hide it will with my height... and not breathing... but I do have a gut. But i've seen skinny guys complain about the rolling-off-the-leg thing and they are hugging the guitar like it's a lost loved one. Not only do basic physics come into play at that point... but.. they're killing the tone by restricting the top like that.
I don't like the way most any Acoustic guitar of size cuts into my right upper arm... so I just move the guitar to sit on my left leg, and problem solved... and it's easier (for me) to play as well. |
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Location: Pewaukee, WI | I like the idea behind the contour bowl, but I don't like the thickness of the bowl at the top (against my chest). I started with electrics so I'm partial to the SSB. An SSB or mid-bowl with a belly contour I'd go for. I do have a couple deep bowls and some mid-bowls, and like the sound, so someday I'll probably own a contour bowl. |
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Location: Marlton, NJ | It's probably just the way I sit and hold the guitar, but I don't notice a difference physically between the contour, the mid depth and the deep bowl. |
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Posts: 6268
Location: Florida Central Gulf Coast | Originally posted by Mr. Ovation:
As for the contour, could care less about the aesthetic, although I realize that was one of the reasons they built it Was this a major concern or just a 'by-product' of tonal/volume/construction research? I hadn't thought of the aesthetic aspect before...  |
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Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | Originally posted by CrimsonLake:
It's probably just the way I sit and hold the guitar, but I don't notice a difference physically between the contour, the mid depth and the deep bowl. +1 |
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December 2001
Posts: 7233
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | Originally posted by 2ifbyC:
Originally posted by Mr. Ovation:
As for the contour, could care less about the aesthetic, although I realize that was one of the reasons they built it Was this a major concern or just a 'by-product' of tonal/volume/construction research? I hadn't thought of the aesthetic aspect before...
or...
They wanted to use the "swoosh" on the 12th fret, so they designed the back to match it. Then realized it sounded better, was lighter, and easier to hold. :) |
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So, Do You Guys Hate the Contoured Ts?
