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Location: Canada | Nice Viper on ebay-black:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1994-Ovation-EA-68-Viper-Really-Nice-Photos... |
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Posts: 888
Location: Louisville, OH 44641 | Sooo....what's the deal with the Vipers? I'm not clear when you'd want one of these over a super shallow body Ovation. Are they an electric guitar? An acoustic? I'm not clear. I currently have a gorgeous red VXT that I love. Is the Viper similar?
Bottom Line: Could someone help me out with what the Viper is all about?
Thanks. |
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Posts: 1249
Location: Texas | Yes...the viper is a solid body electric that produces an acoustic sound. I am assuming that the weight is offset by the no worry of feedback aspect. Nothing acoustic about it, until it is plugged in.
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Location: sitting at my computer | some confusion might be due to different model guitars being called Viper... Ovation Viper(s) eg. model 1271 solid body electrics http://www.ovationguitars.com/archive/guitar/viper_1271 and... Ovation Viper(s) eg. model EA 68 and EA 63 nylon string with multi-soundhole epaulets. http://www.ovationguitars.com/archive/guitar/ea68 http://www.ovationguitars.com/archive/guitar/ea63
Edited by SOBeach 2012-05-13 11:37 AM
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Location: sitting at my computer | and... Ovation Viper CV68 http://www.ovationguitars.com/archive/guitar/viper_cv68
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Location: Texas | Upon close inspection...there really isn't much of anything shared by the CV and the EA. Maybe the nut and the epaulet. |
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Location: Flahdaw | The ebay ad states "solid body", but at best it's a semi-hollowbody, as it has sound ports, right? I've never seen or played one, but they look pretty cool. |
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Location: Texas | I have owned an EA63 and I am sure they are the same. No sound ports. They are a solid body....although they are carved out for this and that...it has nothing to do with natural sound. Battery. Pre-amp electronics and asthetics. |
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Location: Flahdaw | The epaulet holes seem to go through to the back of the guitar (looking at the ebay photos) ,so that part is hollow anyway. It certainly ain't as "solid" as the electric viper. I'm guessing it has a tone all it's own, unless the peizo's are soooo dominant it cancels out the other features of the guitar. |
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Location: Texas | The nylon version is like a nylon les paul. The epaulet holes are hollow enough for the Ovation sticker. Here is e fairly good pic... http://www.jayk.net/ebay/ea63/ea6.jpg I play a Chet CE and unplugged or plugged, they both sound the same. And the Gibson does not have the carve outs on the upper bout. You can tell the weight difference. |
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Posts: 1609
Location: Colorado | The vipers do not pretend to put out an unplugged acoustic sound - gotta plug them in. An SSB is an acoustic guitar.....- and almost all are acoustic electrics. The EA 68 and EA 63 - are truly the weight and hanging feel of an electric guitar - but your fingers tell you it is an acoustic - and so does the amplified sound. The 63 is nylon, so has a tie-down bridge - and a much wider neck, acoustic sound is minimal until plugged in - then you get classical nylon sound....it is every bit the guitar of the Gibson Chet Atkins Nylon (I've had both both great guitars) - pure mellow tone - holds tune - and can compete with a band. |
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Posts: 1673
Location: SoCal | EA68, 63, 58, B68... tapping around on their tops and probing around inside, all of mine seem to be significantly carved out. Maybe not as much as Ovation's ad copy, but far from solid. 
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Location: Flahdaw | If that is really a picture of an EA-68 carved out, then it's about the most un-solid solid body guitar I've ever seen....
Still cool tho. I'd love to fool around with one for a month. |
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Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | I agree that the term "solid body" is a little misleading. I believe Ovation generally refers to it as "chambered" body. The Viper name as I understand it comes from it's resemblance in profile to the original Viper solid body of the 80's. |
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Location: Texas | OK OK ... it's chambered, not solid. Who knew?  http://www.ovationtribute.com/Ovation%20Promo/Viper_EA_Ovation_Ad.html
Edited by jay 2012-05-14 7:15 AM
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Location: Flahdaw | About time you admitted it. |
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Location: Texas | This is a tough crowd.
Nixon would have never hung out here. |
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Location: Upper Left USA | We don't get to beat up Politicians around here... unless they play guitar.
There's plenty of arguments over whither or not anything but the strings and pickup systems matter on a guitar. I believe the whole package is the test rather than the individual parts and science. |
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Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | I have a lot of experience with the chambered EA Vipers, SSBs, and the VXT. They're really different. I think of the EA Vipers as providing an acoustic tone with significantly more sustain than an SSB which, as Elginacres points out, is an acoustic guitar. The VXT is a solid-bodied humbucking electric first and foremost, with an added piezo under the bridge that can be blended/mixed with the humbuckers. The most I mix these days is about half, where the midpoint indent resides, and the rest of the time I'm running the VXT at full electric. As others have pointed out elsewhere on these boards, they represent different flavors of ice cream, with maybe a frozen yogurt thrown in. |
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Location: sitting at my computer | boltonb - 2012-05-14 9:10 AM ... they represent different flavors of ice cream, with maybe a frozen yogurt thrown in. yup! and some with sprinkles too!! 
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Location: Orlando, FL | So, if I understand the professor correctly, one should really own at least one of each: Viper, VXT and SSB!
Sound advice! |
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Location: Steeler Nation, Hudson Valley Contingent | Designzilla - 2012-05-14 12:08 PM
So, if I understand the professor correctly, one should really own at least one of each: Viper, VXT and SSB!
Sound advice!
Why just one?!
This is the OFC for Pete's sake! |
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Posts: 888
Location: Louisville, OH 44641 | OK.....so we are saying this Viper is an Acoustic sounding, chambered body electric. But....does it have the super low action and low string tension of an electric? |
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Location: Flahdaw | I don't buy stuff on ebay so forgive a stupid question, but if you look at the bid history on this guitar you will see where g***9 bid 10 times in a row, upping the bid from $210 to $300.
Why would he up the price when no one is bidding against him? |
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Posts: 39
Location: MA | Click the little box that says "See Automatic Bids" and you'll probably see that there were bids in between his.
Edited by mcthumber 2012-05-14 12:55 PM
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EA-68
