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Location: NJ | Well maybe.
I should know more in the next month of so.
It is my understanding that Fender has named a new product manager for Ovation and he is interested with meeting and getting some ideas about what is important to Ovation guitar players.
I know you may have heard this stuff before but Fender does have the backing to make it happen.
I will let you know any details when I can. |
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| Should we post our suggestions ? |
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Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Maybe he (or she?) should join the forum and open up a dialogue here. I know there is some risk in soliciting uncontrolled feedback, but it would serve as one source of input from a group of Ovation fanatics. |
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| My question ( or goal if I were in their shoes ) would be to ask, " What can we do to broaden the appeal and not lose the diehards ! " My concern would be that the fanatics already think it's all good and wonder why others aren't buying Ovation guitars.
However, I think that even among the diehards there are perceptions that have hurt their bottom line. For instance. Buy an American made model and not an over seas one. In my case, that got me a really cool 12 string in the used market, but it didn't give Ovation one CENT of profit. How do you change that view ?
Another notion that gets mentioned a lot is that, " Ovations used to be the go to guitar for built in pickups and live performances, but other brands have surpassed them. " . The current trend seems to be the mixed "mic + saddle pickup" combination that allows you to dial in the balance. No reason Ovation couldn't offer that as an option in plenty of their guitars. In fact, that could be used as an option to get people to buy new instruments AND offer it in the midrange and higher guitars to get player to see and hear a difference between the different model lines. Give them a reason to not just buy a low end Celebrity and think all Ovations sound the same.
Here's as a question I was going to ask, which I'm sure all you long time forum guys already discussed. Why are the least expensive Ovations some times to BEST looking ones ? Outside of some of those custom jobs that some of you have, the cool looking tops are on Celebrities. They have Elite hole patterns. They come in mid and shallow bowls and have pick-ups. If some unlearned player walked in a music store the first Ovations they would be drawn to are the low end ones. I'm not sure that's a good marketing plan.
Sorry. I know Al didn't ask for opinions, but I had to get some off my chest.
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Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | I'm going to jump in early on this and make a suggestion to US. We know whomever is in place will likely either know about us, or visit us. So lets try to be helpful and if making suggestions, base them on things that you would/will in fact buy.
Personally I would like to see a nice, basic, entry level, Made in the USA, guitar or at least assembled in the USA. Much like the Ultra or the early Matrix/Medallion. Nice low price point.
On the other end I'd like to see a $10,000 Adamas in the catalog. Now granted this breaks my "would-i-buyit" suggestion above, but this has been a long time coming. Anyone who has an OFC II version of the 2080 would have likely paid a little more for it and if it came with a Carbon Fibre case... the suggested retail would certainly be near that $10,000 mark. Why isn't the Adamas in with all the other brands high-priced guitars in the "special" room.... because the Adamas is NOT a high-priced guitar, it's just the top of the line Ovation. I could go on, but I think this is self-explanatory.
Upgrade the iDea. Turn it from cool gadget to working tool. With the addition of a removable microSD card and some software management tools for MAC/PC... Imagine programming your whole gig of backup music on your guitar. Your whole catalog maybe. I would even support control from an iPod or Android device, but it would have to be wireless. If you had 1000 tunes on it, you'd have to have a way to select the tunes from something other than the device itself and adding more wires to a guitar is not a good option. But yes, this is something I would buy even if it was just the same basic unit as it is now, with a removable STANDARD memory card.
There ya go...
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Location: Caribou, ME | 1111-4. |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | 1614-4 
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Location: SoCal | A lot of us thought that the K1111 reissue was one of the best sounding guitars Ovation ever built. Something like that but with modern appointments. And a preamp with a really great, warm, acoustic sound (like Tak's Cool Tube?).
Then you've got to get it out there in the hands of the visible performers.
Got to get it on stages and seen...... |
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Location: Tennessee | Ovation has always been for those people who look forwards, not backwards. So regurgitating old models will get Ovation the same results as the Traditional Series and the Reissues when they tried that in the mid 2000's. Which was close to nada/zip.
Make something modern like the OFC2. With a preamp that supports bluetooth ... including pedals for loopers and controls. Built-in wireless so you can go cable free to your amp or board, and for upgrading software. Built-in effects. An SD card slot like Miles suggested for adding various patches, sounds, and features. Maybe even a midi function with built-in sounds.
Make it futuristic to the nth degree. Take advantage of all the new technologies and electronics. Strive for the most advanced, coolest thing on the planet. People pay good money for new, interesting gadgets. And there are huge number of people who will pay big dollars for something they consider totally cool.
Keep making all the old models offshore for those who want to remain in the past. |
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Location: Fort Worth, TX | mileskb - 2012-10-09 5:25 PM
Upgrade the iDea. Turn it from cool gadget to working tool. With the addition of a removable microSD card and some software management tools for MAC/PC... Imagine programming your whole gig of backup music on your guitar. Your whole catalog maybe. I would even support control from an iPod or Android device, but it would have to be wireless. If you had 1000 tunes on it, you'd have to have a way to select the tunes from something other than the device itself and adding more wires to a guitar is not a good option. But yes, this is something I would buy even if it was just the same basic unit as it is now, with a removable STANDARD memory card.
That's one awesome idea right there. I'd buy one too. |
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Location: Hot Springs, S.D. | I managed to get my hands on an older Custom Legend. I have it here in my shop and it is the very first thing EVERYONE gravitates to. There are always going to be people who like bling, and the Custom Legend has the most TASTEFUL bling I have ever seen on any guitar. Even the Taylor fanatics love it because it sounds as good as it looks.
The Adamas' always catch people's eyes too, and when they hear them, even the Martin people are blown away.
The only complaint I ever hear about Ovations are "the round backs slip". I don't happen to have any contour bowls here in the shop (my 2077LX stays by my chair in the living room), but those things are COMFORTABLE.
I KNOW there is a market for USA Ovations here in the mid-west. Whenever I get a used one in, it's gone within days. I have people come in asking if I have any for sale. (The Custom Legend and the Adamas I keep here are not for sale.) Just last week a guy came in asking for an Ovation 12-string. I told him I'd try to find him one and yesterday, low and behold, I got one in. It'll be gone tomorrow.
I know the buy-in for new Ovations is probably more than what a small shop like mine can afford, but if Fender would LOWER the buy-in, I would be SO PROUD to sell new Ovations here, and I know I would sell lots. |
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Location: NJ | K 1111 did not sell well at all even though it was an awesome guitar.
why?
to most kids they have no clue who Glenn campbell is
and
it lacks the blind that makes people want to buy something.
I think a balance respect to the old along with a radical new thing is in order. |
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Location: Fort Worth, TX | immoody - 2012-10-09 6:58 PM
A lot of us thought that the K1111 reissue was one of the best sounding guitars Ovation ever built.
The one I have IS the best sounding acoustic I've ever had. I know y'all are tired of hearing it, but I refer to it as the Stradivarius O. Beats the heck out of my Martin D28 Custom. When I play it in a large ensemble, mic'd thru the soundboard, I get tons of compliments on the sound from the other musicians and singers who hear it in their in ear monitors. Makes me feel downright proud. |
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Location: SoCal | alpep - 2012-10-09 5:18 PM
K 1111 did not sell well at all even though it was an awesome guitar.
why?
to most kids they have no clue who Glenn campbell is
and
it lacks the blind that makes people want to buy something.
I think a balance respect to the old along with a radical new thing is in order.
"Blind"? You mean bling. That's why I said it had to have modern features and then Fender needs to work tirelessly to get it into performers' hands. Otherwise it will be the great guitar that nobody plays. Time to put Campbell out to pasture and find the new up and comers...... |
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Location: Pueblo West, CO | CanterburyStrings - 2012-10-09 5:16 PM
The only complaint I ever hear about Ovations are "the round backs slip". I don't happen to have any contour bowls here in the shop (my 2077LX stays by my chair in the living room), but those things are COMFORTABLE. When I bought my first Ovation, a medium depth, cut-away model with the strap button on the bass upper bout, this was my biggest disappointment with the guitar. It always felt like it was trying to slip out from under my right arm. And, the weird angle it assumed when it did get stable made my left wrist uncomfortable. Never one to shy away from modifying my guitars to suit my own tastes, I moved the strap button to the under side of the neck. This immediately fixed the slipping problem. I recently bought a 2078TX with deep contour bowl and cut-away. The strap button was also mounted on the bass bout. I found that even this 'improved' design wanted to slip away. So, I modified it by moving the strap button to the same place and now it feels as solid as all my flat-back guitars. After the 2078TX, I bought a 1624-4 and its strap button is mounted on the treble bout. Even though this has a round back, it doesn't want to slip away under the weight of my right arm. So, my suggestion for Ovation is to fix the slip on the cut-aways by simply moving the strap button to the spot shown in the photo below and let gravity work for the player instead of against him. 
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Location: Sunshine State, Australia | My suggestion relates to branding and marketing.
Why not call an Ovation an 'Ovation' and call a Celebrity a 'Celebrity', thereby giving the Ovation brand (specifically the US made ones) a bit of separation from the entry level overseas stuff.
Fender has Squier guitars, Gibson have Epiphones - both respected for what they are, but they AREN'T Fenders or Gibsons. I've never understood why Ovation didn't adopt that strategy.
"I've got this nice Squier, but one day I'd like to own a 'proper' Fender!"
"I've got this nice Celebrity, but one day I'd like to own a 'proper' Ovation!" |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Maybe a bid radical, but I think they should forget the whole idea of building acoustic and acoustic electric guitars. The Fender umbrella has Fender, Guild and Takamine to cover all the bases necessary as far as acoustics and A/E go. And of course Fender (and to a minor extent Guild) more than cover the electric needs.
What Ovation USA should do is focus solely on the VIPER/VXT/Modeled Acoustic/Variax/Whatever market. The EA Viper line in its day was stellar and frequented many stages. Couple it with more modern technology and modeling capabilities and you could dominate that niche market. And it's a market that is surprisingly stable. If you can't beat them at their game, define your OWN game. |
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Location: Jet City | How about a round plastic top with a flat wooden back? |
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Location: Texas | "Time to put Campbell out to pasture" Harsh. And easier said than done. It seems that a lot of the fav's that are posted on this board are typically 67 to mid 80's O's. Ovation now and Ovation then are incomparable, in all aspects, from manufacturing to marketing. To wit "Fender does have the backing to do it". Danger, Will Robinson, fox in the henhouse. Paul...I think I will sit out in that pasture with Glen, picking my pasteurized Ovation, while I watch what use to be the competition continue to marginalize a once great American company. Demographics have changed as much as ownership. FMC is only going to do what's best for the bottom line. All of us guys that are going out to pasture with Glen, really don't matter any more. Heck, we can barely buy 50 calendars, much less 50 new Ovations. Bobo is on target, but who the hell could afford that guitar in the #'s that would justify its creation? All those fresh faces at Guitar Center, that are working at McDonalds? The look, the sound, the feel that is special to us... failed to transcend into todays market and the driving force that brought Ovation to prominence beat Glen to the pasture years ago. Hopefully my membership will not be revoked for this post.
Edited by jay 2012-10-09 11:46 PM
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| I would agree that it would be nicer to have " Celebrity by Ovation " or " Applause by Ovation " and then simply Ovation for the higher priced stuff.
I think the problem we have is we don't know where Ovation sits in Fender's plans. What instrument niche is not filled by their other holdings ? Where does FENDER think the product line should be ? Some bean counter is at some point going to ask how having ALL these brands helps the company and only the standout, money making, lines are going to stick around. So... the big question should be, " What changes would you like to see so that Ovation sells enough for Fender to keep them around ? ".
There is ONE thing the brand has always had. Visual recognition. You can tell an Ovation by sight, without needing to read the headstock. They have also always been known to have an electric guitar like neck and are easy to play. I don't know how that works into Fenders questions, but those are two things EVERY guitarist can agree on.
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Location: Flahdaw | Ovation (Fender) should just spend 90% of it's marketing and development $'s on getting the right, POPULAR, celebrity endorsements. From country to pop to rock and roll. They need to be seen at the MTV and the CMT music awards, and on Youtube. That's all it would take to generate sales and traffic. And speaking of endorsers, the guitar must be affordable to their particular target market. A $2500+ "signature" guitar is not going to be bought by young people working at vintage clothing stores, Richard's Whole Foods, or Starbucks. Besides that, the target market has to be bigger than 173 people.
There's really nothing wrong with the product they are producing, Asian OR domestic. |
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Location: Sydney, Australia | I think that a few tweaks are important - Ovation made its name by looking forward - but the biggest thing is marketing. Use Fender's marketing power to insist that Fender dealers carry a certain number of Ovations, including something in the upper price range. There was a suggestion about a very high end Ovation - how about revising the Q and making the bowl and neck out of carbon fibre - a contour bowl Q, with the look of an OFC II? |
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Location: Miami | Bring back the American textured T-tops with ebony fretboards. And offer them in all bowl sizes. I would certainly buy. |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | With all due respect ... any suggestion that starts with "Bring back ... " is probably not the direction Ovation needs to go. Just my opinion.
If I was in charge of the think tank I would brainstorm that every proposal start with the words "Invent ..., Develop ..., Explore ..., Define ... etc "
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Location: south east Michigan | I don't think celebrity endorsements are as effective as they were back when.
The music business is just to fragmented. We don't listen to the same music anymore. We're all in our own little bubble doing our individual I-pod shuffle. Back in the day we listened to Glen en-mass .... as a culture.... as a country. You couldn't get away from it. Besides... how many popular front men with guitars are out there anyway? You can have the top 5 of them all playing Ovations and they would not have a quarter of the influence Glen had.
We've even lost the power of an album cover photo.
Fender would do better to endorse and support the Usual Suspects.
Hell.... sign 'em all up and send 'em out on the road!
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I like a combination of StandingOvation's & Bobbos's idea. There has to be a number of Hamer craftsmen still at the Mothership that need something to do.
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It's an old pipe dream around here to label a Celeb a Celeb and an O an O.
Maybe now the brand has been diluted, vilified, and torn asunder enough for that to happen.
Then again, maybe there is more de-construction to be done.
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I'm glad to hear Fender has appointed a new product manager for Ovation.
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New guitars from New Hartford?
