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Location: New Hartford CT | I just read Al's post regarding 'end of an era' selling his last Adamas, contemplating what the future will bring for the brand. Many of us feel nostalgic about this.
Back in 1967 Dad's machine shop was in the same old factory as Ovation on Greenwoods Road in New Hartford CT. There were several tenants renting at the facility. We shared common areas and it was easy to see what everyone was up to business wise as we all traversed the same hallways and would bump into each other. We'd wash up at this giant round stone sink, multiple Boraxo dispensers at the ready. I bet it's still there. Today the old factory lives on and is still rented out to a few different businesses.
The most interesting tenant was Charles Kaman and Ovation Instruments. The place was growing fast and the roundback guitar kind of took everyone by storm. Glen Campbell was on TV all the time with one. Dad played an old Martin but he had to have one of these fantastic instruments. He wound up purchasing a Deluxe Balladeer, the now legendary shiny bowl 3 plankers, S/N 691. The man never bought anything without working out some type of deal, trading labor for a discount in this case. I still have it and it is played regularly.
We'd walk over to see what they were up to with Dad teaching me about manufacturing and guitars. When you see these things at age 6 the die is cast, an appreciation for work and craftmanship that lasts a lifetime. I miss him and owe him so much. At times we'd see a guy go by with a peach basket with a dozen or so necks in it. Then Dad would point out 'look now they have 2 peach baskets loaded up!' then it was a cart with several baskets...eventually there were large rolling racks filled with hundreds of necks and bowls making their way through the plant.
We ended up moving down the street and Ovation took over the space we'd had. Their engineering dept used to be Dad's office. We'd made a lot of contacts there and over the next 2 decades we did all sorts of work for them from fixtures to t-rods to neck carving...there was so much work to be done because Ovation in New Hartford was manufacturing 20-40K units/year once things really got rolling. Just our shop alone would make 2 or 3 deliveries/wk to keep them well supplied. You can imagine the collective effort of manufacturing, marketing and selling them.
I've heard comments about 'well there were a few years where the guitars were not as good' - in my experience I never saw anything let go, simply to make a quota or get it out the door. It had to be done right or it wasn't going to the next stage. Things were rejected for the tiniest flaws imaginable.
On every delivery I was able to go inside to visit the shipping dept. You can imagine walking around the lower level there surrounded by hundreds of pristine, ready to be packaged Ovations....racks and racks and racks of gleaming Ovations, every model you can think of...with the exit door so close by. (I never had the guts to try it.)
Al, I hope you are still able to obtain and sell these fine instruments. With proper care they are built to last a lifetime. To me there has never been a finer mass produced acoustic guitar, I'd never buy anything else. |
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Location: Munich, Germany | Wow, thanks for these memories. Great!
Best regards,
Kurt |
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Location: Texas | Geo, as usual, I appreciate your desire to share your experiences with Ovation. |
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Location: Route 66, just east of the Cadillac Ranch | Awesome story. This will join the other gems that are buried in the archives. Thanks Geostorm. |
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Location: Flahdaw | Great story. As you think of more, don't hesitate to post them.
(This could be a whole separate forum category!) |
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Location: Appleton, WI | There are four reasons why I will always be an Ovation fan/lover/player/owner. First and foremost is the way my 1975 Sunburst Legend feels and sounds. I’ve tried to talk myself into selling it a number of times over the years but have to come to realize that if it was not for “this” guitar I most likely would have stopped playing guitar long ago. I would have sold all my other guitars, including my 3 O’s, a Fender Tele, 2 Taylor's and a number of others, all in my quest of becoming a world class drummer lol.
Second is Glen Campbell and the Good Time Hour. I remember it being one of the only TV programs my family would all watch together as a family, We did not watch allot of TV back then. It always seemed like such a waste of time and TV just got in the way of living. But as a family we always made time for the Good Time Hour (that and Heehaw).
Third, Mike Grimmer and Pat Genon. I was 14 and had just started taking guitar lessons, Mike was my sister’s boyfriend and Pat was Mike’s friend. They both played Ovations. Mike played a Sunburst Balladeer. Pat’s guitar was the first white Ovation I had ever seen. Six years later Pat played his white Ovation darning my wedding ceremony (it was the second best part of the day). Mike and Pat were my early teen hero’s. They were both very good guys and great guitar players.
Forth, well the forth was the picture of the Ovation Factory that was on the cover of all of Ovations early literature. To me that pictured simply screamed “made in the U.S.A” and that was at a time when those three little words really meant something. In my mind, Ovation company of New Hartford CT. was/ is my generations American Dream.
Thank you for sharing your story … It reminded me of mine.
Edited by touchpoint 2013-02-24 9:16 AM
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Location: south east Michigan | George Frey - 2013-02-23 8:47 PM
I just read Al's post regarding 'end of an era' selling his last Adamas
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Please... where is this post? |
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Location: Texas | http://ovationfanclub.com/megabbs/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=34231&... |
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Location: Flahdaw | Not all of us are invited to see that page.... |
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Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | darkbarguitar - 2013-02-24 3:00 PM
Not all of us are invited to see that page....
Please explain.. It should be viewable by all. |
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Location: Marlton, NJ | This is the message we see when trying to view that page:
"This section of the BBS is restricted to specific user accounts. Please return to the BBS." |
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Location: Marlton, NJ | You can reach it directly... it's under the "Observations for Al" section. |
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Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | My guess is that the link is taking you in as a guest....and that section of the BBS would be unviewable. |
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Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | Yes... I see that Jay used ovationfanclub.com in the link instead of www.ovationfanclub.com. Doesn't usually matter, however the cookie that keeps track of if you are logged in notices stuff like that. So if you logged in from www.ovationfanclub.com the link would likely treat you as a guest.
And the prize (a high five in this case) goes to stephent28  |
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Location: Australia | Glad I got to visit the factory in the glory year of 2006 when they were making all the limited editions. It was great seeing those #47 Adamas guitars in production and those shiny bowl models all lined up.
Fender has done a poor job with Ovation. At one time I had high hopes after seeing the great job they did with Gretsch. |
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Location: Denver, CO | Okay, somebody help me out. This thread reads like the memories of a dear, departed friend. What did I miss? Is the "old factory" gone? Did Fender shut us down? Anyway, great story, Geo! |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Factory is stil there busy building great quality instruments. |
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Location: SoCal | I went to the factory gatherings from 2003-2007. Always a thrill. I would really like to go to a Guild tour to see and play those instruments..... |
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Location: New Hartford CT | Hi preacher - I never said the factory was gone, just the opposite in fact. It's a typical Northeast factory complex the way they were built 100 or so years ago. The creaky wood floors, ancient elevator, narrow connecting corridors and stairways are all from another time.
The old factory will outlive us all without a doubt.
Regarding Fender I don't have a clue. But we all miss that factory cranking out thousands of Ovations every year. We're lucky they did and there are still plenty available, for now.
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Location: Steeler Nation, Hudson Valley Contingent | I hope to visit there in a few months and pick up my next project.
Somewhere, my wife's eyes just rolled heavenward.....again. |
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| The round, stone sink is still there, Geo. It wasn't being used though when our factory tour went through in October. I wasn't sure if it was working or not.
Thanks for sharing your musings! |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | Preacher, if you get a weekend with crappy, stay inside, weather sometime soon, go through the archives, especially the ones on the factory tours. That was the closest some of us got to the factory tours. Shoulda been there was the operative phrase. |
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Location: Jet City | I misse dthe big group tour, but I was lucky enough to visit a few years ago. John took some time out to show me around. I wonder if the sign is still hanging there? 
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Location: Denver, CO | I did watch the tour video on ovationtribute.com. Very interesting and informative. I've never been to New England, but getting up there to see the factory has joined my short list now. Just gotta find some excuse to buy plane tickets... |
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Location: Maine | Great thread!
" We'd wash up at this giant round stone sink,"
I recall this sink as a very young boy visiting the factory with my father. Certainly the first time I had ever seen one, and I wasn't even sure if it was a sink or some strange urinal? Oh. Childhood memories. When I can find the time , I need to post some pics/slides I have scanned that date back 25+ years.
Talbot
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The old factory
