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Nancy |
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Joined: December 2014 Posts: 1713 Location: Frozen Tundra of Minnesota | |||
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| CanterburyStrings |
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| JustKim |
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Bah! Link says the attachment is unavailable.  What's the news?? | |||
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| Nancy |
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Joined: December 2014 Posts: 1713 Location: Frozen Tundra of Minnesota | Sorry! My iPad won't let me copy and paste anymore, so I had to bring up my laptop to grab it: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ GUITARS BEING MADE AGAIN IN NEW HARTFORD BY KATHRYN BOUGHTON REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN NEW HARTFORD — New Hartford’s growing economic recovery hit a high note this week with news that Ovation has returned production of its high-end guitars to the community after an absence of more than a year. Ovation closed its 37 Greenwoods Road operation in June 2014, ending a half-century of Connecticut manufacturing and putting nearly 50 employees out of work. Fender Musical Instruments Corp., which then owned Ovation, said the move came because of slow sales. It consolidated production in China, South Korea and Indonesia, where many models of the guitars had been made for more than a quarter century. But although Ovation released virtually all of the 73,000 square feet of space leased from the Hurley Manufacturing site in New Hartford, it was never completely gone. A crew of three veteran workers were retained to repair and restore guitars sent in by customers. And over the last 15 months the efforts of “a lot of different people working together” have reversed the exodus, according to Dave Hurley, president of Hurley Manufacturing. Today, a handful of veteran workers have again taken up production of elite Ovation guitars in the United States. “It is a much smaller operation than it was,” said Darren Wallace, the plant manager. “Initially we will produce six models based on the 50th anniversary limited edition. These will be special limited runs.” He said the difference in price between Ovation models produced in Asia and in America will be “huge.” “The cheapest models from Asia run from $300 or $400 up to $1,500. The U.S. models will range from $3,000 to $5,000,” Wallace noted. He said Ovation, which was sold earlier this year, has a 10-year lease on the New Hartford site, which now totals just under 18,000 square feet of space, but that his goal is “to build it up much larger.” “It’s one step at a time,” he cautioned, “but we’re serious about doing this.” “It will take time, but it’s going to work out nice,” said Hurley, who has worked with Ovation to make its return to New Hartford possible. He offered the firm a beneficial lease and helped with the expense of lawyers and obtaining environmental clearances. “I made it so they couldn’t say no,” he concluded. At the same time, Wallace and other Ovation veterans were pushing the corporation to reconsider the New Hartford site. “Initially, I, along with Kathy Johnson, our former service manager, and several other people fought to keep the service portion open,” Wallace said. “There were a handful of us really pushing for that. That kept our foot in the door once the place closed down. Then, in the fall last year we started to reorganize.” Wallace, who had been the plant’s engineering manager in New Hartford, was made brand manager for Ovation, working in Bloomfield with a Fender subsidiary, KMC Musicorp. Earlier this year, Ovation was acquired from KMC by Drum Workshop. Wallace and his colleagues continued to promote a return to New Hartford with the new ownership. “They had no intention of staying here. They had been told they needed to be out in 30 days and there was enough stuff for several boxcar loads that needed to be removed,” Wallace said. “But once they came out and saw the place, Chris Lombardi, the new owner, was very surprised and he started reconsidering.” Wallace said there was “just a lot of talk on the West Coast with dealers and customers, a lot of investigation talking to people about whether they would be interested in U.S.-made Ovations. It took a while and had a lot to do with the facilities — Dave was very accommodating and gave us a great deal on the space — but Chris Lombardi made the final decision. We helped nudge him along, but he made it happen.” Wallace has added two more employees, Mike Scherer and Joe Martocchio, to the three repairmen on site, John Budny, Mike DeNoi and Sherwood Carey. He looks forward to building his workforce further over the next decade. “My preference is to try to rehire former employees that have the skill required,” Wallace said, “but many of them are already working (elsewhere). The two guys I hired back were group leaders and very skilled.” The instruments have long been a favorite with top artists and have been played by the likes of Melissa Etheridge, Neil Diamond and Billy Joel. Edited by Nancy 2015-09-02 8:08 PM (John and Crew.jpg) Attachments ----------------  John and Crew.jpg (28KB - 5 downloads) | ||
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| Nancy |
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Joined: December 2014 Posts: 1713 Location: Frozen Tundra of Minnesota | "said Darren Wallace, the plant manager. “Initially we will produce six models based on the 50th anniversary limited edition. These will be special limited runs.” I am really interested to see what the six models are - and especially what the 50th Anniversary LTD will be. If the other 6 Limited Runs will be based on it!  . Collectors nightmare.... Edited by Nancy 2015-09-02 8:37 PM | ||
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| JustKim |
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| Englishplayer |
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| Nancy |
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Joined: December 2014 Posts: 1713 Location: Frozen Tundra of Minnesota | |||
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| Beal |
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Joined: January 2002 Posts: 14127 Location: 6 String Ranch | |||
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| Nancy |
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Joined: December 2014 Posts: 1713 Location: Frozen Tundra of Minnesota | cwk2 - 2015-09-03 9:32 AM Round hole, round back......round hole cutaway, contour back.....elite deep, round.....Adamas contour. A 12 string. A nylon There are 6. Let's see how close the guess is Ok! This will be fun!!!  What is your guess for the actual 50th Anniversary Model??Edited by Nancy 2015-09-03 9:55 AM | ||
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| Beal |
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Joined: January 2002 Posts: 14127 Location: 6 String Ranch | |||
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| Nancy |
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Joined: December 2014 Posts: 1713 Location: Frozen Tundra of Minnesota | I am going to guess an Adamas - with allot of Golden flecks or border on it. You would want to do the Best of the Best for your 50th, that is a Huge Milestone for any Company! Then show all the Artists using it throughout the years as a backdrop for the Ad! | ||
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| CanterburyStrings |
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| Nancy |
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Joined: December 2014 Posts: 1713 Location: Frozen Tundra of Minnesota | YES!!!!!! Thank You for sharing!!! | ||
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| Standingovation |
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| Darkbar |
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| Slipkid |
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| moody, p.i. |
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| Darkbar |
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Joined: January 2009 Posts: 4535 Location: Flahdaw | |||
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| stonebobbo |
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Joined: August 2002 Posts: 8307 Location: Tennessee | |||
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| Nancy |
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Joined: December 2014 Posts: 1713 Location: Frozen Tundra of Minnesota | stonebobbo - 2015-09-03 7:44 PM 6 limited edition models: - Cat Stevens Folklore - Brian May Pacemaker 1615 - John Lennon Legend Limited - Richie Sambora Doubleneck - Nancy Wilson Elite - Bob Marley Adamas 1 Some sort of a 50th theme to tie them all together. Nah, never happen. The Glen Campbell 12 String! | ||
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| 360Ovation |
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naellis58 - 2015-09-03 8:00 PM stonebobbo - 2015-09-03 7:44 PM 6 limited edition models: - Cat Stevens Folklore - Brian May Pacemaker 1615 - John Lennon Legend Limited - Richie Sambora Doubleneck - Nancy Wilson Elite - Bob Marley Adamas 1 Some sort of a 50th theme to tie them all together. Nah, never happen. The Glen Campbell 12 String! Yeah, I'd sub in the GC 12-string for the RS double-neck (since that's not likely to happen), and you've got a pretty good list. Now offer the John Lennon and GC 12 in lefty versions, and you'll make us brain-damaged lefty players happy, too! | |||
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| stonebobbo |
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Joined: August 2002 Posts: 8307 Location: Tennessee | |||
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| Mr. Ovation |
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| ProfessorBB |
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