Ok so here is a little bit of a mystery.  Traded for this site unseen as a 79 1117 in good shape. I know - a pig in a poke but the “price" was worth the gamble. Here is the thing - there is a serial # that dates it to 1979 -  but NO LABEL !!  Closer inspection shows this is a fiberglass bowl (you can see the fiberglass cross hatching inside) That seems late for 79 - but again my knowledge is limited and almost exclusively the education I have gotten from the fine members of OFC. The neck looks like a 1117 - with its dot and diamond combo - but again I know very little -  the headstock shows no script (for balladeer). It has a truss rod cover, silver tuning pegs, textured deep bowl.  The top on this thing is actually in great condition, better than most of my collection in terms of flatness, cracking, dents. Not sure if there is any other way to Sherlock it. Please educate me on what this might be or if you think its a 1117… or if there is a definitive way to tell once the label is gone...

I  got this just before my shiny bowl - but the shiny got here first soooo - I will be likely selling or trading it, my 68 Shiny bowl Balladeer is the only natural top I need…. at least that what my wife tells me...

+1 on that maybe

From the very few I've seen so far... 1117s have had bound necks, 1112s haven't.

check out this 1112

http://www.guitar-museum.com/guitar-47947-Vintage-1976-Ovation-Balladeer-Acoustic-1112-4-w-HSC

Ah BRACING!  yes I will check that and the other photo sugestions...

Here is a video of my buddy Dick K making it SING!  BTW the title should be "1117 ?"

Ok so definately ebony fret board, definately X bracing.

The custom balladeer does look like the same fretboard patterns, the headstock logo looks different but thats also an a/e model and mine is a acoustic only so that might account for the lack of black background to the gold logo?

So did all the Adamas that were produced up to 1981 also had the hand-laid bowls?

?? I dunno if all Legends were supposed to have brown bowls or not, but my 1617-4 Legend (circa mid-70s / single knob preamp / VT-11 bracing) has a black bowl. I've seen 'em with brown bowls too. Maybe mine's just an oddball (like me)?!

Inspector Lestrade?    ...just kidding!!!

I suspect this one was built at a time when Ovation was using foil labels, which we know are notorious for escaping their bonds and slipping quietly away.

Purely a guess though... I'm just a Baker Street Irregular-in-training.