Does anyone else think it's interesting how much the back in the teaser picture on the Ovation Facebook page...

https://www.facebook.com/OvationGuitars/photos/pb.222164092016.-2207520000.1451119650./10153390585112017/?type=3&theater

...looks like the Spax-made Crafter back?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CRAFTER-WB-700CE-VTG-Electric-Acoustic-Guitar-Round-Back-w-gig-bag-/121846194621?hash=item1c5e9961bd:g:rFUAAOSwk1JWeP93

I have no objections to Ovation moving in the direction of using Cross Woven Spherical Alder bowls, or to them partnering with Spax. I actually own two of the Spax-made Hohner Eclipse 12-strings, and after my tech did a set-up, they are two of the easiest playing 12-strings I have ever owned. It's even funny to have people who *hate* bowlbacks reluctantly admit that the guitars are better than the 12-strings they personally champion... even though they also state that they would never buy one due to the shape. There's nothing like making choices on sound equipment based on looks. *laugh*

I've kept an eye on Spax since buying my Hohners, watching them introduce different back finishes, as well as doing different types of soundboard designs (off-center soundholes like the Ovation epaulets, center soundholes, and even archtops) on bowlbacks. They also have done quite a few different designs on top of the backs, from the oak leaf on their original Axiom line, to the crescent moon on the Hohners, and the painted woodgrain covering not just certain of the Spax models, but also the current Peal and Crafter lines. (Spax states on their website somewhere that the obvious woodgrain is painted, but you can still see the squares of the woven strips when there is no paint covering the arespas with the intersections.) Since Spax's instruments are unique in having that Cross Woven Spherical Alder back under all those painted designs, it's pretty easy to know that they were the ones making these models in Korea for other brands.

Which is why it's so interesting to me to see such a bowl combined with an Ovation neck. 

I think this is a good thing, using such a lightweight material in the composite bowl, getting back to the lighter and more responsive bowls from early in Ovation history. Painting over it, maybe not so much. 

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I've seen comments on the photo, but nothing which brought together the Spax angle, so I thought it was worth starting that discussion. 

I'm excited by the possibilities, and open to seeing what develops. 

How about you?

Interesting observation, TJ.

Looking more closely at the Ovation bowl, I see that it is indeed a woven Spax-like bowl.

Here's what Spax says on their site about the woven Alder bowls.

Old Man Arthur - 2015-12-28 10:08 AM

"Currently, most of the manufacturers use Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic (FRP) to make the round back body."

Uh... How many manufacturers are we talking about?

I've been watching the proliferation for quite a few years. 

And, as claimed, yes, the majority of the backs are FRP.

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As mentioned earlier, I already own and am quite happy with two instruments with the CWSA (Cross Woven Spherical Alder) backs, and I'm not against experimentation with alternate materials and construction methods. I also own Rainsong instruments, which are incredibly light.

Given that Ovation as a company has traditionally been very forward thinking, it's nice to see them continue to experiment. I'm sure I'm not the only Ovation fan who is looking forward to seeing where this goes.

(If there *were* Ovation fans who were against further experimentation, and who wanted the company's methods frozen like an insect in amber, that would be ironic, no?)

Innovation, it's all in the name: innOvation

I appreciate your expert opinion on it not being wood, including it not possibly being a CWSA bowl.

Could you describe what features are present in the Ovation photo which have allowed you to be so sure, but which don't apply to this guitar, which absolutely does have a CWSA back?

http://www.spaxmusic.com/bbs/data/cwr/XN630CE.jpg

I also would be interested in hearing how you determined that the clearly visible checkerboard pattern underlying the fake woodgrain on the Ovation back, which is a distinguishing feature of the CWSA wood bowl, is not an artifact of it being a CWSA bowl, and what your alternate explanation is for the pattern appearing on the Ovation bowl at all.

It's possible that ovation was doing a proof-of-concept prototype. I hadn't noticed what looks like a raised edge on the preamp can in that photo. Good eye!I couldn't find it easily, but a while ago on the Spax site, there was a topic on the forum about the painted woodgrain (pictured in my first post) which was applied on top of the CWSA bowl. Spax was open about the "woodgrain" being a painted finish to the CWSA bowls.

You can see the lines running perpendicular to the direction of the neck/strings, even in the blown-up detail of the back door you posted, in the lighter areas. Since you caught the raised preamp edge, this should be trivial for you.

Do they all have both?

Of course, at this point there have been many guitar makers who have used offset soundholes. The biggest embrace of such is currently among carbon fiber guitar makers, with models from Composite Acoustics, Rainsong, and Emerald Guitars, but an offset design made Tacoma instruments instantly recognizable.

The loss of the leaf motif on Ovation instruments does take away from the instant recognition of an Ovation. Then again, a lot of people didn't like the original carved headstock on the Adamas. Not all people have the same tastes, and that's okay.

And it is absolutely fine to not like a product, or how a company innovates and changes over time. Your dislke has been expressed a few times and noted in this topic, and likely won't change, so I'm glad that it's been made clear enough that further reiteration is unnecessary.

All these are interesting digressions, and it would be interesting to see a separate topic on the evolution of visual elements on Ovation instruments over time, as well as a comparison of similar such elements from other companies. 

Drum World hasn't been shy in experimenting with materials, and they were interested enough to invest their money in saving the Ovation factory. The fact is, the older incarnation of Ovation didn't survive. I'd like to see Ovation not just continue, but even grow, gaining in relevance for the current generation of musicians instead of focusing on catering to older collectors who cannot sustain the company as a viable commercial venture.

Me? I'm interested in seeing where this continued interaction between Ovation and Spax leads.

"older collectors who cannot sustain the company as a viable commercial venture"

 +1

Yep...this board did not and will not save Ovation from market insignificance. They have to come up with a product that is different...but the same...much like Chevy and Ford did with the Mustang and Camaro. 

 Problem is, DW doesn’t have the pockets of F or GM. And cars are not guitars. Ovation does not have the perfect storm of Campbell, developing a killer piezo for acoustic amplification, an exciting new guitar design and a kajillion artists wanting that on stage. Those days are gone. Making guitars out of "plastic" isn't earth shattering...yes, Ovation came up with it first, but that means nothing today in the market.

 DW has its work cut out. It is exciting to see them trying to get the roundback design to  evolve in this millennium... hopefully they can find a niche, in an already saturated market.