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Location: NJ | . . . somehow "BonJovi" and "Nashville" just don't seem to . . . . . . |
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Location: Canton (Detroit), MI | I saw Glen Campbell play his Ovation on TV, of course, and that made it known to me. But I learned on an electric, and was an "electric" player until one night in April 1972 when I went to see the Ides Of March in concert.
They got to the "acoustic" part in the middle where Jim Peterik played and sang the songs "L.A. Goodbye" and "Freedom Suite", playing what I would guess was a 1611 Balladeer. I loved the clear, bright sound of the notes from that guitar, and decided then that my next guitar would be an acoustic, and an Ovation(well, it ended up being my Applause in 1976).
Unfortunately for Jim, someone else also thought that was a great guitar and ripped it off after the show.....
Roger |
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Location: Fayetteville, NC | Cliff,
No, I Don't Work for Clear(Monopoly)Channel.
The group of stations I work for are owned by beasley Broadcasting. so far about 39 Radio Stations and growing.Thanks for asking though. :D
Chris..Nothing wrong with Bonjovi. I remember their Ovation Days as well. Sambora Used to play an Ovation Doubleneck that the factory made for him. It was bee-ut-iful!! |
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Location: NJ | I may be wrong, but I think it was a triple-neck (6-12-mando). Some dealer (I think from Vegas) was hawking it here some time ago for some ungodly sum of money. Don't know if it ever sold or not.
Didn't mean to get personal with the "CC" question. Was just curious as to how far-reaching the cancer really is (okay Cliff, . . step AWAY from the "soapbox").
As cwk2 will attest, with a name like "Beasley" it's gotta be good. |
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Location: Brentwood, TN | Hey guys,
I tried out an Ovation in about 1971 or so at a MN music store, can't remember the one. It had the old brown bowl and slippery finish, before the leg pads I think. I just remember it sliding off my jeans and that it projected like mad.
I was sure aware of them, thanks to Glen Campbell, Cat Stevens, Neil Diamond etc. A Minnesota band called the Wright Brothers played them in the mid-70s and I thought they were so cool and they were the no-brainer choice to plug in an acoustic back then. I never cared for the DeArmond or Hot Spot or Buffalo or Barcus pickups back then...Tried 'em and sold 'em...
It wasn't until about 1978 when I went to James Burns Music in Minneapolis, which was actually a guy's house stocked to the bursting point with instruments of all kinds. I went through his basement and played over a dozen Ovations till I found the one that I liked best. It turned out to be an Electric Folklore, a slot-head 6 with steel strings, wide fingerboard and the warmest tone. I used that until the first few years I played with Glen Campbell and he gave me my 1987 Collectors. |
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Location: SoCal | Jeff I've been kicking myself real hard for not buying your 87 Collectors. A most beautiful guitar with a great history. But it wouldn't have done me any good. Another member her, playadamas, has a supershallow bowl Adamas country artist that GC played in the early 80's. I played it but somehow, the magic didn't rub off. Damn. |
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Location: Fayetteville, NC | Cliff,
no Offense taken on the CC Question. Those guys seem to have their hands in Everything. From Concert Venues/Promotions, To Radio. I like to think of them like you do.(Though I do have a couple of Radio Friends that work for their Raliegh,NC Stations and Like it.) I just don't know if I would be comfortable working for Such a large company. Usually the larger the company, the more thay expect you to do for as little money as possible. Wait a minute... Isn't that Corporate America?? Perhaps!! :D |
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Location: Brentwood,TN | Steve- It was a good concert and did turn me on to Ovation but these days the BON JOVI boys have kinda turned traitor. That is all they use to use acoustically. Yes, Sambora had (2)Triplenecks-1 black and 1 white and he also had 3 double necks, 1 black with adamas inlays in the fingerboard, 1 black with star inlays, and 1 cherry cherryburst with star inlays.(thought I would clear this up, I see alot of going back and forth about how many,what color, etc.) I read were Jon Bon Jovi said that he didn'y want to use tupperware anymore? When I read that, it rubbed me wrong. I am glad he went overboard in U-571! Ha ha! |
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Location: Fayetteville, NC | Just for that I'll rent the DVD and play that scene over and over and over again-laughing each time it plays! :cool: |
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Location: Midland, MI | Late to the thread, but better late than never, eh? Or is that, 'Better Nate than lever?' Who knows...
I saw my first Ovation many years ago. The unique construction intrigued me, for the sheer technical beauty if nothing else. Arches are so simple, yet so....so... Anyway, alas, it wasn't until my latest bout of 'I'm going to *really* learn how to play guitar' that I saw the one I bought hanging in the local shop. As I posted in my original thread, it just sounded and felt better than everything else they had. Don't know if that's a testament to Ovation engineering and build quality, or just my extremly biased, under-educated opinion. :) Simply playing it and comparing it to everything else they had, from cheap house brand dreads to the very expensive Taylors, Gibsons and Martins convinced me that I should, nay, *must* posess it! :D
Had my first 'real' guitar lesson last night. The instructor asked me, 'What you got in the case?' (Although it clearly says Ovation on it) . I opened it up to take out the guitar (I think it needs a name) and before I could even get the neck up out of it's rest he says, 'My God! That is *beautiful*!' Not knowing if it was proper guitar protocol or not, I offered it to him to try out. He played some amazing sounding stuff...I thought the guitar sounded good when I played my lame-a$$ chords and runs on it, but I've never heard it sound like *that*. After a couple of minutes (well, ok, about five) he stopped and declared that it was aboslutely stunning. He liked the Elixir strings, although he said that if it wasn't setup so perfectly he'd suggest a lighter gauge for me (I didn't tell him I had just mounted the strings the night before and that I thought the neck needed some relief), but as it is he thinks I should just leave it and play with what's on there. Interestingly enough, he played stuff that was so far beyond my level that I couldn't follow along, yet there was never any fret buzz. Feh, that must mean it's me. =(
Lately, I seem to have become afflicted with an Ovation obsession...scouring eBay and various internet sites, hoping to find another one...although I don't know why. :confused: |
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Location: Fayetteville, NC | You search ebay and the sell/trade Section because
You must...Ovation Calls,...it calls your name out loud,...You will buy another, then another, then another,..only because You Must!! :eek:
There..Didn't that make you feeel better? :D |
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Location: Midland, MI | Originally posted by Stevechapman:
You search ebay and the sell/trade Section because
You must...Ovation Calls,...it calls your name out loud,...You will buy another, then another, then another,..only because You Must!! :eek:
There..Didn't that make you feeel better? :D
Seriously, let's think about this. There are thousands of Ovation owners/collectors on this forum alone. Figure that's not even 5% of the total number of people inflicted with Ovation Obsession. That's a lot of people with this driving need to acquire still more Ovations. It's scary.
Think about Mel Gibson's character in 'Conspiracy Theory.' He was compelled to buy copy after copy of 'The Catcher in the Rye,' but he never read them. Turned out it was CIA conditioning, thought control, that drove him to the brink of madness. Perhaps that's the same thing here! We're all being controlled by some TLA (three letter agency)!!! The Ovation Syndrome! Hey does anyone else here have vague memories of being abducted by shadowy aliens at an early age? I'll bet that's it! Yes! That must be it!
Excuse me for a second...I see a Custom Legend on eBay that I think I need to bid on...or maybe But It Now is a better choice...
:p |
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Location: SoCal | Cruster, I can't recall... what model O do you have? |
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Location: Midland, MI | Originally posted by moody, p.i.:
Cruster, I can't recall... what model O do you have?
Paul-
I'm the proud owner of a 1989 Elite (1868) in natural, which lets the flavorful goodness of that AA Spruce top show through. :) Although, I think I need something with a more traditional soundhole. Yeah...one of each. To start. For now. Just one more... |
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Location: Fayetteville, NC | Moody,
He'll let you know after he buys the next one! :D |
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Location: Australia | Had a Fender F-75 that I really liked, then around '83/'84 my mate gave me his Model 1621 to try out. He didn't like it and neither did I, he had REAL heavy strings on it and had the action jacked up way too high, so changed to light strings, dropped the action and fell in love with it. Got rid of the Fender and have had it as my only guitar ever since. It's played in pub bands, bush bands, been trodden on, dropped, had drinks spilled in and on it and generally acquired scars and dings that have guitar purists wincing whenever they see it.
It gets played every day, and still earns me the odd dollar doing solo gigs in local pubs and restaurants. Mixer guys say it's the easiest guitar they've ever mixed and you couldn't buy it off me for under four times it's value. Still running the original single volume control electronics (although I occasionally have to resolder components on the circuit board in the preamp when they get shook loose).
I've never found a guitar I like better, so I guess I'll just have to keep it. |
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Location: Australia | Had a Fender F-75 that I really liked, then around '83/'84 my mate gave me his Model 1621 to try out. He didn't like it and neither did I, he had REAL heavy strings on it and had the action jacked up way too high, so changed to light strings, dropped the action and fell in love with it. Got rid of the Fender and have had it as my only guitar ever since. It's played in pub bands, bush bands, been trodden on, dropped, had drinks spilled in and on it and generally acquired scars and dings that have guitar purists wincing whenever they see it.
It gets played every day, and still earns me the odd dollar doing solo gigs in local pubs and restaurants. Mixer guys say it's the easiest guitar they've ever mixed and you couldn't buy it off me for under four times it's value. Still running the original single volume control electronics (although I occasionally have to resolder components on the circuit board in the preamp when they get shook loose).
I've never found a guitar I like better, so I guess I'll just have to keep it. |
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Location: Upper Left USA | Welcome to you in down-under! I'm thinking you and Cliff need to compare stories. Great post! |
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Location: Salisbury, CT | This may qualify as the best story of the bunch.
I was first impressed by the Ovation sound when another kid from Connecticut in our Florida prep school had one across the hall in my dorm. The year was 1966. I had never seen or heard a guitar quite like it. I was far from musical but I vowed that if I ever bought a guitar it would be one like Bill's. (Bill later ended up being very involved with Ovation.)
Flash forward to February of this year and my 10 year old son wants to add to his flute and keyboard skills by playing guitar. Oh, that's easy, I think, buy an Ovation. A no brainer if there ever was one. After a few days research we found a 2003 Collector's for $720 and Scot has a guitar. We spend many hours in the car commuting for the sake of Scot's tennis so I do a little more research and bought a basic Trekker for knocking around.
Then there was the OFC Factory Tour in March and I was as impressed by the likes of you all as I was by the incredible tour. Then there was the playing during dinner and some of the folks had only been playing a few years or less. Maybe if they could do it I could do it. Heck, Scot could teach me! So I took the plunge and now proudly compare calluses from my Elite LX with my son.
Can I remember anything I learn on one day the next day... much to my son's amazement, no. While Scot plays bits of Hendrix that he has picked out (?) with his teacher in his guitar lesson I play scales and try to remember my chords. I must say that I love "playing" guitar with Scot as much as anything I can think of. I wish I was as talented, dexterous and memory-enabled as he is but I continue at my pace and think how incredibly unbelievable it all is. Two months ago I could only play an iPod...
Thanks Bill !
Skip McMillan
Salisbury, CT |
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Location: SoCal | So it was pretty obvious that I had only been playing for a couple of years or less? Rats, I was hoping to fake it better than that.
Skip, where are you in the group photo? Once I see your face, I'll remember you (I'm bad with names).
Glad you're here. Some people on this board are as good as Temp, and some play like me, but we all have a good time. |
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Location: NJ |  |
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Location: Fayetteville, NC | And The bearded One over Scotts Right Shoulder Is Al in His Mauve shirt!! :D |
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Location: Converse, Texas | And The bearded One over Scotts Right Shoulder Is Al in His Mauve shirt!!
I thought that was Brian Wilson?[ |
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Location: Fayetteville, NC | My fault,..You're right. I looked again and noticed the Sand from the sandbox on his beard. :cool: |
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Location: NJ | Go ahead, Guys . . . just keep "yakkin' it up"!!!
Maybe you'll draw some of the "heat" away from me, as I've been getting the "cold, silent treatment" from Messrs. Pepiak and Moody since the whole "Michaelangelo Incident". ;) |
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What hooked you on Ovation....?
