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Location: seattle | To me at least there are significant differences in the 1778t line - they are:
1. neck profiles - fairly thick oval and thin
2. neck wood - maple vs mahogany
3. neck finish - satin vs glossy
4. body weight - one is def lighter
5. very small diff in shape
6. electronics
7. bridge/saddle shape
http://i17.ebayimg.com/01/i/001/1b/d9/8b74_12.JPG
http://www.guitarpeak.com/ov1778t.jpg
8. fret job
anyone else seen and or compared these 2 versions?? |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | As to Bridge/Saddle shape...
This is for an OP-30...
This if for an OP-Pro...
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Location: CA | I wasn't aware there were any differences between mid-bowl Ts except pickups and colors. All the Elite 1778Ts I've ever seen have the same maple neck in satin finish. Am I missing something . . . again?
OMA's bottom pic is a 2078T, which as far as I'm concerned is a totally different animal. However, the newer 1778Ts with the Op-Pro that do seem to have this thicker bridge arrangement with compensated saddle.
I can't imagine this makes any difference whatsoever in the way the guitar plays and sounds. |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Aw... You're just saying that cuz you don't like the contour bowl! :p
But I think that maybe the newer T's have the lighter GS(?) bowl material.
I know nothing about Mahogany necks... What were the necks of the 'no TRC' models made outta?
Okay here is a regular bowl T with the OP-Pro...  |
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Location: seattle | important qu!! DOES THIS MEAN YOU CANNOT PUT A OP-PRO IN A GUIT THAT ORIGINALLY WAS SETUP FOR AN OP-30 ???? |
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Location: seattle | Originally posted by Old Man Arthur:
But I think that maybe the newer T's have the lighter GS(?) bowl material. |
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Location: seattle | Originally posted by Oddball:
All the Elite 1778Ts I've ever seen have the same maple neck in satin finish. Am I missing something . . . again?
However, the newer 1778Ts with the Op-Pro that do seem to have this thicker bridge arrangement with compensated saddle.
I can't imagine this makes any difference whatsoever in the way the guitar plays and sounds. well, a - if you look at the ovation site, they don't specify maple necks - http://www.ovationguitars.com/?fa=detail&mid=758
b. both necks get a light (maple like) stain - so it would be easy to mistake the mahogany for maple, but side by side a lot easier to tell. maple is heavier, tap tone is different - and the grain is really differnt when you compare.
I also don't 'think' (???) the bridge type would be that big a deal, but don't really know. hoever, I do believe the neck wood would contribute to a slightly differnt tone ...
lastly, the maple neck I saw was quite beefy, not the 'electric' like neck that they are famous for ... go figure?? |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | I figured-out why you may have felt a thicker neck on an Elite T...
Sometime in the T's history they had Kaman Bar necks which are thicker, and Heavier.
See? No TRC...
I had to go to Thailand to find that pic. :eek:
Sooo... Are you planning on buying one? |
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Location: CA | You know, I gotta get this off my chest: the lack of information like the foregoing on the actual Ovation website — you know, the guys who MAKE THESE GUITARS — is really irritating. I have learned a terrific amount about these guitars from you guys in the couple of years I've been hanging around here — and virtually nothing from www.ovationguitars.com except nut widths and available colors. Even trying to use their archive is frustrating as (seemingly) half the models they made aren't even there.
Without having to buy and read the 'history of Ovation' book, it seems to me that there should be a central source with all specs and ALL OPTION VARIABLES ON A SINGLE MODEL so Ovation owners and buyers could make more informed decisions. I swear it's like the Honda site featuring the Accord and only telling you what colors are available.
I supposed I feel this more acutely right now because I just bought a 1778T from a member here with the specific purpose of replacing one that I sold a year or so ago. I regretted that sale and wanted an EXACT replacement (except for color), which I assumed is what I was getting because, well, it's an Elite T fer chrissakes. From the photos, I think I'm good to go, but if it arrives with some big clunky neck (through no fault of the seller, obviously, because I didn't know to ask), I'm gonna be madder than a wet hen at Ovation.
I hope as part of the Fender reshuffle that Ovation gets a better website. |
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Location: SoCal | There's been a lot of time and space on this board, complaining about the Ovation website...... |
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Location: CA | I might go so far as to say that when I acquired GAS a few years ago (which massive intervention and therapy has thankfully kept in check so far), the dearth of info at the O main site could easily have allowed me to stray to another brand. Luckily I found this site and was saved.
(getting teary, throwing arms around computer...) "I love you guys, man!"
Ha ha ha ha ha |
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Location: seattle | Originally posted by Old Man Arthur:
I figured-out why you may have felt a thicker neck on an Elite T...
Sometime in the T's history they had Kaman Bar necks which are thicker, and Heavier.
See? No TRC...
I had to go to Thailand to find that pic. :eek:
Sooo... Are you planning on buying one?
i'm opening up a new thread that will address your 'buying' one qu
thanks for info |
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Location: seattle | I initially thought the 1778T was a new guitar - how long has it been out?? |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | Oddball, on your Honda analogy, try finding any information on old Honda models there. It doesn't happen. Manufacturer's sites are there to sell new products. Ovation does a pretty good job with the history. They could probably do better keeping up to date on their new stuff, though. |
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Location: CA | From the Ovation Website, all 'current' 1778T, mid-depth bowl models:
1778TX (Op Pro) — bracing: scalloped X; neck/bridge: rosewood w/black stain
1778T (Op 30) — bracing: quintad; neck/bridge: ebony (as you know, this listing has never been changed from describing this model as a "mid depth, super shallow cutaway")
1778T-PTF (purple tribal flame) — bracing: scalloped LX, neck/bridge: ebony
1778T-RF (red flame) — bracing: "Ovation LX", neck/bridge: ebony
So never mind the SSB and deep bowl T models for now — among the four mid-bowls you have four different types of bracing listed, and two different bridge/neck woods. I can see why ovationluver is a bit confused.
So my question to you guys is: with the exception of the obvious 'midbowl SSB' comment, do you think these specs are correct?
I have to think, personally, that it would be silly, unnecessarily expensive and risky to the product line to a guitar product line to change something as important as bracing for no obvious reason — as it would change the tone. I don't know scalloped from quintaid from killer bees (since, you know, they don't show you any on the website except scalloped), but can't imagine one type of bracing could be so much cheaper to produce that Ovation would just switch to it in the middle of a model run — again, different sound. To make perhaps a better car analogy (sorry, Mark), it would be like Honda switching a whole different motor into their 08 Accords in the middle of the year for no obvious reason. Doesn't make sense.
Of course, switching to rosewood necks is no big deal, and the Op Pro is a nice option, but gimme a break. I have to think these specs are just boilerplate and somebody plugged the wrong info in for much of the 1778T line.
Of course, from what I recall of trying to look some Fender stuff up on the internet, they're not much better. Gibson used to be totally hopeless; am sure they must have improved by now. Maybe it's the nature of the beast. |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | I'm not sure, but I don't think that they put the OP-30 into anything new, 'cept maybe special order.
[Which is a durn shame too, since I like the OP-30]
Also, most of the 'Buy Now' links don't have the guitar.
Not even the ones that list stuff that they don't actually have. |
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Location: CA | OMA — I like the Op30 as well. Seems somehow less fiddly than the Op Pro.
And I also hear ya about the BIN guitars — which the sellers don't actually have. In searching around on Google for another 1778T, I actually ran into that a lot. At least three big-name online sellers listed the guitar, complete with pics — but when queried, didn't have one. |
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Location: Utah | They did put OP30 in the Red Flame, before they put the OpPro in the Red Flame. |
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Location: seattle | Originally posted by Oddball:
From the Ovation Website, all 'current' 1778T, mid-depth bowl models:
1778TX (Op Pro) — bracing: scalloped X; neck/bridge: rosewood w/black stain
1778T (Op 30) — bracing: quintad; neck/bridge: ebony (as you know, this listing has never been changed from describing this model as a "mid depth, super shallow cutaway")
1778T-PTF (purple tribal flame) — bracing: scalloped LX, neck/bridge: ebony
1778T-RF (red flame) — bracing: "Ovation LX", neck/bridge: ebony
I've also seen reference to a 1778T-5 ??? what the heck |
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Location: seattle | Originally posted by Oddball:
I don't know scalloped from quintaid I'm off to GC with my digital camera |
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Posts: 13983
Location: Upper Left USA | The one I have for sale (shameless plug, sure...) has the peghead truss rod, bolt on LX style neck, quintad braces and an OP30.
Can't tell if the bowl is a GS Mid or not but it seems to fit.
I like the way it "Thumps", like trying to select a ripe melon!
The 1778T-5 is just an overstatement of the Black color option. |
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Location: CA | Isn't the T-5 the newer one with the Op Pro rather than the Op 30?
Or maybe it's the latest Terminator model with the liquid metal hyper-alloy chassis that looks like Angelina Jolie. |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Originally posted by ovationluver:
Originally posted by Oddball:
I don't know scalloped from quintaid I'm off to GC with my digital camera 
This is quintad... :p |
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Location: seattle | Originally posted by MWoody:
The one I have for sale (shameless plug, sure...) has the peghead truss rod, bolt on LX style neck, quintad braces and an OP30.
Can't tell if the bowl is a GS Mid or not but it seems to fit.
I like the way it "Thumps", like trying to select a ripe melon!
The 1778T-5 is just an overstatement of the Black color option. tell em how much, everyone know's they are great --- I seriously had a fixation on a $4000 taylor (614cd I think was the model - a maple mini-jumbo 16 inch body) and the ovation totally cured me, THAT'S how good it sounds :) |
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Location: seattle | http://www.ovationfanclub.com/photos/OldManArthur_84596_DSC00628.JPG">
This is quintad... :p [/QB] WAY KEWL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
anybody need anything from GC while I'm here?? |
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1778T elite comparo - to itself?
