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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 613
Location: Zion, Illinois | Since a couple of OFC'ers have express interest in getting a 1537 Elite (Goober?), I took it upon myself to check one out I saw on EBay a couple of days ago.
Here is the link...
Ovation Elite 1537 on Ebay - no reserve
I let my 16 year old son drive to the store to get him some practice on getting his license. It was only about a 25 minute drive. The weather here is 60, so it was very pleasant. Enough of that, on with the review.
The seller turned out to be a pawn shop in Round Lake, Il. I went in and asked about the Ovation for sale. They had it stashed in the back, so they had to bring it out. It has the normal brown Ovation HSC with all the paperwork as the ad says. I picked it up and strummed it. The first thing I noticed was that the strings were old but not the original strings as they thought. I tuned it up and tried again. The action was a bit high so I checked the neck. The neck will need the truss rod tweaked a bit, but nothing out of the ordinary. The fret board is in very good shape. The first few frets have wear and probably could use some dressing, but I doubt the fret have been dressed before, so there is plenty of fret left.
My 1537's top has an almost quilted maple look to it. This one has that quality a little round the sound holes only. The rest is a nice pronounced grain, not as tight as mine but still nice. The is a "gash" like ping on the top of the guitar below the bridge on the low E string side that isn't mentioned in the ad. The strange thing is, I have the same ping on my top. It isn't deep enough to call it a gouge, but should have been noted in the ad. And like my 1537 you can see the ripples of the bracing. A luthier I know called in imprinting. As mention in previous posts, this doesn't hurt anything.
The tuners are very clean looking, just a pictured.
The back has some of the brown paint missing as noted in the ad. He thought it was a stain, I told him not to worry about it.
The most serious flaw I found that wasn't mentioned in the ad was a 1/2 inch gash in the back of the neck, up around the 1st fret low E string side. I don't consider this serious flaw. There is no sign of abuse on this guitar so it is probably a one time "opps". "Gash" might be a little harsh, but is a noticeable hit.
I did not try the electronics, but they assured me that they worked.
The bottom line IMHO, The overall condition of this guitar is very good. It will need the truss rod tweaked and some new strings and possibly a fret redressing, not unusual for a guitar made 20 years ago. The serial number is somewhere around 301776. The sound was hard to gauge due to the very old strings, but I'm will to bet with new strings this 1537 will sing! There is no reserve on this guitar. What I'd be willing to pay for it, if $700 would be for mint condition, I would say no more than $580. That's just my opinion, for what it's worth.
Bradley |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 1817
Location: Minden, Nebraska | Rarely do we get this kind of 'on site, hands on' report on an instrument being auctioned on eBay. I did toss a bid at it. |
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Joined:
February 2004
Posts: 50
Location: Boise Idaho | A fine example of the unlimited potential of this forum... Very nice. |
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Joined:
January 2004
Posts: 799
Location: Athens, GA & Gnashville | Yes! And thanks, but I've got mine! :D |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 15664
Location: SoCal | So Goob, you bought one. Do you have it yet? Whatcha think? |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 613
Location: Zion, Illinois | Originally posted by Goober:
Yes! And thanks, but I've got mine! :D
WHAT??? ONLY ONE?????? :D
Bradley |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 613
Location: Zion, Illinois | Well, it went for $510. Now for some reason the seller has reposted it. Perhaps the buyer chickened out??? Anyway, I've played this guitar and it is worth $510.
Bradley |
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Ovation 1537 Elite on Ebay
