|
|
Joined:
July 2003
Posts: 1922
Location: Canton (Detroit), MI | Hi all,
I just returned from a trip to Elderly Instruments today....my wife and I went to look at a couple of Os that they have on their website, a 6778 Standard Elite LX and a 1777 Legend. Just raised the bucks from selling off stuff from a past hobby on eBay, and ready to look for a new U.S.-made 6-string.
The 1777 was out and easily available....I tried it and it sounded WONDERFUL. Nice bottom end, full, rich depth of sound. Nice playability. Holy moley!
I had to ask a clerk to go get the 6778 LX for me, they had not put it out yet, it was stashed away. He brought it up from the basement and got it out for me....let me play it for as long as I wanted.
I began playing it and immediately noticed it did not have the depth of the 1777. Just didn't seem as good. Playability, although fine, was not quite as good as the 1777, either. I took it over to the "Ovation Room" where the 1777 was. Played it there, then had my wife hold the 6778 while I played the 1777 again. We both agreed, the 1777 was the berries, and noticeably better than the 6778 LX. So I bought the 1777 and left the 6778 LX.
NOW....this is a fine example of why one should play a guitar before buying it!!!! Does this mean that the reputation of the LX upgrade is overblown??? I doubt it. It means that this particular non-LX Legend suits my ears and fingers better than this particular LX Standard Elite. Maybe my ears prefer the round sound hole sound over the Adamas sound-hole array for a wood-top guitar. I know that I don't care for the sound of the Adamas-top Celebrities compared to the round-hole ones.
Sad in one regard...I REALLY liked the New England Burst finish on the 6778 LX....but not enough to live with a guitar that did not sound as good as the Legend.
The 1777 on Elderly's site is the very one I have.
http://www.elderly.com/new_instruments/items/1777-NAT.htm
Time to go play...I've NEVER had a 6-string guitar before as good as this one!!!! :) :) :)
Roger
1976 Applause AA14-4 6-String
1981 Ovation 1118-1 Glen Campbell 12-string
2001 Adamas 1598-MERB Melissa Etheridge 12-String
2003 Ovation 1117-4 Legend 6-string |
|
| |
|
Joined:
July 2003
Posts: 1922
Location: Canton (Detroit), MI | OOOPS!!!! The Legend on Elderly's site is NOT the exact one I have.....mine has an OP-40. Otherwise it is exactly the same.
Roger
1976 Applause AA14-4 6-String
1981 Ovation 1118-1 Glen Campbell 12-string
2001 Adamas 1598-MERB Melissa Etheridge 12-String
2003 Ovation 1117-4 Legend 6-string |
|
| |
|
Joined:
December 2003
Posts: 420
Location: On the beach in Southwest Florida | Glad you were able to find another Ovation for your stable. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
January 2004
Posts: 799
Location: Athens, GA & Gnashville | Congrats Applesauce!! If I had seen it, I would have bought that very guitar. Too sweet!!!!!!
Natural finish, round hole...you..you...you!! |
|
| |
|
Joined:
August 2003
Posts: 396
| I have no doubt that some current models will beat some lx models on any given day. The mid-depth models I've played give a good unplugged sound. The odd thing to me isn't that the lx lost between the two... the odd thing is that you found a store that had both models at the same time! I've never seen the model you bought in a store, and I haven't seen a store that has an lx yet! |
|
| |
|
Joined:
August 2003
Posts: 4619
Location: SoCal | This thread started with a comparison of the non-LX 1777 and the 6778LX. Has anyone been able to compare the 1777 and the 1777 LX? |
|
| |
|
Joined:
December 2003
Posts: 13984
Location: Upper Left USA | As the instrument is the sum of it's parts and may still have individual traits I would like to see more direct comparisons. This is complicated by the lack of instruments available.
Would love to see a matchup of the Legend LX with the Elite LX since the single/multi hole debate is still in session.
Compare the standard Elite LX with the Elite LX - different bridge and fretboard woods and a glossy finish vs. satin. The fodder for opinions will last a long time. I would REALLY like to compare several of the same model side by side!
In reference to other posts I will add that with my Elite LX there is a big difference in sound between fingerpicking (mostly 4231 variations in 4/4 time, hammers and pulls) and strumming. I also found that even with slightly different picks it is touchy - I get the scratchy scraping sound unless I use my Dunlop 500 .71 mm plectrum.
Hey if Paul M. holds the Smart A** position on this board does that mean that Dumb A** is open - or has that been filled? |
|
| |
|
Joined:
August 2003
Posts: 4619
Location: SoCal | quote: Hey if Paul M. holds the Smart A** position on this board does that mean that Dumb A** is open - or has that been filled?
That should be a rotating postion, sometimes by the hour... |
|
| |
|
Joined:
January 2004
Posts: 648
Location: Florida | I dont see the hoopla. Even by Ovation's standards - the 6778LX is down in rank from the 1778.
Sure, the LX has different bracing, different neck attachment. But the Legend is supposed to have higher graded (AA vs A) top wood, and also has the ebony vs rosewood bridge and fretboard (as has already been noted).
Also - to be totally fair, and this is part of the playability thing, you'd need to setup both guitars optimally, strung the same etc etc. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
July 2003
Posts: 1922
Location: Canton (Detroit), MI | Charlie, I would assume that both guitars had optimal set-ups. Elderly has a big service area, they are supposed to check all incoming guitars before putting them out for sale. Also, both guitars had D'Addario EXP .012" string sets as factory original.
I don't feel set-up was the issue. If the SOUND had been there, I would have bought the Elite. I preferred the finish on it. But it wasn't that close.
I didn't want to sound too negative about the Elite in my initial post, but the sound wasn't all that much better to my ears than some of the better Celebrities I've heard. That's not good.
I would HOPE that the guitars are comparable....the prices are within $30 of each other!!!! If the Standard Elite LX loses consistently to a non-LX Legend, it won't sell! Ovation had better hope that stores don't carry both if that's the case!
Thanks to Peter and Goober for the congrats. Congrats to Peter on his acquistion of the old Legend.
Roger
1976 Applause AA14-4 6-String
1981 Ovation 1118-1 Glen Campbell 12-string
2001 Adamas 1598-MERB Melissa Etheridge 12-String
2003 Ovation 1777-4 Legend 6-string |
|
| |
|
Joined:
December 2003
Posts: 420
Location: On the beach in Southwest Florida | You're very welcome. If it plays half as good as it looks...wow! |
|
| |
|
Joined:
August 2003
Posts: 396
| Actually on list price the 1777 legend is 1519.00
and the 6778lx is 1212.00. (I could be wrong!) Elderly's price of 959.00 for the 6778lx is about $100 over its mail order competition. The lx's look like they're selling about 30% off, while the older models are your standard Ovation 30-40% off. Once there are more out I'd imagine the lx prices will fall into the same discounts. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 7210
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | Compariong and sound hole and epulet guitar is comparing apples and oranges. As example when I bought my 2001 collectors, the center hole sounded nice to ME while playing it, but I had Alpep play several, of both the epulet and center-hole models while I sat across from him listening. There was a HUGE difference from the listening end and I brought home the epulet model.
Also, at NAMM there were a group of guitars in the sound booth. I had a chance when no one was around to play all of them. I don't remember all of the guitars, but the new Adamas slothead to me had the overall best sound. The 30th Anniversary was up there, but it was a different sound that the best I could describe was a little less defined. I had to give it high marks because my test was a chord and note progession involving all of the neck with both a pick and with fingers. I was looking for tone and volume consistancy across the neck and tonal quality.
The LX's were next on the list, as they should be now that I see the price and such. I would suspect at the factory tour we could see/hear LX vs. non-LX side by side, but I think the LX will win hands down based on my experiments. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
July 2003
Posts: 1922
Location: Canton (Detroit), MI | Miles, I had been coming to the same conclusion myself, that the round hole and epulet guitars sound different. I believe I have found that I prefer the round hole sound, although my ME 12-string sounds outstanding. I intend to buy another new Ovation 6-string later in the year, and I believe it will be either another round hole Ovation, or an Adamas. Might be a Legend LX, if I find one to try by that time, and I like it.
The Elderly price on the 1777 was $985, for reference. I have actually seen a website that had the SAME price for either the 1777 or the 1777-LX, but I wonder if that was a mistake. Prices online are irrelevant to me other than for reference, as I won't buy an acoustic guitar online. Want to buy from a reputable local store, or from someone like Al.
Roger
1976 Applause AA14-4 6-String
1981 Ovation 1118-1 Glen Campbell 12-string
2001 Adamas 1598-MERB Melissa Etheridge 12-String
2003 Ovation 1777-4 Legend 6-string |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 15654
Location: SoCal | You guys bring up an interesting point that's been touched on in the past... namely, how Ovations sound to the player and to the listener.
As you know, I've got a 1537 Elite. A buddy of mine has an Elite as well and when we play together, his always sounded better, to my ears, than mine. A short while ago, I had the chance to have somebody else play my Elite and I was amazed at how good it sounded. There's a real difference depending on which side of the guitar you are sitting. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
November 2002
Posts: 1196
Location: Lafayette, Louisiana | I had a chance today to play two LX models for the first time. I played a Legend LX, and a Standard Balladeer LX. I must say, I was very impressed by both guitars. Both had great action, and the neck had a nice feel. I found both guitars to have a full, bright sound. I liked the Legend a bit better due to its gloss finish on the neck. I spent about 30 minutes playing the Legend LX, and I find it to be one of the best playing, and best sounding Ovations I have ever played. If you get a chance to try one out please do. They are the evolution of Ovation, and outstanding guitars. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
May 2002
Posts: 3005
Location: Las Cruces, NM | Nice to hear a discussion of how these guitars sound acoustically. Ovation still might make it as an ACOUSTIC.
:D :D |
|
| |
|
Joined:
June 2002
Posts: 6192
Location: Phoenix AZ | It surprises me ZERO than a round soundhole guitar would sound better than a wood topped multiholer. I know a lot of it is personal preference. For me, I'm just a huge fan of one big hole in the middle. Dave |
|
| |
|
Joined:
July 2003
Posts: 1922
Location: Canton (Detroit), MI | For what it's worth, my discussion of the sound of the two guitars is SOLELY acoustic....I almost never play plugged in, and I didn't bother to play either guitar plugged in at Elderly. I did try the Legend after I brought it home, and it sounds fine with the OP40.
Roger
1976 Applause AA14-4 6-String
1981 Ovation 1118-1 Glen Campbell 12-string
2001 Adamas 1598-MERB Melissa Etheridge 12-String
2003 Ovation 1777-4 Legend 6-string |
|
| |
The LX LOSES!!!
