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January 2004
Posts: 648
Location: Florida | Got on over to the Guitar Center in WPB today. Its not nearly as nice as the one in Hallendale. Anyway, same answer - LX series? Whats that. I got one guy to confide that they won't be selling them soon since they're stocked to the hilt with low end Ovation. Wunnerful.
So, here's what they had on the "wall of Ovation" -
quite a few $299 Celebrity models, all of which had worn strings and terribly high relief. Think in terms of 1/8th inch at mid neck when depressing the string on frets 1 and 13. Ouch. They all smelled funny too - sorta musty.
They had ONE Standard Balladeer - and wanted a fortune for it - minus case of course - $739 plus an extra $99 for the case. It wasn't too bad, but also had excessive relief - although not as bad as the Celebrity's.
They had no Legends, no Elites, no Special Elites, no Adamas - save one used blue topped model that was pretty and "only $1299, as new! (with case)". That one had a properly adjusted neck, but the neck itself was much thicker, with deep body and the top looked like woodgrain carbon fibre. I would have haggled, but the frets were shot. I've got a 79 Strat that has been played extensively, and has less fret wear. Ditto the old Guild SG copy I've got from probably '68/'69. So the Adamas looked great, sounded great, but buzzed like hell on the G, B and E on the first 4 frets. At best it needed a fretjob, but I'm thinkin' new frets would be the ticket there.
What I DID find out - is that at least on the Celebrity models, there's just about no difference in the sound of uni-hole vs multihole. (They both sounded like bailing wire on barnwood). I also found out something VERY important though. I really dont get along with the deep bowl that well, and although that used Adamas had the deep bowl...I really preferred the mid depth, even over the shallow bowl.
So - I keep lookin. I guess one nice thing is I got a gig to rewire a studio when I was there. One of my daytime job customers was there and neither of us knew that the other was into music. He just spent a small fortune to reoutfit his studio and needs it totally rewired. At least that'll help pay for the current GAS. |
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March 2002
Posts: 15654
Location: SoCal | The sad thing about this is that people will come into that store, play some Celebritys, and maybe the Adamas, and figure Ovations are worth shit. The store will sell a ton of Taylors and Martins and wonder why they can't sell any Ovations. Somebody should kick the store buyer and manager in the cajones. What Guitar Center was it? It should be brought to Ovation's attention. |
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Joined:
January 2004
Posts: 648
Location: Florida | Yeah you're right. Thought I said it was the one in West Palm Beach.
Do car dealers let you test drive vehicles that run like crap, have low tire pressure and smell like owl-poo? I think not.
Well... after tomorrow I'll know where I stand with funding for this GAS, and probably look at the webpages and toss a coin on which model to get. After playing what I could, and also playing a nice Guild and a fairly nice Gretch and REAL nice Takamine - I keep coming back to that Adamas tone, man it was great. |
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Joined:
August 2003
Posts: 4619
Location: SoCal | Paul, wouldn't be hard for Ovation to check out - even a review of posts over the last several months would identify a number of them (to include La Mesa/San Diego GC.) I got the impression from the La Mesa store that corporate has more control than the individual store. |
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Joined:
November 2002
Posts: 1300
Location: Madison, Wisconsin | I went to a store here in Madison, WI last week that is listed on Ovation's site as being a dealer only to find a pawn shop. When asked if they ever have any Ovations, which they didn;t when I went in, they said "only if someone brings one in". Another dealer I contacted last week said they were, in fact, an Ovation dealer but they didn't have but 1 or 2 in stock and they didn't plan on getting any more soon. You would think the sales reps would make a few visits a year and see this stuff for themselves. |
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December 2003
Posts: 420
Location: On the beach in Southwest Florida | Appears to be the same all over, but at least some of the "blame" has to be online sales. I've bought 2 Ovations in the last 60 days on line after not being able to find them locally. That's not much encouragement to the local dealer. |
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January 2004
Posts: 648
Location: Florida | You ever go to Guitar Center's website and click "Buy Online", you get Musicians Friend. They're all the same (only different). |
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Joined:
July 2003
Posts: 1922
Location: Canton (Detroit), MI | I was in at my local Guitar Center this afternoon....they did not have a SINGLE U.S.-made Ovation product other than the Adamas CVT that they use to gather cobwebs in the rafters with, and a couple of 6751 12-strings that are left over from Christmas. But they had a HUGE pile of CC057s in boxes on the floor!!!! I tried a couple that were out on stands....can you say ACTION ISSUES(I sure can lately)????? Sure you can. I had to tune them, too, before I could play them(no batteries in the tuner/pre-amps, either).
There was no one to ask about them getting LXs....no one works the acoustic room in that store unless they are made to.
Ovations do seem to sell at this place, but I can't imagine why!!!! I've NEVER seen anyone suggest one to a customer.
Roger
1976 Applause AA14-4 6-String
1981 Ovation 1118-1 Glen Campbell 12-string
2001 Adamas 1598-MERB Melissa Etheridge 12-String
2003 Celebrity CC01 Spruce Top 6-String |
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May 2003
Posts: 143
Location: High, in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado | So far I have bought 7 Ovations and one Adamas online. Not one from a store. The closest dealer is an hour away and they only carry the low end O's... I've shopped online and bought what I thought I would like and have yet to be disappointed after hearing a friends higher end Ovation... So far, my faith remains undaunted... Lucky maybe, but a high end O, is the only way to go...
Dale |
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Joined:
August 2003
Posts: 396
| I was at my local guitar center in November and I was stunned to see several American made models. Oddly enough it was like Noah's ark with 2 of the same model and the same color.
they had
2 6751 12 strings (natural)
2 12 string Legends (black)
2 Adamas cvt 6 string (graphite)
1 custom legend (black)
Why would they order the same colors?
Anyway, I was shocked to see that they had Baby Taylors in the "Good" acoustic room, and the Adamas models and custom legend were in the other room. The Custom Legend was placed way up on top (out of reach) with so many finger prints glaring on the black top as to keep anyone from ever buying a black guitar. Both legend 12 strings were badly out of tune. The 6751 models were both in tune and sounded great unplugged. I took the Adamas into the "good" room and started playing it against some Gibsons, Taylors, and Martins. For the money, against similarly priced models, the Adamas did very well. Not that the Gibsons, etc.. didn't sound good, but the Adamas would sell well if it were in that room and people shopping picked it up then picked up the competition. Does Ovation have any say as to how their dealers showcase their products? |
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December 2003
Posts: 95
Location: Fort worth Texas | when I bought my new Legend around christmas time, and recieved it in early January I was expecting the guitar to come in with great action, only to be proven wrong then I discovered that the shims (all of them ) were in the guitar when it shipped. I took out one shim and got the best action ever on any Ovation I have messed with. I think that may be the problem, the dealers are getting them in and not doing any kind of inspection just hanging them on the wall. Ok I have to ask,... what the hell are you guys talking about when you say GAS? |
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December 2003
Posts: 420
Location: On the beach in Southwest Florida | GAS = Guitar Acquisition Syndrome |
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March 2002
Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | Except in Templeman's case, it's just flatulence. |
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December 2002
Posts: 939
Location: Fort Worth, Texas | depends on if your looking for a guitar: Guitar Acquisition Syndrome...
Or anything else, amps, microphones, pedals, etc: Gear Acquisition Syndrome
:D |
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February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | It's not flatulence. I just fart a lot. |
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December 2003
Posts: 420
Location: On the beach in Southwest Florida | But are they in tune? |
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March 2002
Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | Temp's NEVER out of tune. |
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May 2003
Posts: 143
Location: High, in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado | My son can toot in tune. Literally blows me away!
:rolleyes:
Billy, on every one of my online purchases I've had to do some minor adjustments to make them like "I" wanted them, but it was no trouble. In fact, I kind of enjoy "personalizing" my toys... Fortunatly, Ovations are easy to set up. Atleast I think so...
Dale |
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August 2003
Posts: 4619
Location: SoCal | Dale, don't know how old your son is but suggest NOT for school "show and tell." Maybe American Idol??? |
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May 2003
Posts: 143
Location: High, in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado | Hehe... Tony, he just got back from Iraq. It probably gave his unit plenty of practice with donning their gas masks. :D |
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August 2003
Posts: 4619
Location: SoCal | Dale,
Good for him and express our thanks...
Semper Fi |
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Joined:
May 2003
Posts: 143
Location: High, in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado | Will do! I gave him my prized Elite for Christmas, and a link to this web site. I'd sure like to see him join. He's a busy feller, but I passed on some of the knowledge I've gained here and from personal experience. That is, to not let too much of life interfere with your guitar playing... Hope it takes!
Dale |
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Todays search for GAS relief....
