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Posts: 12750
Location: Boise, Idaho | Made my weekly visit to GC today and was about to walk out of the acoustic room when I saw a new idea guitar sitting in the corner on a stand. It was close to being in tune, so I tried to figure out the tuner and couldn't. Couldn't get the preamp to work at all. First I thought it needed a dummy plug, but then I noticed the preamp wasn't sitting in the can correcly. A couple minutes of prying and I got it back in right. Then I found a cord and plugged it into a Roland. Followed the directions for the demo, printed conveniently on a sticker right next to the preamp, but couldn't figure out which was the on button. Still couldn't get it to work, so I pulled the preamp and found out there was no battery in it.
The guitar sounded pretty good acoustically, although I didn't take the time after all that to tune it properly. Our GC only sells Ovations by accident. Watch for it on clearance here in about a year. They probably still won't have put a battery in it. |
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Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | John B said to me in email that it does need a dummy plug to work the tuner.
(a battery too) |
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Posts: 4028
Location: Utah | One woulda thought that the factory would have designed out the dummy plug in all the preamps by now. |
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Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | AFAIK the only one that should need a dummy plug is the VIP. |
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Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Not sure Wabbit...
This is how I heard;
"Hi Arthur,
We still don't have any of these here maybe sometime next month. Al Pepiak did
a test run on one and wrote about it on the fan club site check it out.
It will work with the Op-Pro not sure about the OP-30, Need to plug it in to
get the tuner to work, bummer.
Not sure yet if it comes with the 1/8" plug as aftermarket but it is not needed
to use the system.
John"
But John may not have played with one yet, since they don't seem to have one at the MS.
I was just asking which pre-amp the iDea switched-out with, and did you need to install a different jack... Like a 1/8"...
Upon closer inspection, I discovered that the 1/8" jack is in the unit itself. |
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Posts: 12750
Location: Boise, Idaho | Needs a battery, though. |
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Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | Thanks, Art, I didn't know they went that route with the iDea as well. It probably eats up batteries like the VIP, so I guess that makes sense. |
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June 2006
Posts: 7307
Location: South of most, North of few | I was reluctant to post negatively about this, but I got to play one (acoustically) at our GC for a few minutes, and the guitar itself felt and looked cheap. I know, I know, it is cheap ($) but I would think Ovation would put their premier "new" amp in a better guitar. With the MOB look, maybe they intended the preamp to be solar powered. :rolleyes: |
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Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Personally, I was gonna wait til someone else gave us an OFC played-it-for-a-month review.
I have some T's, and they look strange enough...
Before I got another CC-whatever (CC54i) for $600, I might just get the module and slap it in a T.
Three of my guitars have OP-Pro's... I could just slap it in one of those.
And then I could switch it in-and-out of a 12 if I were so inclined.
But like I said, I was gonna wait for one of you talented individuals to try it out for me first. :cool:
[I got backing tracks on my G-DEC... I never use them either!
But the loop/record thing might be worth it.]
Oh, TJ... Maybe they figured that they would put the new module in an "affordable" guitar for the beginners who want to use the lessons and stuff. And they might figure that some of the users with more expensive guitars would just buy the Module and slap it in their Orange Flame stage-fright T, or their 2771LX or whatever... Just a thought. :p |
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Posts: 4996
Location: Phoenix AZ | I'll withhold judgement until mine arrives. It won't be in a cheap guitar.
If indeed this thing needs a dummy plug to use the tuner that's a major fuck up. We're always reminded to "post nice" on the board because the factory is watching. I don't believe that for a second or this would have been fixed long ago.
Cautiously optimimistic.
Dave |
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March 2005
Posts: 12750
Location: Boise, Idaho | Look at the YouTube clips on Slipkid's post. It may need a dummy plug, but all the other ideas look great.
As far as TJ's comment, I played it acoustic only and it sounded very good. I never played an MOB, but this one sounded like a good solid top O should. I figure that they wanted to make it look technogeeky enough to draw attention from the intended market. Putting the idea in a traditional Ovation would probably have been a major marketing mistake. Also, putting it in a high end Ovation may have priced it out of the intended market. With just the preamp available, we can put it in our higher end new Ovations if we want. I would have loved to be able to tune without a dummy plug, but that wouldn't be a deal breaker. I bet the vast majority of buyers will be plugged in all the time anyway. Some of us are just different, Dave. |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | The comment I find interesting in the clip is that "it comes with headphones and a USB cable". WHAT do you suppose the chance of the zit faced GC boy actually being able to find those at the time of your purchase are?
Dave |
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Location: South of most, North of few | much less the case. :rolleyes:
My sig line's getting longer again... :D |
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September 2006
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Oh! Just to be a jerk I will point-out that I don't believe that this comes with a case...
It is a CC after all, and Sigler Music is making a big deal outta giving you a gig bag.
[Another reason to put it in a Solid Top guitar that I already have...] |
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Location: South of most, North of few | no case?, what's next, optional strings? |
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Posts: 12750
Location: Boise, Idaho | Were the VXTs supposed to come with cables? Our GC never had any. |
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Posts: 2120
Location: Chicago | What's a dummy plug? A cork to shove in case I start leaking (I'm not THAT dumb)? |
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February 2005
Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | You have to plug in a 1/4" to turn the preamp on. The "dummy plug" is just a physical 1/4" plug (no cord) that should come with it. |
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August 2002
Posts: 8307
Location: Tennessee | Originally posted by Gallerinski:
The comment I find interesting in the clip is that "it comes with headphones and a USB cable". WHAT do you suppose the chance of the zit faced GC boy actually being able to find those at the time of your purchase are?
Dave AL!!!! Dave's callin' you names again!!!
P.S. Make sure you get the headphones and USB cable in the shipment, OK?? :) (and if it needs a dummy plug, please get one into the mix and add it to my bill ;) ). |
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Posts: 12750
Location: Boise, Idaho | My daughter looked at the Youtube clips. I figured the guitar was intended to appeal to her generation, since it didn't appeal to me. She and her boyfriend thought it was ugly, but liked everything about the preamp. I didn't tell her about the dummy plug.
I don't know how mainstream she is, but her generation might not be into that guitar. She did ask whether the preamps come separately and whether it would fit in her guitar. Both answers were yes, but Mom already got her Christmas present. |
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Posts: 2985
Location: Sydney, Australia | Originally posted by Gallerinski:
The comment I find interesting in the clip is that "it comes with headphones and a USB cable". WHAT do you suppose the chance of the zit faced GC boy actually being able to find those at the time of your purchase are?
Dave But the average geek has about 12 USB cables and 15 headphones lying around the house, so it shouldn't be a major hardship. |
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Location: Sydney, Australia | 
Would you like fries with that guitar? |
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March 2005
Posts: 12750
Location: Boise, Idaho | Dave's an above average geek. I bet he has way more cables and headphones than average. |
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A good idea shot down
