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Joined:
July 2002
Posts: 1900
| Honestly, it seems to me that the retailers can spend less on volume purchases of the low-end celebritys in hopes of better product turn-over, whereas the high-dollar guitars (whether ovation, martin, taylor, larivee, etc.) are more of a risk because the customers for those instruments are much more selective, and to be honest, if i had the bucks for a high-end adamas or custom elite, i would just fly up to new hartford and have it made; go figure... |
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Joined:
November 2002
Posts: 1300
Location: Madison, Wisconsin | When I was looking a year or so ago, I asked the salesman a few questions about Ovations and he brought me a piece of crap plastic backed guitar that he said was much better than an Ovation. Probably better sales margin. He kept trying to get me away from the Ovations. A few months later I was back in the same store and looking at a Legend and asked if the case was included in the price. He "went to look" in the store room and came back 15 min later and said no but he had another brand that did have a case with it. At this point, they only have 2 Ovations in the store and lots of Fenders..Oh well, more business for Al. |
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Joined:
September 2003
Posts: 23
Location: Perth Amboy, NJ | I have not bought an acoustic guitar in about 20 years. But in late 82 I *did* buy a new Pacemaker 12 and a new '83 Collectors Series. The 12 is still showroom new today, but the 6 is really showing signs of wear. I did the 'what is a used Ovation worth?' search (and posted a thread about it) because I figured 'Trade/Sell the old collectable collectors 6, and buy a new Ovation 6. Playing Ovations for 20 years, my ears are accustomed to the Ovation Sound. I went to the GC in East Brunswick, NJ which is divided into the outer Big Room (Ovation/Fender/Ibanez/Epiphone) and the inner small room (Taylor/Martin/Gibson). They had perhaps a dozen Ovations hanging in the outer room. I tried several of them. I thought they sounded and played OK, but not great. Looking them over, I discovered the Made in Korea sticker. They *all* had a Made in Korea sticker. I then proceeded to the 'inner sanctum' and was greeted by a floor display of, and I am not exaggerating, 12 Baby Taylors and 12 HPL Martins, all aound $500. Seems they FLY off the shelves. And they were set up well, (the Ovations weren't) and were easy to grab and play with the saleskid hovering over me and telling me how I can't go wrong with a Martin or Taylor.
I went home and checked the Ovation web site ... and I could not tell whether the entire Ovation line is now Korean, or what! :eek: I finally found this BBS to use as a resource to figure out what happened to Ovation. I was going to post a message basically asking how to tell, by sight, a USA vs. Korean made Ovation. I sense that I may be able to in the near future. But for now, I, the somewhat informed, consumer of decent guitars every decade or so haven't a clue. If Ovation ever had a mystique (for me it was balanced tone, easy to play action, indestructable construction), they seem to have lost it. :( |
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Joined:
July 2003
Posts: 1922
Location: Canton (Detroit), MI | Seems like we should start another thread on how Guitar Center dumps on Ovation(LOL!)!!!!
The point that Adamas and Legends should be in the "expensive guitar room" with the Martins, Taylors and Gibsons is well-made. I'm sure that they are kept with the Celebrities in the outer sanctum in order to "keep the brands together". That is why the cheap Martins and Taylors are in with the others as well. But it gives a perception that these are "serious" guitars as oppposed to the "cheap" ones in the big room.
Next time I'm at our local GC, if there is a decent guy in the acoustic room, I'll ask him about why the expensive guitars aren't kept together(making the point that the Adamas should be in there).
I was at Marshall Music in Allen Park, MI yesterday--they are a MI chain. They had about 7 Ovation products, an Applause AA21, Celebrity 057 and 257, S861 Balladeer, two I couldn't see what they were other than Ovation(too high--had the Adamas sound holes, though), and a 6751 Balladeer 12-string (the object of my trip).
The Ovations were thrown in with Washburns, Epis, Fenders, Oscar Schmidts, and the cheaper Martins and Taylors. The "expensive" Martins and Taylors were kept in a humidity-controlled room in another part of the store that required a clerk to let you enter.
I had to ask a clerk to get the Balladeer down (it was 15 feet up in the top row) so I could find out that it was indeed a 6751 and to tell me the price!!!!
No Adamas here....and this is a big dealer in Michigan!!!! |
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Are they making as many as they can sell?
