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Location: Baton Rouge, LA | Dear Standing Ovation:
I concur with your assessment wholeheartedly! The Kamans should take to heart more enthusiastically our collective passion for the "old" Ovations. Gosh, I wish I had a shiny bowl Glen Campbell Balladeer!
Now, that's passion.
The org*sm comes later. |
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Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | "Wouldn't it be great for todays youth if Dave Matthews or Lenny Kravitz aggressively endoresed top of the line Ovations?"
According to a 2000 catalog I have, Kravitz actually is an endorsee. Lenny Kravitz, that well-known acoustic virtuoso. I rest my case.
Paul
[ July 10, 2002: Message edited by: Paul Templeman ] |
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Location: Seattle | I think to blame marketing and artist relations for Ovation's loss of market share may be turning a blind eye to the bigger issue, although marketing is obviously important, consider the following...
Martin's ads are mediocre at best and to my knowledge they give little or no product away. I hear that Taylor gives no product away. Niether Martin nor Taylor feature artist's in their ads. Seagull does well and I don't remember ever seeing an ad for one, or a pro playing one. These companies products do the talking.
Is Ovation going broke? Why all the gloom and doom? I still see them around and assumed they still did better than most. |
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Location: NJ | I doubt that many artists pay list for their guitars. If you go to the Namm show Taylor has a non stop concert for 3 days of their endorsors playing their guitars. this means a lot to people looking to take on product lines.
As far as I know ovation is not going under but it is our passion for them that wants everyone to know what we love about them.
Marketing puts guitars in the hands of player and buyers that is a fact. turn on the tv today all you see are taylors now if all you saw were ovations it would be a whole different ballgame and we would not be having this discussion |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Never claimed Lenny to be a virtuoso, but for someone my age he's all I could think of who might be recognizable to todays youth. I did not know he was an Ovation endorsee. I looked at lennykravitz.com and lennykravitz.net and found about 100 photos of him playing at least 10 different guitars. Not a single one of them an Ovation. Missed opportunity.
I think Sonny is right, Martin does not have many paid endorsees, but the ones they do have pack a whallop - Eric Clapton and Steve Howe just to name two.
As for myself (and let's face it, that's who matters most, right?) If Ovation had a long line of famous endorsees it would not increase my love for Ovations nor alter my buying habits. The only thing it might alter is people's reaction when I tell them I play Ovations from bewilderment to envy.
Dave |
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Posts: 196
Location: Shelton, Washington, USA | $.02... my passion for Ovation is not driven by who endorses it. I admit it would be pretty cool if Keaggy (spelling?) endorsed. There are some pretty phenomenal acoustic players playing/endorsing Ovation i.e. Preston Reed, Adrian Legg et al.... This tells me that artists recognize the inherent greatness of Ovation. It is not their fault that the listening/buying public would rather listen to Axel Rose butcher Knocking on Heaven's Door or Megadeth butcher Whiskey in the Jar.... go figure... I work most weekends doing an acoustic gig. My guitars are all Ovation. I have four that I use in my show. Every show I receive comments from people about the O's. People like the sound, like the look, wish they had one, ask how they play (I usually let them play one of the guitars during a break), or they have an O and wouldn't have anything else. Every Show! Many of us on this board will nay say the Celebrity line, but the truth is that the Celeb line puts roundbacks in peoples' hands... and the Celebs aren't that bad. Many Celeb owners become Ovation owners, some Ovation owners become Adamas owners.... That's good enough for me.
(Not everybody can own a Ferrari.... but just about everybody knows what a Ferrari is...)
As I said earlier.... Ovations are my passion... a shared passion is the best, but a passion is a passion... How many hearts and souls have expressed themselves with the help of an Ovation? |
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Location: Seattle | Alpep,
You are assuming that the reason all those Taylors are on TV is because Taylor's marketing team put them there. Conversely, I think the observation made about Lenny Kravitz helps make my point. If Lenny is in the catalog, then obviously someone from Ovation actively courted him. But yet he has not been seen playing the product (and I have seen him play acoustic on a few occasions). What does that tell you? It tells me that "you can lead an artist to product but you can't make him play".
Did you choose the car you drive because of an ad or because someone you like drives one? Maybe, but I suspect the primary influence was the performance and reputation of the product(word of mouth). A marketing campaign can create a buzz, but ultimately the product has to sustain it.
I have a soft spot in my heart for Ovation. I too would love to see it regain it's peak position in the marketplace. That would be a blast! I also think this forum is a good place to start. |
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Location: NJ | when I was young and nieve I often thought that everyone used things because they liked them and paid list price. NOT.
when you have an active promotions department they make sure the guitars are visible that is their job. If Lenny does not play the guitars he dosen't get any more. Or they call his management and say hey you were on mtv playing a taylor and you have an ovation deal what is going on?
but what do I know I am just a nutcase with a dream |
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Posts: 6197
Location: Phoenix AZ | What amazes me most is how a topic of "Hall and Oates" could generate so many posts !!!
What's next - Did David Gates really play an Ovation on those Bread LPs or was it a studio musician? |
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Location: Scotland | The catalog I have has a "quote" from Kravitz something like "if they're good enough for Marley, they're good enough for me." I wouldn't personally listen to Kravitz for recreation, but I believe he is an artist of some talent & credibilty. However his association with Ovation guitars, and his stature, or lack of, as an acoustic guitar player says to me "If you want something to plug-in, buy an Ovation, but if you want a "real" acoustic check out the competition"
[ July 10, 2002: Message edited by: Paul Templeman ] |
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Location: SoCal | For 35 years Ovation has climbed an uphill battle trying to get players to play their guitars. Those they play them without preconceived notions tend to like them. The vast majority of people believe that a wooden guitar should sound better. Taylor, for one, makes beautiful instruments that sound ok. That's enough for most people. As the people on this board know, you listen with your ears, not your eyes, and not with your prejudices.
I'm getting tired of this subject. It just depresses me. Anybody like to make a contribution to the Moody, p.i. Thunderhead Purchase Fund? Still no bidders on this baby.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=892758002 |
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Location: NJ | I was going to respond but walked over to my rack of guitars and spent 30 minutes playing them. I suggest you try the same it does wonders for your head. |
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Posts: 15664
Location: SoCal | Actually, did the same thing. Went downstairs and watched Boy Meets World on the Disney channel with my 10 year old daughter, and noodled on my Ovation classical. I'm kicking around the idea of selling that guitar to buy the Thunderhead. I don't know how, emotionally, to sell a guitar.
[ July 10, 2002: Message edited by: moodypi ] |
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Location: Las Cruces, NM | I have a couple of Ovation "sightings" to report, one new and one very old.
I was watching CMT on Saturday and saw Phil Vassar playing his recent hit "An American Child" on Most Wanted Live, and then on the Grand Ole Opry, and the mandolin parts were played on an Ovation mandolin, plugged in and sounding very good. My theory that all us mandolin players need a good acoustic electric mandolin is becoming fact. Also, I've noticed the mandolin is showing up in all kinds of music today, but not necessarily played by old bluegrassers.
The very old question I have is that on Life and Times of Kenny Rogers, was he playing an Ovation slothead classical guitar at about the time he went country? I swear I saw one but the shots weren't real clear. Anybody know if Kenny Rogers was an Ovation player?
Bailey |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | Yes he was, played a 1613 and the variations thereof. His band played them too, a range of models. |
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Hall & Oates Playing Taylors
