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Location: montreal | First off I have to say that this guitar is the best guitar I have ever played. Now to my questions.
do all the GP's have the same woods? I have talked with some other owners and they are convinced that theirs have different woods.
Why dont any guitar books list the GP as an ovation release? Does the world know that they even exist?
How many were made and put out on the market?
And last but not least....does anybody have an original case for it that they are willing to sell? I am desperate!
Oh yeah...I will agree with Sam on that Mr. Josh Homme has contributed to the popularity of this guitar. I have to admit, that I got mine because of him. Now I am a huge qotsa fan, but that wasnt what sold me. I never knew about the GP (I was already an ovation freak by then) and had already procured 4 ovation solidbodies, I only learned of the GP through a photo of Mr.Homme and his black beauty. Suffice it to say, I freaked! The fact that there was an ovation electric I had never seen and the fact that my fav guitar player played one. well the rest is history, sweet sweet history! |
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Location: NJ | I canot shed any light on your guitar. but I will say that the ovation electric line is always glossed over in almot every guitar book every written. If you see a pic of deacon you are lucky. Even in the History of Ovation book there is barely a mention of the electrics and it is sketchy at best.
One of the purposes of this site is to try to get people together with information albiet information about electrics or acoustics.
there are many very knowlegeable folks here that WILL be able to answer your questions and set he story straigh...
hmmmmm maybe I should write the definitive book on ovation electrics ....bet I can sell well how many members do we have listed here???? alomost 50??? |
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Location: Atlanta,Ga. | I have an extra case for the ultra.I will need to check and see which model it fits.They do not say ovation on the case.They were probably bought from an outside vendor by ovation for the ultra guitars.I also have probably the only catalog which speaks about these guitars and cases.I have not seen ovation print anything else about these guitars .It gives specs and other info on each ultra guitar model....e-mail me and i can give info...samova@aol.com |
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Location: NJ | sam
please post the specs and/or copy of the catalog page I think it will of interest to many here |
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Location: montreal | i've seen a pic of this catalogue, but only once. you know it is a shame that the GP is becoming known, I really want to get another one, but people are driving the prices so damned high! oh well, one day I will get my second GP and all will be fine in the world again. |
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Location: PA | I found an ad in a book about Ovation guitars, it was a super cheesy chick with big hair holding a GP with a lusty look in her eye and something like "get your hands on a hardbody" underneith. I think Ovation would probably rather forget about that. From what I've heard there were about 250 of these ever made, but I have no official confirmation from Ovation, in fact, I doubt they know at this point. Anyway I have a sunburst model and it weighs a ton, probably a few pounds heavier than my Les Paul. I always thought it was a mohogany body with a maple top. The fret board looks like it might be a dark rose wood but I'm not sure. |
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Location: NJ | Tom
mom is still teasing her hair and says "hi"
LOL |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | They were made by Samick. The tops were a veneer and it might have been flame maple of some korean look alike. the bodies were some sort of mahogony type wood. The program ran for about two years. they were tobacco s/b cherry s/b and black. Thgere were probably more than 250 made but I really don't know how many. Maybe the factory has some records???? |
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Location: PA | Here's a pic of mine. I posted this link on another topic, but in case you missed it:
www.middlekid.net/images/ultragps1.jpg
The P/U's are Rio Grande Bastards, P90's. |
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Location: Atlanta,Ga. | Here are the Ultra GP(guitar paul) specs from an ovation catalog dated feb 1985......
They were given a model #1431 series GP1-S
They had two Dimarzio DP104/super2's pick ups,volume and tone for each pick up,3 way selector switch,24" 3/4" scale,set neck,1.69" wide neck,schaller machine heads and tailpiece,22 fret and they came in four finishes(black,wine red,cherry sunburts,honey burst)..They also had perloid block inlays on the rosewood fingerboard.The catalog says hardwood for the body but as i remember mine they were mahogany bodies with flame maple cap.They were very well built and sounded great...quality,quality guitars....
There was also a series(6) of ultra GS(guitar strats)with single ,double and three pickup configurations,they were model # 1412,1413,1414,1415,1418,1419.two models were made for each pick up set up and had either a Kahler"flyer" tremolo or a traditional Fulcrum type tremolo.They were 21 fret ,bolt on maple necks,Demarzio pick ups(DP100 superdistortion or Dimarzio DP103 PAF,s or Demazio DP108/VS1 single coil or DP 101 offset humbucker dual sound)
Finally there were two ultra UB bass versions.model 1451 and 1453
There were also cases made for these guitar and basses.models were givin for each
For GP model 9129
GS model 9128
UB model 9127
[ February 21, 2002: Message edited by: samova ] |
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Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | Looks Great Sam... Thanks..
The only thing I have to add is the difference on the basses "there were two ultra UB bass versions.model 1451 and 1453" I assume the 1451 was the standard "bad-ass" style bridge, and the 1453 has a Kahler Bass trem bridge. Talk about a wild ride... I have one of each, and I tellya.. if you want to test just how much bass your bottom end can handle (the amp or YOURS :eek: ) Just hit an open E and nail the Whammy bar! |
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Location: NJ | the kahler bass whammy is a speaker reconer's best friend |
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Location: Atlanta,Ga. | Here are more details on the Ultra UB basses..They were model 1451 series UB1-S(schaller tailpiece)and 1453 series UB1-K (kahler pro tremolo tailpiece).They both had Demarzio split humbucker DP122/model P,they were 34" scale,maple neck,hardwood body?,1.65" wide neck and both came in 6 finishes(white,blue,sunburst,natural,black ,red).. |
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Location: PA | Thanks Sam, thats more info than I've found in years. I'd gotten guesses from just about every guitar tech who'd ever seen mine. Does Dimarzio still make those P/U's or should I be looking on E-bay, or maybe you have a set? I really like the rio's in there now, but I wouldn't mind getting a set of the original P/U's. The guy I bought the guitar from said they were horrible and gave them to me in baggie, he'd replaced them with Duncans. I never really checked out the P/U's to see what they were and they were lost on the road. |
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Location: Atlanta,Ga. | Tommcat, i understand that Demarzio still makes these pick ups that were in the ultra GP (demarzio's DP104/super2's)However i have heard from guys who have bought them that they do not look exactly like the ones in the ultra.I think the cream color cover and pick up ring were not available.In other words you can get the pick up but the cream color cover and cream color pick up trim are not available...You could always check with demarzio though who knows? |
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Location: montreal | tommcat: first off that guy was a moron! the original pickups are great, they are super hot and if you like distortion, well then they do a great job. I find that I get a lot more distortion from my GP than any of my other ovations. It has a very distinct sound, add a little overdrive...and presto! you got yourself some seriouslly sustained chunk (I'm a kyuss fan so i love chunky distortion)! I'd say if you can get the originals back...do it, you wont regret it.
[ February 22, 2002: Message edited by: s_mkheidze ] |
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Location: PA | Yeah I've been a big Kyuss and Fu Man fan for years as well, I had my Ovation before I'd heard of them though...Anyway, I know of another guy that had a GP who discovered that the original P/U's in his GP weren't Dimarzios! He said they looked like cheap knock-offs. He actually has another GP to compare them to, they looked the same on the outside, but inside is where it counts. His best guess was that they deecided to change parts on one of the runs, I can't help but wonder if mine might have had the cheap knock offs too. The guy that I bought mine from wasn't an idiot and never mentioned them as being Dimarzios. |
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Location: St Louis | greetings!
Todd's right on, that was my buddy Paul's GP that we opened up and chequed out. My GP has Dimarzio's with 4 leads (for coil tap, if so desired) - Paul's Honey Burst has Dimarzio knock offs w/ 2 wires (which sound fine, IMO) and very tiny Korean pots, while my his Dimarzio pots. Mine also has a cliff jack input, while his has a jack plate w/ a standard input jack (lp style) My guess is that mine is an earlier production model (???) My GP has an ASH body with a mahogany neck, while Paul's body and neck are mahogany- both have the flame maple top.
cwk2 - where did you get your info the GP was made by Samick??? I recently spoke with John Budny (kaman's guitar shop customer service) and he told me the the GP's were assembled in Hartford CT from Korean parts. He also had no data on production #'s - His answer was "a couple hundred made"
My guess is they just didn't care at the time. Lets count - sound off yer GP - 2 here in STL - one wine red, one honeyburst!
~cheers! -aaron |
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Location: montreal | hey Aaron.....
are you the Aaron from the qotsa forum? cause its odd that someone who has the same name as you would also have a GP......curious indeed. if so...YO! WAAAZZUUUP!!!
[ February 22, 2002: Message edited by: s_mkheidze ] |
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Location: St Louis | hey sacha! (I hope I didn't butcher the spelling!sorry in advance if I did!)
It's me brother! (same fly, diferent shit!)
Looks like we're both on this board, QotSA, and Stonerrock as well!
You didn't head off to AK w/o yer GP yet did ya? My offer to babysit yer GP *when ever* still stand ya know! I promise not to tune it down to C and put .014-.060's on it!
cya~aaron |
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Location: PA | Glad to see you in here Aaron, it's like we finally got Ultra GP forum! When Alex & Co. finish up building the gallery we should have a nice collection of GP photo's. If you haven't seen some of the others yet Mr. Ovation has quite a collection. |
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Location: St Louis | Hey Todd! thanks for turning me on to this site...it is a GP forum of sorts, and then some!
No, I haven't seen Mr. Ovations photos yet...I'm looking forward to it. I'm also looking forward to getting "better" shots of mine - maybe if it's nice and sunny tomorrow I can get some decent shots. I need to show off the flame baby, the flame!
aaron |
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Location: montreal | Aaron....my GP is always tuned to a C, and i have semi-heavy gauge strings on my guit. and I aint in Alaska yet, that will be this summer hopefully. you are so kind offering to babysit my baby for me but......no! ;) I'm leaving it with my twin, he should enjoy playing it for a while. Ohe yeah....its good to see a qotsa fan here! |
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Location: puerto vallarta, mexico | sam:thanks for including the info on ultra gs series. i am so pleased to find a site with such knowledgable people!!!!!!!! i have been reading on this site ever since i found it. i have just purchased a candyapple red gs and if it turnes out to be like my other ovations it will join my salad bowls at the top of the pile. i cant remember the last time i played a non ovation.
is there a printed source for copies of old catalogs etc. the way you whipped out those gs model numbers and even the case numbers makes me feel i am in the company of people with more than opinions.
i also have a couple of players condition uk 2 guitars and would like to expand my solid body knowledge and collection. i intent to make this site a regular stop!!!! |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | Where did I get the info they were Korean?
Well, I was there and it was Korea with all the garlic and kimche.
the gp, gs series were wood parts from Samick, pickups from Larry and other parts from Helmut.
The project started in North Carolina and probably finished in New Hartford, that's what John remembers.
The cases were ugly reddish things with pink linings. |
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Ultra GP question
