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Location: Chicago | I got tired of encountering criticisms of Ovations in person and in the wide world (plastic guitar etc etc), so I spoke my mind today. Why DO I play Ovation? Check it out:
http://www.guitarsoffire.com/blog/ |
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Location: SoCal | Interesting. I disagree with this comment "I must say that if you sing tuneful songs and finger-pick intricate and delicate lines on your six-string, the Ovation is NOT for you."
I have sung many a delicate love song to my wife on my Ovations and never felt a need to buy a Martin or Taylor.... |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Originally posted by moody, p.i.:
I have sung many a delicate love song to my wife on my Ovations and never felt a need to buy a Martin or Taylor.... ... there goes the theory that a way to a womans heart is with a nice woody.
Dave |
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Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | he did say, "Maybe"...
Greg, Have you ever played a FD14?? |
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Location: Scotland | I have to disagree also. If you do the singer-songwriter/fingerstlye thing you have many choices, including Ovations. For the kind of stuff Dobro plays, and to a large extent the way I use my guitars, then your choices become a lot narrower, with Ovation being at the top of a very short list. |
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Location: USA | I disagree as well.
The Ovations do exactly the opposite.
They do certainly add that accent and allure to compositions.
Its also has a lot to do with how the song is defined and structured.
haha...hate to use the term "learning how to use your instrument"
but it is very true. |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | I've always been more of a fan of the ballads or "soulful" love songs. Back in that same era, performers like Bread and Jim Croce were using Ovations. Although Jim used his Martin as well, the Ovation did very nicely with his finger style mixed with nice lyrics. |
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Posts: 659
Location: Hiram, Georgia | Having finally read the blog, the intent, imho, is that Ovations have a "Bite" that wood guitars do not offer, but my experience is O's also have a ring that wood guitars cannot match, while picking, |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | I think it all depends on what you play, how you play, and what your ears/mind/body perceive as "right". Let's face it, we all buy certain models of guitars for different reasons. For someone to agree or disagree with dobro is crazy. His opinion is every bit as valid as your counter opinion. Dave |
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Location: Las Vegas, Nevada | I remember the first Ovation Balladeer I played in the very early '70's, passed to me by a member of Up With People, at a camp-out for a college friend's birthday. I played a couple of tunes and wanted one even more than I had as a teenager in the '60's as I had only seen pictures up 'til then. My first was actually an acoustic without electronics, 1114-4 ordered and received after a short wait in 1978; I had it for about 15 years. Never heard anything but "cool guitar; who makes it?" Innovative use of high-tech materials, sturdy build, and good looks which were secondary to a good sound were the things that got me to buy. I didn't buy one 'cause somebody played one. Never felt the urge to argue about what brand sounded better or to testify as to which guitar hero played one. The music of the artists we all associate with Ovations in the early days of Ovation, had much more influence on me than the guitars they played; it didn't matter what the strap was attached to, rather, it was how to play the tune or attempt to compose one similar. The Ovation guitars were just cool. Today, I only own 3 Ovations, but like 'em as well as the rest of the guitars I own. They are not better or worse, just different. I play 'em 'cause I like 'em.
So congratulations for writing the essay, dobro. It was an interesting read and you obviously put a lot of thought into the writing. |
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Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | Too long to read. |
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Location: Cherry Hill, NJ | Well Dobro, you're preaching to the choir. You know the old saying around here that: Ovations are for acoustic guitar players that play above the 5th fret, is still very true. Aside from folk and country finger picking, most of the acoustic players I see are right hand strummers, banging the crap out of their wooden boxes. Many popular performers, ie Dave Matthews, rely on strong rhythms. Many overuse the suspended chord patterns, and lack melodic changes, that you hear from a Dimeola or a McLaughlin or even Classic rock. This is just an observation on my part. It may have been prompted by my visit today at the local GC. While checking out a few O's, nearby customers were banging the crap out of some wooden box guitars; annoying me to no limit. Kinda like that little girl in the pizza palor, that set brother Al off on his rant. |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | When listening to other's play, especially top name professional performers, you also need to keep in mind PAPD (Psycho-Acoustic-Pre-Disposition). I'm SERIOUS !!!
Our mind has a certain expectation of what something should look and sound like (also extends to taste and small). For example, if you bite into an apple that tastes like an orange and smells like an onion your mind does not know how to compute that and you end up with "noise", for lack of a better word.
With that in mind, I think you would interpret as "bad" the following scenarios, no matter how good/bad they actually sounded. For example:
CSN&Y playing unplugged all using Ovations.
Glen Campbell playing acoustic using a Gibby J-50.
Eric Clapton MTV unplugged playing Layla on an Elite.
Jimi Hendrix playing a PRS.
See what I mean? No matter how "good" they sounded, the whole experience would just be unsettling. When freaking Jimmy Page is playing Stairway, he damn well better be doing it on a Gibson doubleneck.
Dave |
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Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | But does it apply to the wife wearing a blonde wig to bed????
(... and talks like Jessica Rabbit) |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | YES, Jeff I knew you would get it! That's a great example. Imagine a blonde wig on an intelligent brunette. Just does not compute.
Dave |
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Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | I can see that being confusing... at least to the upper brain. |
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Location: south east Michigan | Very insightful, Dave.
Here's another example just for the purpose of illustration...
Imagine Paul Moody.... in a long sleeve, plaid flannel shirt. |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | re: Praire Dog's post-- Sitting in a circle in the Library Park in Falmouth MA in the early 70's, someone handed me an Ovation. 30+ years later, I picked one up at a music store. I was reminded of my earlier experience. I had an electric, and I wasn't impressed by any affordable wood boxes I had seen. Said to myself, "Self... I still want one of those." Now I have three. |
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Location: closely held secret | Originally posted by Slipkid:
Imagine Paul Moody.... in a long sleeve, plaid flannel shirt.  |
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Location: SoCal | Don't worry guys... ain't gonna happen... |
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Location: NJ | Unless he's cruising the lesbian bars . . . |
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Location: SoCal | And Clifford's back......
Relax. Even I'm not butch enough to pull off the plaid flannel shirt in the gay bar scene (maybe Jeff W....) |
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Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | I've pulled it off... |
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Location: Chicago | A word on tuneful singing and intricate finger-style: I totally suck at both, hence my comments on that area come from ignorance. I am delighted that there is serious support for Ovation in that department also. Again: long live the mighty roundback (at ANY fret)!! |
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Location: Cicero, NY | Originally posted by Jeff W.:
I've pulled it off... I have to ask...cruising Clifford's back or the lesbian bars? |
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Why I Play Ovation: Dobro Testifies
