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Posts: 4903
Location: Phoenix AZ | Got around to reading an interview with Laurence Juber in Fingerstyle Guitar mag. Issue 60, page 35. I swear to god this is exactly what Juber is quoted when asked about his design philospohy of guitars ...
"... I had always been a dreadnaught or jumbo player until I joined Wings, when an Ovation endoresment came with the gig [LAUGHS]. I later picked up a Cedar/Imbouya instrument by John Le Voi ..."
How lovely. On 77 glossy pages of this fine mag, that is the ONE AND ONLY mention of Ovation of Adamas.
Dave |
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November 2006
Posts: 62
Location: Canada | I quite like that the guitar snobs all seem to eschew Ovations. The current rage seems to be for Grand Auditorium style guitars these days. No one seems to know when they're just following the herd.
I was bringing my Glen Campbell 12 around to various luthiers around town and I didn't feel like they were very impressed.
The one guy who was said that he owned a few in the early '70s and commented that they recorded really well. I could tell that this guy liked what he was seeing; like an old friend.
Speaking of trends and going a little off-topic: Anyone notice how Gibson acoustics have lately acquired very 'high-end' cache? That wasn't always the case. It just goes to show how perceptions change and not necessarly because of how a guitar actually sounds.
Either way, there's a very same-y sounding acoustic scene out there based on these trends, which is why I love my Ovation. |
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Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | I had met Al Stewart after a show once, and I had asked him why he'd switched to Taylors after being a long-time Ovation user. He said that Juber (who played on a few of Stewart's later albums) had convinced him that "Ovations were crap" . . .
Gibson acoustics have taken on much acclaim since they moved some of the production to a smaller, hands-on facility in Montana . . . |
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Posts: 659
Location: Hiram, Georgia | Yeah, that and the $ they were probably waving in his face. |
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June 2005
Posts: 274
Location: Maryland, USA | I played a few high end Gibsons at a GC in New Jersey...they were some of the most horrible things I've ever played. Every Ovation I've ever played must have been 10x better than those things, and I don't even own an Ovation acoustic! |
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Posts: 15654
Location: SoCal | I have yet to play a Taylor that would convince me to spend $2-$3k for it. They are nice guitars that are very overpriced. Yet they sell a ton of them.
The word "lemings" comes to mind..... |
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June 2006
Posts: 659
Location: Hiram, Georgia | Why spend $3-4000 on a Taylor, when a $700-$1000 Taylor sounds just as good, if not better. Yeah they sound nice, but it's still not an "O". I'll never get it! |
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April 2004
Posts: 13303
Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | The only Taylor I have liked (and ultimately bought at over 50% off retail) is the Doyle Dykes Signature Model. It is a very nice playing and sounding guitar. Other than that, every Taylor I have ever played has been.....uninspiring. |
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March 2005
Posts: 12750
Location: Boise, Idaho | I was in GC a couple nights ago, picking out a starter guitar for a friend to give to his wife. Salesman handed me a $3000 Taylor 814. It was nice, but I asked the salesman if he really thought it was 20 times better than the Ibanez I just played. He said no, but people still buy the Taylors. I admitted it maybe sounded twice as good, but that was about it. They didn't have any decent Ovations to compare it to, but the friend got the Ibanez for $150. |
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November 2003
Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | This is the thing... Go out and find a BlueRidge Guitar... and play it. Hand built in China, these guitars sound terrific and are built with very good quality and play very well. I defy all but the most esoteric to distinguish it from a guitar priced at 4 times the cost for sound and playablity...
USA Ovations/Adamas have their own sound. You may or may not like it, but there is no guitar out there that can replicate their sound and quality at 1/4 the price.... |
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Posts: 659
Location: Hiram, Georgia | Well said, Jeff. |
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Posts: 13983
Location: Upper Left USA | 
Doyle and Haley Dykes |
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Posts: 2491
Location: Copenhagen Denmark | A guitar ..what`s that :confused:
:)
Vic |
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Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | It's all in the marketing and that's a rolling ten year project. |
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Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | Originally posted by cliff:
Gibson acoustics have taken on much acclaim since they moved some of the production to a smaller, hands-on facility in Montana . . . And they are still failing dismally to get the neck angles consistent. The vast majority of new Gibson acoustics I see need neck re-sets the day they leave the factory. I went though a bunch at a trade show recently and they were a joke. The Chinese have figured out how to do it, so you'd think a company who've been building guitars for over a hundred years would stop resting on their laurels and make a little effort. It's basic geometry and woodwork, not rocket science. |
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November 2004
Posts: 382
Location: USA | the one guy I jam with has an upscale Martin...
I drown him out with my Celeb.
He was very disappointed with the voice of his guitar next to my celeb...
wait until he hears the Adamas... :) |
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June 2005
Posts: 1320
Location: Round Rock, TX | I recently got play onstage with Carl and Leanne Albrecht at a Worship Leader conference in Dallas. Afterwards, I didn't notice anyone asking about the (very nice) Martin that Carl was playing, but I got a lot of interest in my '06 Collectors. |
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November 2004
Posts: 382
Location: USA | I did a little Trek and played some shows in Nashville....smack dab in the center of it all...
I was quite surprised at how many came up after the show and commented on my adamas...
I kind of thought Nashville was an Ovation community,,,but most of the people that approached me never heard of Adamas... |
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March 2005
Posts: 2791
Location: Atlanta, GA. | Eventually they'll all come around...
Dean Guitars has jumped on the bandwagon with a fiberglass back and sides model.
Dean Exotiglass |
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July 2004
Posts: 812
Location: Hicksville, NY | I don't own a Gibson (and perhaps will never own one), but the one's that I played years ago were basically "hit or miss" -- they either sound great or sound like crap. I had my eye on a J-45 in the past, and at one time, the local GC happened to have three of them in stock. I was surprised to hear three different sounds when I tried all three of them. Except for one, I was not impressed with the other two, and the $1,500 price tag that it had at that time wasn't justifiable. The ones made in their facility in Montana had gotten better, but as Oster mentioned in an earlier post, it's more of a change in perception than how the instrument sounds. Heck, it's actually more affordable to own a Martin (which is more consistent with their quality) these days than a Gibson!
I love the playability Taylor guitars, but that's as far as I will go with it. There's something about their "brightness" that doesn't seem to click with me. In the church where I once attended, during the praise team rehearsal, I decided to take a break while I listened to the praise leader (with a 310ce I think) and the bass player who was playing with my 1861 from a distance. I'll admit that both guitars were bright sounding, but the Ovation sounded much better than the Taylor. |
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September 2005
Posts: 138
Location: Birmingham, AL | I expressed my disappointment in Gibsons on another thread. I know you've seen all the Gibsons being played on music videos, and money does the talking. I've bought a few Gibbies, and sold them. But I still have the O's! I also have one of those Blueridge Brazilian rosewood guitars, and they sound as well as any high end instrument for 1/3 to 1/2 the price. But you probably won't see many people playing them, I don't think they have the ability to provide payola. And the made in China also has it's drawbacks, I've found out. |
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November 2004
Posts: 4413
| The fact that Lawrence Jubert doesn't want to steal my guitars is a hell of a relief to me. I may now be able to sleep. Where can I write and thank him? |
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January 2006
Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | It is fortunate that Ovation was convinced to produce the countour bowl Koa. It stopped me cold from looking any further at the T-5 Koa model. |
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December 2004
Posts: 1116
Location: Keller, TX | Originally posted by cholloway:
Eventually they'll all come around...
Dean Guitars has jumped on the bandwagon with a fiberglass back and sides model.
Dean Exotiglass |
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Talk about NO respect ...
