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Location: Hernando Beach (Tampa area) | "I don't have the exposure to every model made, just to standard wall models (mostly imports) carried by the shops." -- I would be willing to bet that many of the statements I've heard that Ovations don't stand up to . . . are made with similar experience. It is a shame that most shops don't carry the USA Ovations. |
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Location: Braman, OK | Originally posted by Matt Mattson:
It is a shame that most shops don't carry the USA Ovations. While we're talking about differences, can someone elaborate on the differences between the USA-made and the non-USA-made Os? |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Originally posted by Earthbound Misfit:
Can someone elaborate on the differences between the USA-made and the non-USA-made Os? In general terms the difference is materials, fit, finish, setup and overall quality of workmanship. The value for the money of the imports is pretty good, it's just that they are in a different league.
Soundboards, necks, bracing and electronics are probably the biggest differences. and those are the differences that controbute directly to the sound (acoustic or plugged). An added benefit of the USA models is that they are backed by the US factory service department and THAT is worth a lot.
Dave |
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Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | Best 6/8 O/A's that I own. Suprisingly split right down the middle. Whichever ones happen to be out of their cases at the particular time are the ones that get all the attention. I rotate them monthly and could easily spend the rest of my life with no others.
1719CM (30th CL)
FD-14
1537/1547
U681T
1581/1681
1688 twelve string. |
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Location: Upper Left USA | Dave is correct in his frustration over the lack of market differentiating for the Ovation offerings. It is a missed opportunity.
But lately...
We have discussed on this board how the websites need to be updated more frequently and models need to be detailed. It is the Adamas site that is leading the way. If they are focusing some resources on this they seem to be going from the top first.
It may be the goal of separating Adamas from Ovation USA and eventually Ovation USA from Celbrity, et al. |
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Location: Omaha, NE | Originally posted by MWoody:
We have discussed on this board how the websites need to be updated more frequently and models need to be detailed. Amen!
I think the Ovation web sites are terrible. They are an appalling example of "what not to do" when it comes to web design. A few suggestions, in no particular order:
1) Lots (LOTS!) more photos. Real, high resolution stuff. The user needs to feel like he is holding the guitar in his hands. They need detailed shots of the guitar from every angle. This isn't particularly hard. I had better photos of my mandolin that I sold last month on eBay.
2) Some decent product line navigation. "Balladeer", "Elite", "Legend", "Folklore", "Custom Legend", "Contour", etc, etc, etc. Take it from someone was not up on the Ovation product line a few months ago. This is all really confusing, and the web site does almost nothing to sort it out. Something as simple as "Legend = Round Holes, Elite = Multi-holes" would be nice.
3) Consistency!!!! The same feature is described using different terminology in multiple locations. It may be obvious to Ovation experts that the "Ovation High Output" pickup and the "Original Patented Pickup" are the same thing, but it isn't to me. If they are the same, then use the same term. If they are not the same, then provide a detailed explaination of the difference.
4) Rich navigation. Everytime a term appears, it should be clickable for more information. So, where they have "AAA Grade Solid Spruce" on the feature list for a guitar, that should be clickable to a page that tells me what that means.
5) Lots (LOTS!!!) of multimedia content. Show video tours of the plant...videos of people showing how to adjust a neck...videos of people showing how to adjust the pre-amp for good sound on-stage...video of people showing how to change strings...video showing how Adamas tops are made...interviews with product people explaining why certain things are the way they are...etc, etc, etc. None of this has to be particularly slick or over-produced. A guy with a decent digital cam corder and some home movie grade editing software could put it together.
I could go on forever. Sorry for the rant.
Cheers!
Jeff |
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Location: closely held secret | Originally posted by Omaha:
5) Lots (LOTS!!!) of multimedia content. Show video tours of the plant...videos of people showing how to adjust a neck...videos of people showing how to adjust the pre-amp for good sound on-stage...video of people showing how to change strings...video showing how Adamas tops are made...interviews with product people explaining why certain things are the way they are...etc, etc, etc. None of this has to be particularly slick or over-produced. A guy with a decent digital cam corder and some home movie grade editing software could put it together. I resemble that remark. |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | Check out the Gibson site for a tour of the Gibson factory. Pretty cool to see how they make your guitar. |
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Location: Braman, OK | Omaha ~ I agree on all counts, having been a webpage designer since the "frontier days" of the 'Net. |
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Location: USA | I agree...
I stumbled on an Adamas guitar by just happening to be in a local music shop...never heard of them before then,,,never seen a website...
One of their biggest setbacks is their lack of advertisement...
http://www.myspace.com/styllheartandsoul |
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Location: Omaha, NE | Originally posted by Styll:
One of their biggest setbacks is their lack of advertisement... Absolutely true. I have a track record of quadrupling sales of existing products by deploying solid web marketing. When I look at the Ovation and Adamas web sites, I see a massive opportunity waiting to happen.
Ovation has a structural advantage that they are failing to take advantage of. The Ovation guitar is predicated on the idea that new technology means better guitars. Leveraging more and more innovative marketing technology is completely consistent with their underlying gestalt.
Ok, and a few more gripes about their current web page:
5) One of the lower rings of hell is reserved for the idiot that first thought that a flash animation intro to the home page was a good idea. Figure the behavior of a typical user: They find their way to ovationguitars.com (one way or another) and are immediately presented with a bunch of circles swirling around. The user will not be entertained, only annoyed. The user is going to the web page to LEARN. How are these swirling circles helping me learn? Ok, step 2: The user manages to get past the swirling circles and actually sees the home page. Assume that the user actually sees something he wants to click, such as the "LX Series" icon on the lower left*, so he clicks it and goes to the LX features page. He reads it, and decides to go back. So he hits the back button. AARGH!!! The swirling circles are back!!! At this point, the user types http://www.taylorguitars.com into his browser (which is to say he's had enough and moves on).
6) Font selection: I'm at home, so I don't have my complete font library in front of me, but the fonts used throughout the site are terrible. I'm talking about the one used on "latest news", "whats hot", etc on the home page. I don't like stylized fonts much in the first place. All they do is present the user with a milisecond of confusion before his eye figures out how to process the font. You have to ask yourself "what advantage are we trying to gain by using this non-standard, unfamiliar font?" Particularly one that thas some really unusual letters like the letter "s" on this font. The answer is that you are trying to create some overall aestetic feel to the page, which leads me to gripe #2 about the font: It screams "1970's" to me. I realize that Ovation was hot in the '70's, but I disagree emphatically that they should be marketing based on "we are the guitar of the '70's" today.
7) There are four thumbnails to the right of the main photo. It is not obvious to me that if you click on one of those, the main photo will change to that photo. Something as simple as a mouse rollover would help here.
8) So, I click on the photo of the new contour bowl, and the main photo changes. So far so good. The description next to the photo (again, written in the infuriatingly '70's font) says "New Contour Bowl on LX Series Models" with a link that says "find out more!". So, I click the link. Guess what? I am taken to a page that has features of the new LX series: A page that does not contain a single word about the contour bowl. Not one. Duh?!?!?
9) I talked about having high resolution photos earlier. Here is an example of having the worst of both worlds. On the "How to choose your Ovation" page, there are photos of the different bowl types, top types, etc. Each photo has a very brief description underneath it. Each photo is also clickable. My expectation when I see my pointer change from the arrow to the hand is "good! I can click here to get more information". Instead, when I click on these photos, I get zero additional information. All I get is a photo that is barely larger than the thumbnail on the first page. You now just wasted my time...off to www.taylorguitars.com...
BTW, I am using Taylor as an example because I think Bob Taylor really gets it. He has a video showing in detail the operation of the machine they use to shape the sides of their guitars. These are machines they custom designed and fabricated. Most companies would probably patent the machines and try to keep their operation a secret. Taylor puts video's on the web! And he even throws in such useful comments like "these pneumatic cylinders have about 100 lbs of pressure". Awesome! I'm not a particular fan of Taylor guitars, but I really like Bob Taylor and the way he runs the company.
Jeff
* Not that he ever would. Why do you place your best and hottest new product in such a crummy location? |
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Location: Orange County, California | Whew!! I'm glad you got that out Jeff. I thought you were going to blow a gasket :p :D :p
Flash sites are great, but I agree with you: Intro videos are lame. It used to (during dial up days) entertain us while everything else "pre-loaded", but with 1.5Mbs DSL, it actually slows me down. I also hate the "pull-out, drop down" menus, I like "hover overs" and soft pop-out with a delay-fade, for actually navigation. I just hate it when I "slip", and lose the whole menu and have to start over.
Now that we've completely geeked this place out, I'm going to go play..... |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | The Ovation website has improved 100% in the last year. It's still another 100% worse than Taylor, Martin, Gibson and Fender. To be honest, that does not bother me anymore ... |
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Location: Orlando, FL | Jeff those circles are supposed to Hyp-MO-tize you. Isn't it working?? That's probably why they show them EVERY TIME YOU CLICK THE BACK BUTTON!
The thing I think I hate most is the big button on the right that links you to Cruefest.
I would love to see some high res pics too. And some sound clips of the guitars, and some video and less Motley Creu (one of the most influential rock bands in history).
Sadly, Dave's right, it's much better than it used to be. |
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Location: Midland, MI | Originally posted by mtnbikerfred:
Flash sites are great.... I was tempted to retort, 'No, they're not.' But, you are actually right. Flash sites are great...for those flash-based games that help me get through the work day. For a site that I'm trying to get information from...eh, not so much. |
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Location: Orlando, FL | Flash sites can be great. The Flash just need to compliment the content not get in the way. |
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Location: Omaha, NE | Originally posted by Designzilla:
The thing I think I hate most is the big button on the right that links you to Cruefest.
Sadly, Dave's right, it's much better than it used to be. The problem there is that it takes you right to the Cruefest page, which provides you with zero information about why the link is there, or what Ovation has to do with Cruefest, or why we should care. Rule #1 of web design is "Don't Make Me Think!". It is hard to imagine a more complete violation of that rule than taking the user to a page and giving him no idea why it happened. The user may or may not have any idea that Ovation and Crue have an endorsement agreement.
Sadly, Dave's right, it's much better than it used to be. I remember the site from 1999/2000. That was when I bought my Adamas. I agree: It was a train wreck.
If I seem a little obsessive about this, its because I am. I really like Ovation guitars, but I really like good web design. It pains me to see such sloppy work. The web could be so much more for them. I just watched a ten minute video where Bob Taylor was showing how they profile necks. Cool.
Jeff |
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Location: NJ | oh man I hope you guys never critique my website |
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Location: Orlando, FL | Al, unless you call Motley Creu one of the most influential rock bands in history, you're safe! |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Al, your website is perfect because it gives a phone number to call you so next time we don't have to actually use your website. Dave |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | This thread is interesting if you really stop and think about what many of us are saying. We love the Taylor website, but it doesn't do shit as far as making us like Taylor guitars or want to buy them. So put the shoe on the other foot, why in the hell should Ovation invest in a better website? To make us feel better, even though we would buy their guitars anyway? In my opinion most of the critical information missing from the Ovation site can be found right here at OFC. Dave |
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Location: USA | Hope this doesnt come off wrong...but in a way Im glad they're not shoving the guitars down peoples throats...(though a little more advertisement certainly would not hurt)
I think thats one of the things that makes these guitars that much more special...that everyone doesnt have them... :)
http://www.myspace.com/styllheartandsoul |
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The difference between Adamas and Ovation
