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Location: Verona,Italy | As everybody on this board knows, Fender liquidated the entinre US production of our beloved brand, and in the last months sellers received the last old stocks of the american discontinued models. Among them, worldmusicsupply claims to have received the last guitars from the Ovation showroom in New Hartford, including eight K-1111 reissues. After a long discussion he agreed to sell me one of these, I'll skip the kidnapping of the guitar by the customs and relative ransom I had to pay, in the end I received the guitar today, what I can say is that the wait and price were worth of.
I bought this guitar mainly for sentimental value, getting the first model that Ovation introduced many years ago seemed a nice farewell to the brand, for 850 $ the price was fair,I didn't expect much and to be honest I was surprised: my k-1111 (#16) came in a deluxe case (the one branded inside), checklist and instruction manual (without warranty of course) and when I first opened I was surprises: the original Balladeer on the net looked a very minimalistic design, almost like a guitar drawn by a child, or a prototype, but in person she has a sort of grace and doesn't feel like a cheap guitar, in particular the perloid rosette with the chain knob is very nice, as well as the multiple binding: I assume that the guitar has a sort of nitro vintage finish, because the shade of the top matches my Gibson Sheryl Crow, which has an antique finish. The two lateral pieces are bookmatched, while the central piece don't, but the grain is very nice and the joints are almost invisible. The brazilian rosewood bridge is beautiful, and looked even better after being oiled like the fingerboard made of perfect black ebony. The neck is the traditional mahogany/maple sandwich with a mid/soft V profile, very slim and fast, in short very Ovation. The fingerboard is perfect and the round big frets well beveled, unfortunatly this guitar lost the side dot of the 5th fret, for the rest the gutiar is perfect, but I noticed that the dots of the fingerboard are a little offset, for what I've seen from the pics of #02 and #06 it seems it's a common feature of this limited edition, I wonder if they were trying to replicate a flaw of the first balladeers...the headstock veneer is walnut as usual, with the Ovation golden logo and the name "balladeer" over the truss rod cover. On the back there are a set of chrome Klusons, and they works very well, the best tuners of this kind I have. The famous shining bowl looks lacquered like the top, and the effect is very nice, nicer than the stock textured top, I was afraid that the guitar would have slipped everywhere but she sits firmly on my tight and I don't have a problem with that.
The guitar arrived with a good set setup and a set of almost new D'addario PB, so I decided not to change them, but I removed them to oil the fingerboard and I pulled out the saddle (it's very snug and looks like bone, it absorbed some of the colour of the rosewood) because I wanted to lower the action a little, but I found that there are a pair of of shims like in all the other ovations, of course thinner, so I removed one, adjust a little bit the truss rod and found the action the way I like (low and fast), and finally I played it.
What to say? This guitar is loud, VERY loud, much louder than my 2007 BCS and CS, as loud as my Country & Western and my Guild Jf-30-12, and possess a deep, vibrant voice, almost too dark (perhaps I'll try other strings) but very very luscious, very good for fingerpicking like all the Ovations I tried, fine as strummer, and with the perfect balance that helps soloing. Playing single notes give a percussive sound specially on the low notes, well suited to blues and also shredding. Long sustain.
In conclusion, I would recommend this guitar, the plus are the sound and the finish, the minus...well none, unless you consider the lack of electronics a defect.However, this is the Ovation to bring to a Bluegrass session to blow up all the Martins and restore the big O's among the unbelievers.
Pics added soon... |
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April 2004
Posts: 103
Location: Verona,Italy | Oh the final sentence is "restore the big O's reputation among the unbelievers"...unfortunately it's not possible to edit the post... |
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August 2009
Posts: 1137
Location: Germany, where delicious wine is growing (Rheinh) | Thanks a lot for that very good review!!
Bernie |
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September 2002
Posts: 806
Location: Seymour, Tennessee | I'm looking forward to getting my hands on my Mom's new guitar.
:)
Funny, my parents scrimped & saved for a long time to get that DB so many years ago and now,
some 42 years later, another shiney bowl is in
the family.
Of course, this one will end up as mine as well someday. |
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January 2011
Posts: 343
Location: Italia, Zianigo di Mirano (Venezia) | Cuthbert,great review, we are proud of you, reading this, we want to play thr Ballader k-1111, continues Cuthbert
:cool: :cool: |
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Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Good Review. Just rekindled my Sellers' Remorse for letting mine go. ;) |
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April 2004
Posts: 103
Location: Verona,Italy | Originally posted by Old Man Arthur:
Good Review. Just rekindled my Sellers' Remorse for letting mine go. ;) Arthur, out of curiosity, do you know how many of these reissues were made? |
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April 2004
Posts: 103
Location: Verona,Italy | Originally posted by titti191730cm:
Cuthbert,great review, we are proud of you, reading this, we want to play thr Ballader k-1111, continues Cuthbert
:cool: :cool: Ahahah maybe at Sarzana if Marenstroum lodges us, I wish I could make a recording but as you it's purely acoustic and I can't use the idea. |
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Posts: 1453
Location: Texas | Question: Do the 40th Anniversary models have the same "permanently" glued-in neck as the originals? (Meaning that any future neck-reset would require a bowl-bend.) |
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April 2004
Posts: 103
Location: Verona,Italy | Originally posted by standing:
Question: Do the 40th Anniversary models have the same "permanently" glued-in neck as the originals? (Meaning that any future neck-reset would require a bowl-bend.) I just looked inside and saw a sort of wooden block painted black...I don't know if it's the right answer to the question... |
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December 2008
Posts: 1453
Location: Texas | Originally posted by cuthbert:
Originally posted by standing:
Question: Do the 40th Anniversary models have the same "permanently" glued-in neck as the originals? (Meaning that any future neck-reset would require a bowl-bend.) I just looked inside and saw a sort of wooden block painted black...I don't know if it's the right answer to the question... |
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December 2009
Posts: 686
Location: Route 66, just east of the Cadillac Ranch | They had one of these hanging in the local guitar shop for the longest and I'd go in on Saturdays to admire it. The craftsmanship was as good as any guitar I've ever seen. It wasn't the best sounding guitar I'd ever heard, but I attributed that to the dirty strings and the 5% humidity that the shop insisted on maintaining. Finally, back in January I decided to go rescue the guitar and was told it had sold that morning. The simple appointments of the K-1111 make it my favorite of all of the Ovation wood tops.
Congratulations on your new guitar Cuthbert. I'm sure you're going to enjoy it. |
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July 2003
Posts: 3111
Location: Nashville TN. | you sold me
I just bought number 46....
How many were made |
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April 2004
Posts: 103
Location: Verona,Italy | Originally posted by Nick B.:
They had one of these hanging in the local guitar shop for the longest and I'd go in on Saturdays to admire it. The craftsmanship was as good as any guitar I've ever seen. It wasn't the best sounding guitar I'd ever heard, but I attributed that to the dirty strings and the 5% humidity that the shop insisted on maintaining. Finally, back in January I decided to go rescue the guitar and was told it had sold that morning. The simple appointments of the K-1111 make it my favorite of all of the Ovation wood tops.
Congratulations on your new guitar Cuthbert. I'm sure you're going to enjoy it. Yes, it's a nice guitar, unfortunately I had to choose between your Adamas and this one, I miss a little the occasion but I've seen that your sale has gone well... |
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August 2002
Posts: 8307
Location: Tennessee | Originally posted by PEZ:
you sold me
I just bought number 46....
How many were made You're gonna love that guitar, PEZ. I have no idea how many were made, but it can't be very many. I have #40 I think.
One thing not mentioned was the way they put vintage ivoroid binding on them. When I got mine, I compared it to my original Josh White and the binding matched perfectly. |
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July 2003
Posts: 3111
Location: Nashville TN. | OOOPsss its #43 typo.....
I be honest I like wood tops alot..
I like sound of my custom balladeer 1612 alot.
I thinking this going to sound even better than that. What strings are you using on it? |
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April 2004
Posts: 103
Location: Verona,Italy | Originally posted by PEZ:
OOOPsss its #43 typo.....
I be honest I like wood tops alot..
I like sound of my custom balladeer 1612 alot.
I thinking this going to sound even better than that. What strings are you using on it? Do you already have the guitar? I've played some old Ovations of the 70s, but none played like this 1111, it sounds more like a turbocharged Martin to me...
Strings: at the moment I'm using Elixir custom light, 11-52m the guitar is very loud, and very playable, with this gauge I removed a shim and the action is low and fast. Perhaps the next month I'll try John Pearse bluegrass, I assume if the tension is not too and I can shred a little the guitar will be the loudest machine to kill the fascists ever.
Since it's a very dark sounding instrument with a lot of lows I wouldn't recommend the use of PB |
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Posts: 1008
Location: Tuscany, Italy | The elixir sounds dull to my ears. Have you ever tried the Adamas or the DR ?
At the moment on mine I'm using the Ovation PB .50. Nice sounding strings .... |
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July 2003
Posts: 3111
Location: Nashville TN. | Originally posted by cuthbert:
Originally posted by PEZ:
OOOPsss its #43 typo.....
I be honest I like wood tops alot..
I like sound of my custom balladeer 1612 alot.
I thinking this going to sound even better than that. What strings are you using on it? Do you already have the guitar? I've played some old Ovations of the 70s, but none played like this 1111, it sounds more like a turbocharged Martin to me...
Strings: at the moment I'm using Elixir custom light, 11-52m the guitar is very loud, and very playable, with this gauge I removed a shim and the action is low and fast. Perhaps the next month I'll try John Pearse bluegrass, I assume if the tension is not too and I can shred a little the guitar will be the loudest machine to kill the fascists ever.
Since it's a very dark sounding instrument with a lot of lows I wouldn't recommend the use of PB |
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July 2008
Posts: 21
Location: north coast ohio | I put on a set of d'addario ej12 exp on #44. Don't know if you can get dead strings from an unopened package, but the month old Curt Mangan pb 13-56 sounded much better than new D's. So far the winner has been the martin sp4100.
Strummed, this guitar sounds very good, played with fingertips I probably should have bought something else |
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July 2003
Posts: 3111
Location: Nashville TN. | coated in general yuk Adamas strings work |
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April 2004
Posts: 103
Location: Verona,Italy | Originally posted by mgbgt:
Strummed, this guitar sounds very good, played with fingertips I probably should have bought something else Strange, I find my 1111 the best fingerpicking guitar I own. |
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September 2002
Posts: 806
Location: Seymour, Tennessee | My Mom got hers yesterday and she said it is beautiful and sounds awesome.
She said she picked it up on her way to work from the Post Office and took it inside at work (of course).
There are a few guys who play and they went nuts over it.
I'm looking forward to seeing what it sounds like compared to my Dad's 68' DB.
Also, has anybody figured out how many they actually made?
It looks like from the posters to this thread that member mgbgt has the one with the highest serial number so far; #44.
My Mom said she left it at work so she will tell me what her S/N is tomorrow. |
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Posts: 3111
Location: Nashville TN. | I do think any one answered |
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April 2004
Posts: 103
Location: Verona,Italy | Originally posted by marenostrum:
The elixir sounds dull to my ears. Have you ever tried the Adamas or the DR ?
At the moment on mine I'm using the Ovation PB .50. Nice sounding strings .... The old Adamas were nice, but since the 90s they basically are rebranded D'addarios,I've tried DR on other guitars and found them not worth the premium price, same thing for Cocos.
I like very much John Pearse, but I mostly use D'addario EXPs and Elixirs because they last longer, BTW Elixirs have the advantage that they drastically reduce the right hand noise when you gliss the note. |
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On request...K-1111 reissue balladeer review.
