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Posts: 1388
Location: Paris/France | I've played it yesterday evening for 30 minutes and as expected, it's a GREAT guitar!!!
I'm very surprised by the big volume and the projection of the sound. :eek:
The sound is bright and it seems to my ears that there is less bass than on my other O's but I don't know what strings are installed.
I'll try "Silk & Steels" the next time because I love the sweet sound and the feeling of these strings even if I know that I will lose some volume.
The neck is perfect and the action is very low without any buzz so this guitar is very comfortable to play.
After a quick inspection, the varnish seems to be much thiner than usually on O's.
There's thousand of very very small cracks in the varnish on the top and at the rear of the neck just like on old paintings (I don't know if you understand what I mean??).
I'll try to make a good picture of the top if I have enough time during the week end because I'll have two guests at home!!
The first one will be there (from UK) in few hours and maybe he will tell you his impression about this guitar... ;)
The second will be there tomorrow from east of France.
A new FANTASTIC guitar, two friends (Ofcer's) at home, 4 tickets for the final game of the Rugby "6 Nations Tournament" (a weird game very popular in Europe... :D ) and maybe some sun, it will be a great week end without any doubt!!
J :) |
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Posts: 1388
Location: Paris/France | |
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Posts: 1388
Location: Paris/France | We will try to not play to loud to not wake you up... :D :D :D
J :) |
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March 2004
Posts: 1388
Location: Paris/France | I took some pics of the guitar just before the night.
I've tried to catch all the details even if the light was not very good.
THE PICTURES ARE HERE
J :) |
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September 2003
Posts: 9301
Location: south east Michigan | I love how they fixed what needed to be fixed and left the rest alone.
This guitar has been totally reborn yet maintains it's vintage character.
The truss rod cover looks huge. Did they hide some repair work that way? |
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Location: Paris/France | The truss rod cover looks huge Brad, I don't have Beal and Bob's knowledges with early Shiny Bowls but this is the original TRC.
The very first were as this one and I hope that Bob or Beal will tell us when they changed for the standard TRC.
I've never saw such a TRC in "real" before and I've only seen one in this VERY OLD BROCHURE.
I just noticed that the #22 doesn't have the Balladeer decal on the TRC...
I've got a question, the bridge seems to be very very dark so could it be possible that it was made with ebony instead of Brazilian rosewood??
J :)
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Posts: 9301
Location: south east Michigan | Sure looks like ebony to me. |
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Posts: 15679
Location: SoCal | Looks like ebony, but everything I've ever read or seen regarding the early models says they were rosewood. It's possible that it was stained darker..... |
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Posts: 1008
Location: Tuscany, Italy | Unless they actually use ebony on this guitar being customized, it recall the bridge it was on my DB that was rosewood stained (and recently replaced with a straight natural rosewood one).
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September 2002
Posts: 153
| Although it would be difficult to confirm the exact serialization, the elongated trussrod cover was used up until about serial number 70 - 75. Some of these trussrod covers had a gold "Balladeer" decal on them as appeared on the headstock of later models.
When the original run of elongated trussrod covers ended, they went to a very small, short trussrod cover that is a little more than an inch long. These continued until somewhere between serial number 750 and serial number 1000.
Then, from sometime in mid 1967 to early 1969 they used a regular sized trussrod cover, but it was distinguished by a slight curve on both sides where the TRC met the nut. This is one way to determine complete originality in that vintage of guitar.
After early to mid 1969 the TRC wass the same size as the 1967 to 1969, albeit without the curve at the nut. I believe this TRC lasted until the Kaman bar was introduced, at which time the TRC was slightly larger.
There are many exceptions to these standards, the most notable being the 1968 Glen Campbell Deluxe Balladeer, which had a wide, fat TRC to accomodate the GC signature. |
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| With regard to the bridge, from the pictures it appears to have been painted, but it could be stained. The only way to know would be to sand down the finish, which is definitely not recommended.
It doesn't appear to be ebony to me, but I could be mistaken without visual inpsection. |
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Posts: 153
| CORRECTION TO THE PREVIOUS POST - when the Kaman bar was introduced, obviously there was NO TRC on models fitted with the Kaman bar.
The larger TRC appeared during the transition period between the TRC and the Kaman bar, and after the introduction of the Kaman bar, continued on those models that had a TRC, such as the classical models. |
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Posts: 1388
Location: Paris/France | Bob, thank you very much for this "lesson", I'm always so happy to learn from you.
For sure, I'll not sand the bridge to know what kind of wood was used!! :eek:
The next time I'll change the strings, I'll try to remove the saddle and I'll look inside if the color is the same.
As it was built for a Factory employee, maybe it was made with special specs like the rosette??
As I'm curious, I've looked inside the guitar and the serial 022 is well stamped on the neck block so no doubt from this side.
It's not easy to see because the neck block is completely painted in black.
On my other shinys, the place where the serial is stamped is not painted.
I'm glad that this guitar keep a part of her mystery... ;)
J :) |
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Posts: 333
Location: east coast usa | wow...awesome jerome...so glad to hear it arrived safe and with incredible sound...
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November 2004
Posts: 4413
| It's a beautiful colour - rich and almost golden in some lights. Sounds fantastic - great volume from a very light guitar. Lovely definition and to my Adamas accustomed ears it sounds quite bright with a real ring to it.
The weather was nice so I didn't have a coat big enough to smuggle it out under.
And the big game had the wrong result.
But it was a fantastic weekend with a lot of laughs. :D |
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August 2005
Posts: 3736
Location: Sunshine State, Australia | Anyone else notice the mistake on the invoice?
Looks like MS might owe you $20 plus 24 year's of interest Jérôme... |
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January 2006
Posts: 171
Location: Bangkok, Thailand | Superb ! . . .
Sexy and classic |
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August 2009
Posts: 333
Location: east coast usa | Originally posted by muzza:
Anyone else notice the mistake on the invoice?
Looks like MS might owe you $20 plus 24 year's of interest Jérôme... thats is too funny i honestly noticed it myself but didnt think about going back to them for the cash....lol...  |
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Location: South of most, North of few | Jerome, that's a beauty, congrats! |
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August 2009
Posts: 1137
Location: Germany, where delicious wine is growing (Rheinh) | I think, it's the very best home for that nice piece of Ovation-History.
Congrats Jerome!! I'm very happy, that it is in good shape.
Bernie |
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The #22 is well arrived in France !!!
