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Joined:
June 2007
Posts: 100
Location: Delaware | Haven't been in the forum for awhile but home everyone is well and still enjoying the Ovation chat! I've been trying to find specs for USA Applause - anyone have this information?
If I remember correctly, original or vintage USA Applause was a better constructed guitar than modern Applause. Can anyone answer the following:
1. nut width vintage USA Applause
2. top - solid wood or not
3. any other important specs
thanks much. |
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Joined:
March 2008
Posts: 2683
Location: Hot Springs, S.D. | Don't remember the nut width, but the tops were not solid, and on the really old ones, the finish was polyester instead of urethane. (Those are the ones with lots of finish cracks.)If I remember correctly, they changed to urethane in '78 or '79. I don't know when they did away with the aluminum fretboard. A friend of mine decided to get a guitar a few years ago so I took him shopping at pawn shops. There are several in Rapid City, and at the first one we stopped at, he fell in love with an old Applause. I insisted that he not buy the first guitar he tried, so I dragged him to all of the other pawn shops and made him try about twenty different guitars that day. He wound up going back to the first shop and buying the Applause. I probably would have done the same thing myself. It has LOTS of finish cracks, but is easy on the fingers and sounds pretty good. |
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March 2005
Posts: 12750
Location: Boise, Idaho | They also had different headstocks on the early ones. One type was very plastic looking, wasn't tapered like the Ovation headstock and was rounded with a hump in the middle. The other kind was tapered, but squared across the top with a u in the middle. |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | The original USA Applause was identical to the Ovation Medallion/Matrix in every respect apart from price point and a few cosmetic details, such as bridge shape, rosette and headstock molding. The nut width was 1 11/16ths, same as the standard Ovation nut. Top was laminated.
The reason the did away with the aluminum fretboard was that the cast "frets" wore out far too quickly. The original idea that the entire neck could be replaced for the price of a conventional re-fret proved to be problematical. The later Matrix guitars ended up with a rosewood board on an ali/foam neck for that reason. |
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Joined:
April 2003
Posts: 608
Location: Caribou, ME | I have an older Applause, bought it on ebay for $12. It was a wreck. The bridge had ripped part of the top up and a couple braces were missing from the top altogether. The bridge was held on by 3 drywall screws that had split the bridge. I made a new bridge plate and sandwiched it between two quasi-parallel braces (think archtop construction). I then cleaned up the old bridge as best I could, and also crowned the aluminum 'frets'. It's a great old guitar and actually sounded better than the last two 'real' Ovations I've owned. I do wish there was some way to narrow the dates down by serial number though.... Seems like they came out about '76 and by '84 they were Korean (maybe earlier?).
The Applause stays out in my 1961 hippie bus but it's inside for the winter. |
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Joined:
November 2002
Posts: 3603
Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Yeah, I just rehabbed an old AE-38, with a new top & bridge. It has the broccoli headstock, and glued-in mahogany neck/rosewood fretboard.
I'm trying to play it at least 15 minutes each day to get the top flexing more readily.
The photo is in one of my recent posts. |
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Joined:
March 2007
Posts: 698
Location: Cork, Ireland | http://cid-9a7051feb6aee117.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/.res/9A7051...
Mine was probably made in the early 80's'. Fairly sure it's a laminated top. It doesn't have the classic finish cracks so may be a polyester finish as indicated above. The neck looks really plasticky but I chipped bit of it recently when removing the nut and I think it's actually a dark hardwood. The fretboard is definitely a dark hardwood, possibly rosewood and the nut width is 1 11/16ths.
I'd go along with the comment that it's a ...'better constructed guitar than modern Applause', has no structural problems and very little fret wear for its age. |
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Joined:
March 2007
Posts: 698
Location: Cork, Ireland | Originally posted by sycamore:
I'd go along with the comment that it's a ...'better constructed guitar than modern Applause', has no structural problems and very little fret wear for its age. Though I tried a new one recently and it sounded better than my old one |
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Joined:
June 2007
Posts: 100
Location: Delaware | Thanks for all the comments - much appreciated. I love Ovation deep bowl guitars. Some of you know that I bought a vintage Balladeer a couple years ago from a great forum member who gave it to me along with many extras, for a song. I found the narrow nut too difficult for my fingers and ended up reselling it - shame, because that was one nice guitar. My only gripe with Ovation is the narrow nut on most models. Who in the name of God started that messed up trend in acoustic guitars! Most of us have large hands and fingers.. we neet 1 3/4" nut - cmon... talk to me! |
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Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | 1 11/16
ply |
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Joined:
November 2002
Posts: 3603
Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Help may be on the way, Skipper. |
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USA Applause Specs
