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April 2008
Posts: 2336
Location: Brighty in Blighty | My story :
bought some, sold some, play them. |
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Joined:
May 2003
Posts: 4389
Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | When I was a kid I saw a couple of people who played ovations and adamas in the 70's, including:
Bruce Springsteen
Dave Mason
Glen Campbell
Mark Knopfler etc
liked the sound, and seemed best value for money. |
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Joined:
July 2003
Posts: 3111
Location: Nashville TN. | Always remember the name not sure from where.
Had played a friends UKII when learning.
Went looking for a NEW acoustic on my birthday in 1989.
I got talked into trying the Thunderbolt by a pretty female. She said "try that one, its magic"
I said its ugly... She said "trust me try that one"
I strumed one open E and said sold.
Still have it. |
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Joined:
March 2007
Posts: 840
Location: CA | In 1971 I drove a delivery truck in Glendale, CA. As part of the goof-off process, on the way back to the store, I would first swing by Fotomat, where my girlfriend worked, then by a local music store where I would grope the equipment two or three times a month. One time I went in and there was this goofy looking guitar with a fiberglass back. It was an 1111-4 and I scraped my pennies together and bought it. No pickup, no case. Just the guitar. It sounded better than anything else in the shop costing two to three times the $200 or so dollars I spent on it.
That guitar traveled part of the world with me, much of it on a private yacht on which I crewed for 2.5 years. Panama, Mexico, Atlantic seaboard, Caribbean, a full year in the Med. It was alternately pounded on and caressed, and seduced many a young lady much more effectively than I ever could have without it. On the way home from the West Indies in a cheapo case, the guitar suffered a broken neck right above the nut. The estimates for repair were more than I paid for it. But the break was above the nut so I figured, what the hell. I mixed up some epoxy, stuck it all together and the guitar plays as good today as it ever did. As to those 'common finish cracks' Ovations are supposed to get (according to eBay ads), the old 1111-4 has yet to show even one. And lemme tell ya, that thing has been through some serious climate and humidity changes.
The only 'drawback' if you can call it that is that the 1111-4s had thin necks at the nut. So my big ol fingers had trouble playing. I saw lots of other Ovations over the years but stupidly assumed that they all had the same thin neck. Imagine my surprise when friend let me play his Ultra Deluxe. Wow, what a great neck! Then I really started looking around and being amazed at what I found (including this website). In the last 6-8 years, I've had my own Ultra Deluxe, a SSB Legend, a Sweetwater T and two 1778Ts. The old 1111-4 sits mostly in the closet these days while I favor the 'lusty red' T and its lusty maple neck. But every now and then I get the old guitar out and plunk away and dream of many happy days and miles and songs gone by. Good times.
Oh, and by the way, the Fotomat girl is now my wife. I even wooed her with the 1111-4. |
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Joined:
December 2006
Posts: 6268
Location: Florida Central Gulf Coast | Oddball ,
What a GREAT story! |
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Joined:
February 2009
Posts: 119
Location: New York | It was 1985 and I was a pizza delivery guy. My girlfriend worked in the same shop with me. I started going steady with her in the 11th grade of high school, 1981. So for our 4th year anniversary of going steady, my soon-to-be best friend (and excellent vocalist and guitar player)took my girl to a music shop and instructed her to buy me a Celebrity. I was a singer/front man in a band and never learned how to play but wanted to badly. We went to Niagara Falls to celebrate our anniversary with dinner on top of Skylon tower overlooking the falls. She gave me the guitar in the parking lot before dinner. I still have that guitar . . . and that woman. We have been married since 1989 and she is so wonderful. I told her about this deal on the C778 LX and she is so supportive. Since then I have acquired two more Ovations. |
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Joined:
October 2005
Posts: 5327
Location: Cicero, NY | Great story. Hope you still have the best friend too! Any guy who talks your better half into buying you a guitar is as much a keeper as she is (if she buys it)! |
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Joined:
February 2009
Posts: 119
Location: New York | My friend that took my girlfriend to buy me that Celebrity became my best friend over the next six months. I asked him to teach me to play. He said buy some beer, as long as there is beer, I will stay and teach you how to play. Thus began the next awesome six months where we would go to my apartment every night after work with a case of Old Mil exports that cost about six bucks and we would drink beer and play guitar and sing until 12:30 when we would watch David Letterman. Oh, those were good days. The bond that was formed between he and I during this time has stood the test of time and he is still my best friend today. |
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Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 12750
Location: Boise, Idaho | In 1977 my girlfriend said she'd buy me an Ovation if I'd marry her and play it and sing at our wedding. We went to a shopping mall with her mother, who tried to convince me that an engagement ring was a good investment. When I couldn't get the salesman to promise that he would buy back the ring for more than I paid for it, I told him he didn't know much about investing and walked over to a music store. The girlfriend bought a Matrix, because it was the only Ovation above the Applause level that we could afford.
I never bought her an engagement ring, but fulfilled my end of the bargain by playing the Ovation and singing "Beautiful" by Gordon Lightfoot at the wedding. I sang it again at our 30th Anniversary, playing the Adamas OFC guitar she bought me.
The above is mostly true, although I took a few liberties. She wasn't nearly as happy when I brought home the Hamer last night. Somehow using the money I saved by taking out the sink and toilet so she could remodel the bathroom and using it to buy the Hamer wasn't quite as romantic as the other Ovation purchases. |
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Joined:
March 2008
Posts: 2683
Location: Hot Springs, S.D. | One of my fellow inspectors back in the day married a girl who put rosettes on. At their wedding, he played Harry Chapin's "All My Life's a Circle" to her on his Legend as she was walking down the aisle singing right back to him. What a GREAT wedding it was! Now, twenty-six years and two kids later, they are still happily married, and still two of my best friends. |
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Joined:
March 2007
Posts: 840
Location: CA | Mark in Boise,
Now THAT is a great story!
One of the reasons I am limited in my GAS is the deal my own better half made a few years ago: "If you buy another guitar I get to buy another horse." We're now even at five apiece, so whenever I have to have a new git, I have to let one go, too. I must say it's worked well so far for both of us. I only play one or two of my guitars with any regularity, and only one or two of the horses get ridden. Can't see the point of having guitars around that I don't play, and believe me, we can't afford to feed, shoe, vaccinate, etcetcetc any more horses. LOL |
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Joined:
October 2007
Posts: 2711
Location: Vernon CT | Oddball, Just out of curiosity, doesn't a horse cost a hell of a lot more then a guitar?? You should have a couple of ADAMAS'S in that deal!! |
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Joined:
February 2005
Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | Hardly a fair deal. A guitar that doesn't get played costs considerably less to maintain than a horse that doesn't get ridden. |
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Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 12750
Location: Boise, Idaho | I've made a few bad deals, but not that bad. I figured SWMBO is going to buy what she wants no matter what I do, so there's no sense trying to negotiate.
Not too long ago, I figured that if I bought her a "new" car, maybe she'd quit spending so much money on the house and wouldn't complain if I bought a new guitar. Didn't work. She lets me drive her car, though.
More recently I thought I better quit complaining about her remodel projects and told her to do what she wanted and quit asking for my opinions, which she rejected anyway. That didn't get any reciprocity either. I felt really guilty about bringing the Hamer home the other night, but I'm sure liking the guitar. |
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Joined:
March 2007
Posts: 840
Location: CA | Points well taken. Yes, the initial and ongoing investment in a horse is a lot more than a guitar. Even the psychic investment: if one decides he doesn't like you, he NEVER likes you. And horses can live into their 50s.
But as Mark says, there is no sense using logic in a 'deal' with SWMBO. To her, if it looks like a guitar and sounds like a guitar, it doesn't matter if it's a Costco special or a Gretsch White Falcon — it's a guitar. Strangely, I'm happy we have our little agreement, which started off as a semi-joke. I really don't NEED any more guitars, but would spend the time and money anyway if left to my own devices. So I've stuck to it. She has too, because she doesn't NEED any more horses. I'm just worried about the day when she finally does sell the two nice ones that aren't ridden. I hope her twisted female logic won't try to convince me to part with two guitars. |
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Joined:
November 2006
Posts: 2241
Location: Simpsonville, SC | Long story..short!
1976 (I was 17)..Beautiful girl playing a Balladeer..I think.
I remember the git and haven't seen the girl since....well, since I was 19.
I always aaaaahhh... lusted after both, but settled on a new 1778LX two years or so ago. Came here for advise..got GAS..bought about ten...sold about five.
I have a U681T..1681..1685..1867..and a new beutiful old 1537
Wonder what ever happened to that girl?
Oh well, too old to give a s***. Not to old for another Ovation or Adamas though. |
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Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 12750
Location: Boise, Idaho | This morning SWMBO asked why I didn't show her "my" Valentine's present. (After I brought the Hamer home, she said that was all I was getting for Valentine's, which was a fantastic deal, I thought). She said I should bring it up, but I told her I had to plug it into an amp. So we went downstairs and she said that it looked "different". I plugged it into both amps and showed her how it switched back and forth between acoustic and electric. As I was explaining something she probably didn't understand, she said "you mean it's not an Ovation?" I think she was worried I was expanding my horizons, but seemed reassured when I told her it was in the same Kaman family. |
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Joined:
September 2006
Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Originally posted by Mark in Boise:
I think she was worried I was expanding my horizons, but seemed reassured when I told her it was in the same Kaman family. Did you mention that since Kaman and Fender are the same family now, the list has expanded to include... Guild, Tacoma, Gretsch, Jackson, Charvel, EVH, and Hello Kitty!? :eek: |
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Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 12750
Location: Boise, Idaho | That would really get her going. |
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What's your Ovation story?
