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Location: NW of Philadelphia | Everyone here keeps telling to get a US made Ovation. OK... at the risk of sounding like a TOTAL noob, besides the label inside, how do you know which models are US and which are imports?
Splain it to me. :rolleyes: |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Go to THIS page.
This was valid up until this year. As of today also the Balladeer, Standard Elite and Elite-T are now made in Asia.
Dave |
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Location: Vernon CT | Another thing to remember besides a USA model is the Bowl. The deeper the bowl the better acoustic sound (not plugged in) If you can find an older Legend w/A bracing where the topwood has Openned up, you won't be sorry. There have been some pretty good deals on Ebay, I have found some amazing deals on Craigslist and of course you can't go wrong on the for sale section here or with Alpep. Many option in finding a very good USA made Ovation. |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Also, ALL the bowls are made in the USA (correct me if I'm wrong)
So yeah... You really need to look at the sticker.
There are differences in the shape of the fretboard end on multi-hole models, but the real difference is that USA models are Real Wood.
I have owned many Celebrity's, and I might say that if you are getting a Super Shallow Bowl and gonna plug-it-in anyway, it may not matter... Some plywood Celebrity's sound okay.
And they can make some really pretty tops with laminate.
There are also Solid Top Imports...
But if you are gonna $650 for a new CDX44 and still not get a case...
You may as well buy a used USA model for less.
So the real difference is the Wood. And pride of Ownership of an American-Made Product.
Also, the Mothership will repair USA models, but not imports...
[But with the Ultra series and import T's, where do they draw the line?] |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | Several of the USA models, such as the Collector's with the exotic tops, are laminates. The Celebs generally had necks made more cheaply and the quality of the fretboard might not be as good as USA. They may have had simpler preamps, or recently the less fancy model preamps when several were available. It's hard to come up with a list of differences, but the main one was probably cheaper labor costs overseas.
My first ebay purchase was a Celebrity Deluxe that didn't have a label. I later learned the difference between it and the Elites was in the shape of the end of the fretboard. I traded it for my 99 Collector's, but I think the Celebrity sounded better. |
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Location: UK | Old Man Arthur said:
"... but the real difference is that USA models are Real Wood."
I was just browsing the ovationguitars.com website. They appear to have added more Celebrity models to their list. And they also describe some of those celebrities as having Solid tops (rather than laminated)
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Some celebrities have solid tops. Some (a few) USA ovations do not. Adamas does not have a solid top, but that's another story. I've played some great laminated top guitars and I've played some shitty solid top guitars. I would not use one criteria to "sort" the cream from the curd. Solid v. laminated, USA v. import, etc. You need to consider each and every guitar on it's own merits.
Dave |
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Location: Montana | Was there ever a 100% made in the US Ovation? My tuners say made in Germany and my pickup says made in Mexico. |
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Location: Scotland | Just about every manufacturer uses outsourced components and raw materials which can come from pretty much anywhere. Throughout the history of US guitar production purflings and bindings often came from Europe. European spruce is quite common on US guitars, Ebony comes from Africa, Rosewood from India, or Brazil if you can afford it, Mahogany from Honduras or the Philipines, etc etc. So your question is a little on the silly side. But to answer it anyway, early Ovations had US-made Kluson or Grover tuners, and the early pickup/preamps were produced in-house. So apart from the mahogany in the neck and the ebony for the fingerboard, they would be pretty close to a 100% USA product |
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Location: SoCal | Originally posted by ScottMt:
Was there ever a 100% made in the US Ovation? My tuners say made in Germany and my pickup says made in Mexico. Probably not. Who cares? |
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Location: Montana | I certainly don't really care. I was just musing about what it means to be "made in the usa". bottom line is that if the guitar sounds good, plays good and looks good to you then it's a good guitar! Yesterday I was surfing for info on Mark Knopfler's guitars (one is an Adamas btw) and there was a discussion regarding one of his Strats. It turns out that one of his Strats which was thought to be a US model actually is a made in Japan model. All I can say if it would allow me to sound like Mr. Knopfler I'd trade a busload of US Strats for his Japanese version..... |
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Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | When the investment group purchased Fender from CBS in the mid-80's, they essentially bought the rights to the name only and a few spare parts. There were no buildings nor tooling which took a few years to develop. During this restart-up period, the only instruments sold under the new Fender name (FMIC) came from Japan. Numerous critics continue to opine that Fender guitars from Japan during the mid-1980s represent the best quality available from Fender from the 1970's until the Custom Shop opened in Corona in the latter 1980's. Check the history on Fender's website. |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | When it comes to parts sourcing, even high end stuff, it's a global supply chain. I own a German car with a French transmission. And a Brit car with Italian brakes. People ask me what I drive and I just call them "world cars".
Dave |
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Location: Jet City | I had italian food the other night cooked by a mexican. |
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Location: NJ | Most of the very best restaurant chefs (regardless of cuisine) ARE Mexican . . . |
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Location: CA | I have a friend with a Harley, about the most American brand you can imagine. He says all kinds of stuff on the newer HDs is made somewhere besides the U.S.
Bottom line on your question: If it says Celebrity or (shudder) Applause on the label, it is not made in U.S. There's a lot of good info on this also at the Ovation website: www.ovationguitars.com |
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Location: NW of Philadelphia | All because its made outside, the Good 'ol US of A, does not mean its bad or inferior. It means its just not made here.
In my list you will see a Bradley LPC. This 31 year old Japanese Les Paul knock off is an incredibly good guitar. I compared to a newer Gibson LP. It plays great, feels better (lighter), and sounds very similar.
Professor, does that mean my 1969 Mustang is (gulp) Japanese made?
FYI: I called Kaman and spoke with an Ovation rep. He said these models are all made in the USA:
Adamas
Legend
Custom Legend
Balladeer
Elite
Custom Elite
Folklore
Classic |
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Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Originally posted by auriemma:
Professor, does that mean my 1969 Mustang is (gulp) Japanese made? If it was made in 1986, and part of 1987, then yes, it came from Japan and should say right on it. When you say 1969, if that is the year of manufacture, it is US made. |
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Location: UK | Manufacturing here in Europe is dying because in the far east they can do it better and cheaper than we can. We always want more money, more tea breaks and more holidays. And then more trade union meetings during working hours to discuss the above.
I'm sure that the workforce in the far east are capable of making very high quality goods but in case the case of Ovation I'm guessing that there's 'other' cost cutting going on.
I've owned 3 celebrities over a 25 year period and in each case I had to do some extra work on them.
The first had a vibrating brace and the strap button on the wrong side
On the second (a slotted headstock) I had to file a bit of the headstock away because it fowled the string
On the third the nut was off-centre and that big gap I mentioned a few days ago.
In each case, after I'd done the work I've got instruments with which I'm very happy.
So, I'm sure you can get excellent workmanship in the far east but in the case of Ovation they've cuts costs even more by not having any quality control or maybe they've just hired the cheapest workforce that other companies don't want.
Either that or they're intentionally building in bugs to make the USA ones look better.
So yes, I'm guessing that US built ovations are better |
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Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | A very close friend of mine retired from Caterpillar after being in charge of building their factories all over the world, including a three-year stint in China. Factory methods, processes, tooling, quality control, materials specs, etc., are all based on strict company standards. After stringent inspection regimens and testing protocol, Caterpillar concluded that product quality in China was no different than, or just as good as, similar Caterpillar products produced elsewhere in the world. China continues to learn about quality control from the west, just as Japan did 50 years ago. Whatever arguable shortcomings might still exist in the quality of their products is quickly disappearing. Much of their business strategy over the past 20 years has been to build an acceptable product at an incredibly low cost, and they have certainly succeeded in this regard. When they turn their strategy towards building superior products at a competitive cost, look out world. |
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Location: UK | Prof - you said "superior products at a competitive cost"
I guess you're not in the UK then ?
Here in the UK we don't build anything anymore. UK manufacturing is pretty much dead.
Sentiment here in the UK is already like that.
As far as the UK buyer is concerned Japan DOES make the best products.
This started around 1970's when japan started shipping everything in volume to the UK while the british factories were out on strike because they wanted softer toilet paper or something stupid like that.
Of course britain doesn't protect its industry like the USA does so now we don't have one. (but that's political so I won't go there) |
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Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | "(Harley) about the most American brand you can imagine. "
Important word.. "brand" is. A good example. To my knowledge, their bikes no longer even qualify for the Made In USA logo, yet they are considered "the American" brand. Interestingly, Honda CAN put the "Made in USA" on some models as well as Victory, and of course several smaller companies. |
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Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | I bought my Harley new in 1992 and my recollection is that it contained about 65% of US sourced materials. I'm sure that percentage has diminshed since then. If my recollection serves me correctly, Honda closed part of their Marysville OH plant and may no longer be making Gold Wings or Accords in the US. BMW made the 3-series in the US for awhile as well. |
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Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | ooo forgot about those BMW's.
My point was that I think people get hung up a little too much on "where it's made."
With motorcycles, I WANT the transmission to be at least designed in Japan and want the Brakes to be Brembo (Italy) and Marzocchi forks (again Italy) are a plus.
On Ovations, Bowls made in Ohio, electronics made in Korea, Hardware from Germany, and "ASSEMBLED" in Hartford CT. Sounds like the best of all worlds to me. |
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Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | I agree, Miles. Certain countries are better at certain things, so why not maximize a product's potential by capitalizing on those advantages? No denying what Harley America is good at . . . classic design and marketing. |
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US vs Imported
