Joined: August 2012 Posts: 4
| Hello, I'm new here. I live in Nashville and have been playing bass and guitar on and off for the last 40 some years. Recently I acquired an AA-31 Applause guitar in surprisingly nice condition. I purchased it from a fellow whose dad owned it and passed away in 2000. He told me his dad seldom played it so that would explain the nice condition and also why he was willing to part with it. I am trying to determine the age of the guitar as well as the country of origin, Korea or the U.S. There is a blue tag on the inside which says "A Kayman Music Product Applause Model no. AA-31" There is also a silver tag above it which reads SERIAL # 023519". On the Ovation website under cracking the code the serial # would indicate a manufacture date of 1974. I've found some information on the internet stating that the overseas production did not start until 1976. Anyways if somebody out there knows more about this, I would appreciate knowing too. The fellow I bought it from says the guitar hasn't been played or tuned since his dad died and probably quite awhile before that. You can imagine my surprise when I strummed it and it was in tune. I played it for a little while before I bought it. When I brought it home I checked it against my electric tuner and it was dead on. Also, the intonation at the twelfth fret was dead on for all 6 strings! It has what appears to be a rosewood fretboard and a mohogany neck with black binding and white dots. The face of the guitar is black with a black pickguard. The headstock is also mohogany with what appears to be about a 1/4" inch black plastic face. The tuners are chrome and each is attached with 2 screws. Once again, if you can fill me in on country of origin, date of manufacture or anything else of interest I'd be grateful. |
Joined: August 2012 Posts: 4
| Thank you for the information. The blue label inside my guitar actually reads "kaman", my mistake. I've seen the same blue label on other Applause guitars and they clearly state Made in Korea, mine doesn't. So, I am assuming mine was made in America and probably in 1974. The action on this guitar was fairly high and I was pleasantly surprised to find 2 shims beneath the bridge. Nice improvement after removing the shims! |