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Location: Jet City |
i'll make the time. |
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Location: Sydney, Australia | Sad. Just sad. Sorry for the craftsman. Guess I'll have to take good care of what I've got - insurance won't help. |
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Posts: 7210
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | I have no words really. There are truly many reasons to be proud of our country, but the way we treat our history and our culture is unfortunately not one of them. We've only been around a few hundred years. By comparison, we don't really have that much history to where we should just be throwing it away at every chance. Oh sure, there are exceptions, but they are few and far between.
If you currently work at the factory and are reading this.... and maybe I didn't say it when we met... or even if I did.. or maybe we never met...
THANK YOU. Thanks to every single one of you. |
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Location: Tennessee | No blame. No politics. No regrets. Nobody and nothing lasts forever. I'll just carry on with what I have and the memories I hold. And thank God I had the good fortune to be a tiny little part of this whole Ovation thing.
The bright side to this is that we'll still have each other. And that's something to be said. Seriously. We all know it. And I do mean that from the bottom of my heart.
Alison, you'll just have to take the train. You won't want to miss it. :-)
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Location: Boise, Idaho | Cliff, you mean I waited too long to sign up for the factory tour? I guess I'll have to find a bucket list item that's a bit more doable. I didn't think Ovation would kick the bucket before I did. |
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Location: ms | I'm very sorry to see the plant close and I for one hope USA Ovation prices go through the roof but they won't any time soon. In the world of big finance,a world I know little about I and maybe I've seen too many movies but I have seen Peavy open plants just to close them in two years, a write off maybe. It might not be a stretch for Fender to buy Ovation with the intent of closing from the start. |
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Location: Hot Springs, S.D. | Bobbo, if someone will buy me the winning lottery ticket so I can pay someone to run the shop and buy a new car ('cause mine is on it's last tires, I mean legs), I would be happy to drive there. I haven't seen my old friends in Connecticut in almost ten years. |
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Location: Steeler Nation, Hudson Valley Contingent | My schedule the next several months makes insanity seem sane, but I would make a supreme effort to attend any gathering near here. I'm still trying to absorb all of this. I was just there a couple of months ago. The were busy as heck! |
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Location: San Clemente, CA | I feel sorry for those that will loose their jobs and the community that surrounds their location. When I see this I also think we are all have a hand in this. As others have said it comes down to numbers. It we all bought more US Ovation guitars this would not have to be. Its a sad day for all of us and all of the US. |
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Location: Lake Forest, CA | I'm sorry to see another manufacturer of great American products go by the wayside. |
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Location: moline,illinois | This is a sad day for guitar players and musicians in general.Corporate america only cares about profits and not artistry so ship more jobs overseas and make your money by selling a busload of crappy items instead of a limited number of high quality ones.I feel the most sorry for the craftsmen that have dedicated there lives to the art only to be left high and dry.I know this is a dark day for all at the OFC so lets keep to the spirit of the club and embrace the joy that is ovation and not bicker over bad news. |
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Location: Flahdaw | No reason to rush a "gathering" to try to get it in before the plant closes. No need to necessarily have it in N.H. either. |
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Posts: 3969
| Thanks to Charlie, for the vision and the drive to create an innovative and unique instrument that redefined and dominated a generation of live musical performance.
Thank you Beal for leading what your father started and continuing the tradition of innovation with so many outstanding limited and collector's models. And also thanks for being the driving force in growing the musical instrument business with your long leadership of NAMM. Sorry you became a victim of your success when the suits that swooped in on a highly successful company forced you out, the first step in the slow march to where we inevitably arrive with today's announcement. Keep rockin', my friend Hollis.
Thanks to Al, for putting your own stamp of design on many incredible models, both one-offs and limited editions. You're probably the most important person who never actually worked for Ovation.
Thanks to KK and JB for always being the best customer service of any company, anywhere.
And most of all, thanks to the artisans and craftsmen who put so much of themselves into their creations, many for a lifetime with no recognition other than the satisfaction of a job well done. You've made magic, and brought joy to so many. A better legacy one could not hope to ask.
And to the bean counters at FMIC - F*!#K you.
Over and out. |
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Posts: 1249
Location: Texas | The same time Glen enters a care center for ALZ patients, Ovation says farewell. Totally unrelated, but... It was a tremendous company, that started out with the epitome of what Americanism is all about. A dream, a unique product that challenged the norm, and craftsmen that took pride in their work. What a success story. Most of us knew this day was coming. Hamer getting axed...Ovation losing its crib and getting booted overseas...it was almost a death by a thousand cuts, considering the greatness Ovation once was in the guitar business. All that said...it is still tremendously sad. |
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Posts: 13983
Location: Upper Left USA | After the first three pages of reading about this I'm getting through the denial phase.
I think I'll step away from the keyboard cause the anger phase is kicking in.
My current guitar project is a Warmoth Telecaster. I'll have to make sure that I use all non-Fender parts... |
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Location: Upper Left USA | Tacoma... Guild... Ovation... Adamas... like tears in rain...
Edited by MWoody 2014-04-22 11:26 PM
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Location: California | Thanks- JB and to all employees that have made my dream guitars.
Hector
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Posts: 79
Location: So Cal | This is very sad. I have seen this corporate bean counter action many times in the past. When there is nothing left to squeeze, move on to the next deal.
My sympathy to the workers and craftsmen. I hope someone is able to save the tooling, molds and design files. The future does not have to be cast. |
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Location: Flahdaw | Strictly a guess on my part, but I doubt Fender will ever release the "tooling, molds, and design files" allowing someone to build Ovations in the future. I will also guarantee that part of the "severance package" will be a signed agreement on the part of the people let go to never engage in any efforts to resurrect the brand on their own, or in conjunction with any other party.
I happen to agree that Fender's goal was to buy and then shut down competing brands, and it'll be interesting to see what they do with Guild. Would they be so callous as to close an iconic part of guitar history? Uh....well, yeah, I suppose so...... |
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Location: NJ | shipping it all to china |
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December 2001
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Location: NJ | guild will quietly become all imports just like gretsch with custom one off guitars at 20K each |
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Location: SoCal | stonebobbo - 2014-04-22 4:13 PM
No blame. No politics. No regrets. Nobody and nothing lasts forever. I'll just carry on with what I have and the memories I hold. And thank God I had the good fortune to be a tiny little part of this whole Ovation thing.
The bright side to this is that we'll still have each other. And that's something to be said. Seriously. We all know it. And I do mean that from the bottom of my heart.
Alison, you'll just have to take the train. You won't want to miss it. :-)
Amen. This sums it up. Remember, in a hundred years, all new people.
I'm very grateful for the times we had, the friends I made and the guitars I play..... |
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May 2011
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Location: Muenster/Germany | Koenig Kurt - 2014-04-22 1:09 PM
Fender, geh scheißen! (I've noticed, this is a native speaker's thread, so... No need to translate.)
Kurt
Bad news. Again gross profit is more important than people or heritage.
Thank you all of you Ovation folks for your great guitars. I am very proud to own a few of your best instruments and they are and will be in good hands, I promise.
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Posts: 152
| Remember, in a hundred years, all new people. That thought always blows my mind and puts things in perspective.
Well this is very sad news indeed.
I gave my daughter my old Anniversary 1657-7 since she liked it so much. We brought it up to the Mothership to have some work done and they fixed a high spot on the fingerboard that caused a fret buzz that the guitar had since I bought it in 1983. They completed replaced the saddle and all electronics, brought it back to spec with very low action. And all they charged me was their standard service fee. She was thrilled and really enjoyed the short tour that John gave us.
I since bought a 1755 Custom Balladeer 12 String in perfect shape and a W597 Adamas. The Adamas needed just a bit of adjusting so I brought it up to the Mothership and again they did a fabulous job and the guitar is like new.
So I've been kind of spoiled living in CT and never having to think about finding an Ovation luthier. Maybe some folks from the factory will open a small service shop. They would certainly get my business.
I will miss you Mothership... |
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April 2006
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Location: Munich, Germany | In fact, in germany we had this situation (no "mothership" or service) since Fender bought KMC. Musik Meyer, the former distributor, got pushed out, and Fender Germany took it's place. Since that: Nothing that someone would call service for Ovations and Takamines. I called them several times for spare parts or stuff like that and never got, what I was asking for. Well, there was still the mother in the States, but it's not too comfortable for small deals and was only called for bigger deals. For example: I wanted kind of a certificate that my EF75 is made out of "legal" brazilian. I mailed to Takamine in Japan, they told me in an automatic answer, for "german questions" please call Fender in germany. And they told me to **** off.
I never really liked Fender as a firm, and experiences like that didn't make it better. But it was clear to see: Ovation? Takamine? Not interested. While Musik Meyer was not only a great distributor, but had a repair section as well and did everything to please their customers. |
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Fender to close New Hartford operations
