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Location: NJ | well 17 packages arrived from New Hartford today....and I realized it is the last pile of packages I will ever get from that facility.....Kinda has me slightly emotional....When you put your heart into a brand and have a relationship like I did with them it is something that I am sure I'll never experience again.
I remember the first time I went up there....it was in 95, I never even heard of New Hartford and I went up at the request of Kim Keller to look at a pile of discontinued parts....well that was the start of a 23 year long relationship with Ovation/Adamas guitars which expanded into Hamer, Takamine, Guild and Genz Benz... I marvel at how the factory changed from the first time I saw it, and how it changed to now the shell of what it once was
I made lifelong friends there Beal Cayman, Rick Hall, John Budny, Darren Wallace, Willy Vassaloupolous, Joe Martuccio, Howard and his brother Jim, Kevin K. Michael Clark, Gene and mike in service, Mike Sherer, Mike shiskov, Dave Brown, Jol Danzig, Frank Rindone, Frank Untermyr, Chris Seeger, Charles Lavallee RIP, Frank Morrell, Mike Markure, Mark Lamana, Jeff Pyle, Steve Spak, and I can go on and on and on and on and if I did not mention your name don't be offended it is just that I am doing this from the top of my head.
The Adamas line has been discontinued a few months ago and well this was the remainder of the inventory that I purchased arrived today. Bittersweet is an understatement.
Oh I have to mention the people that I met through the Ovation Fan Club Hamer Fan Club and Let's Talk Guild...Karen Leland-Stonge and Ed, Stephen Terry, David Witko, Jerome Galopin!!!! I'll never forget when you came to visit from France!! so many faces and names too many to mention and remember.....
When you can stand behind a product and use it yourself it is easy to sell but what made this special was the relationship that I had with the factory and the sales team that it seemed we could make anything within reason happen and they even consulted me for my ideas and input....
Yes the import guitars are still happening and the fate of the USA brand is not yet totally decided but I just feel like it will never be the same. Feeling a little emotional about this today
Things Change , things morph, time marches on....
But I don't have to like it.... |
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Posts: 12755
Location: Boise, Idaho | I'm with you, Al, although I never made it back there. A factory tour was one of my bucket list items that I'll never get to do. I'm shutting down my little "factory" here, but there's no remorse. I'll finally retire next week and hope there are a few bucket list items left, because when you run out you are supposed to kick the bucket. |
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Posts: 4226
Location: Steeler Nation, Hudson Valley Contingent | I didn't have the same relationship with them that you did Al, but the experiences I had there are like no other. I'm just a social worker that plays guitar. Who would have imagined a major producer like Ovation would give me the time of day, much less guide me through several builds and invite me to visit over and over again. I doubt Martin or Taylor or anyone else, good brands though they may be, would ever treat an everyday guitar duffer like me the way Ovation did. It will undoubtedly remain one of the memorable relationships of my life, not because of the guitars, but because of the people. So in the end, I guess I kind of know how you feel, because I feel the same way. |
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Posts: 1034
Location: Yokohama, Japan | Thanks for sharing your heart Mr. Pepiak. My heart breaks...Why does something that is happening so far away, feel so very close...
@ Mark in Boise - so... no more BFLG threads?
@ Patch - Thanks for always providing some perspective...
Was debating whether or not I should sell my BFLG 5986-B 20th Anniversary Nakao - not debating anymore; and not sure if this is going to add GAS, eliminate GAS, or give my GAS purpose, but I think I'll take a day off and play my USA Os all day... bummer...
Edited by arumako 2018-07-25 6:17 PM
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Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | We all saw this coming.
Now it is really here.
Sorry for your loss, Al.
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Posts: 3111
Location: Nashville TN. | Sorry to hear this Al .... I considered Ovation people to be like family...
Edited by PEZ 2018-07-25 8:44 PM
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Location: Sydney, Australia | Sad day indeed. Especially for Al, but lots of us have our own little part of the grief. |
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Posts: 270
| I guess I've missed something, has there been a new announcement about the future of the Ovation Company? I know there was a potential move pending but has something been confirmed? |
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| I heard about the layoffs but I haven't read that they were closing the New Hartford facility.
Did I miss the announcement? |
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Posts: 1802
Location: When?? | I send my condolences to your sentiment, Al, and I admire your history. In instances like this one the name of your company says it all... and you can gauge how good something was by how bad you feel when it spools down. Yours was obviously prime. Hopefully the morph will prevail in good light. |
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Posts: 848
Location: Canada | Very sad I guess no chance of second resurrection. |
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Posts: 10582
Location: NJ | you mean a third resurrection? |
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Location: Canada | was Fender takeover a resurrection or condemnation? |
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Posts: 1609
Location: Colorado | Invasion with pillaging. |
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Location: Campbell River, British Columbia | Hey! We’re all still here and enjoying the instruments and fellowship we’ve created. That part isn’t going anywhere soon. |
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Posts: 287
Location: Katmandu | Equally down missing Glen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szOieN-svlo
Edited by leonardmccoy 2018-07-28 5:22 AM
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Posts: 37
| Hey! I know something that will make us all feel a little better.
What are in those 17 packages Al? |
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March 2016
Posts: 37
| My apologies, I just discovered some of them in the for sale forum. Beautiful!! |
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June 2012
Posts: 162
Location: Pittsburgh | Thank you for your promotion for and love of my favorite guitar brand, Al. I met you at LMG IV in 2013 (my 2nd favorite brand), though I first encountered you here. I empathize with you.
And Patch, you helped me see what was possible in custom builds/repairs, though I never could afford one. A cracked-top 1998 Applause from my local Music Go Round began my guitar-playing journey in 2009 at the age of 56. I took up guitar to reconnect with my estranged son. It worked. And Ovation was part of it. |
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Posts: 398
Location: So. Cal. | WE never close...! |
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Posts: 10582
Location: NJ | Now more than ever |
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Posts: 83
Location: Urbana, IL | I hear ya Al. I never had the chance to visit the factory but I lived in New Hampshire for my first 30 years and sold Ovations for 12 of those 30 years. I was even the top Ovation salesman 1991 at the chain I worked for and won a '91 Collectors. I loved selling Ovations, especially the US made ones because they were great playing, great sounding American made instruments. I've still got my W597 and W598 which I love but yes, times have changed. Other manufacturers are offering CF acoustics that people are buying. Heck, I own (2) non-Ovation CF acoustics that I love as well. |
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feeling kinda down......
