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For Sale: 1967-1968 Deluxe Balladeer
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The Ovation Fan Club -> For Sale | Message format |
vintageGparts |
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Joined: July 2020 Posts: 9 | For Sale: 1967 - 1968 Deluxe Balladeer. I am asking $500 OBO | ||
moody, p.i. |
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Joined: March 2002 Posts: 15654 Location: SoCal | Interesting guitar. Looks like the body of a Deluxe Balladeer, but the neck is from a Custom Balladeer (mid 70's?) and the bridge is a later bridge as well. You can research your guitar here http://ovationtribute.com/ Go to the archives section and in the late 60's you'll see Deluxe Balladeers. In the mid 70's catalogs you can see the Deluxe Balladeers. Take a look at the bridges from those 2 eras of Ovations. What it's worth? Who knows...... | ||
Standingovation |
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Joined: June 2002 Posts: 6192 Location: Phoenix AZ | Yup ... neck, tuners, bridge and case didn't exist at the time of s/n 1990. | ||
Old Man Arthur |
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Joined: September 2006 Posts: 10777 Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Could be an employee creation? | ||
Standingovation |
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Joined: June 2002 Posts: 6192 Location: Phoenix AZ | Old Man Arthur - 2020-08-02 10:33 PM Could be an employee creation? Could be. I know there was a period of time that the factory hired a number of visually impaired workers, just after Glen's mom left. Mostly in the QC department. This is actually a pretty cool guitar. | ||
vintageGparts |
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Joined: July 2020 Posts: 9 | Wow, that site has a ton of cool info, thanks for pointing me in that direction. You guys know a ton more about this stuff than I do, but I did find this on the site and it looks really close to my guitar. Of course its really hard to tell because of the photo quality of the old brochures... So maybe its a 1968? | ||
moody, p.i. |
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Joined: March 2002 Posts: 15654 Location: SoCal | Scroll down to the Custom Balladeer on this page and you'll see the neck on your guitar. http://ovationtribute.com/Catalogues/Ovation%2070%27s%20Catalog%20I... | ||
DanSavage |
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Joined: June 2012 Posts: 2303 Location: Lake Forest, CA | I'm inclined to agree with Paul. The neck on your guitar is from a later model. I can tell from the Ovation logo on the head stock. The earlier design did not have a black outline. It only had the logo in gold metallic. Here's the 1968 Deluxe Balladeer headstock. Also, note that the 1968 Deluxe Balladeer had the word, "Deluxe" in gold on the head stock. Yours does not have this. The headstock veneer on the 1968 Deluxe Balladeer was Rosewood. Yours is walnut. I know that Ovation kept the plain gold head stock logo through at least 1974 because here's my 1974 1111 Balladeeer headstock. Note that the head stock veneer is now walnut. Finally, the 1960s Deluxe Balladeer had the 5-point rosewood bridge. Yours is the standard shape walnut bridge. The 5-point bridge was phased out in either 1971 or 1972. It looks like walnut bridges replaced the rosewood about the same time. The way to tell whether the body is a 1968 is to look inside at the braces. This is what the braces of a 1968 Balladeer would look like. Note the fiberglass strip between the lower legs of the X-braces.
Edited by DanSavage 2020-08-03 11:53 AM | ||
vintageGparts |
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Joined: July 2020 Posts: 9 | Oh yea, I definitely see that it doesn't have the word deluxe on the headstock. I guess its some sort of franken guitar! I don't have the correct tool to look inside to see if it has the fiberglass strip, but I did notice that it has the serial number carved inside (see photo below). So I am pretty certain from this and what ovation told me that the body is a 67-68. Thats too bad its not all original Well I am looking to find this abused orphan a good home if you know anybody. I am open to offers. I have to move in a few months and I have to get rid of a ton of stuff before I go. | ||
DanSavage |
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Joined: June 2012 Posts: 2303 Location: Lake Forest, CA | That's definitely a late 1960s neck block. As I say, the way to definitively identify the body is to look inside at the underside of the top. All it would take is some sort of a mirror and a flashlight. Shine the flashlight at the mirror so it illuminates the insides. The neck looks like a late-1970s neck that was mated to an early body. BTW, even though it's a bit of a Frankenvation, it still looks like it's a nice guitar. Edited by DanSavage 2020-08-03 6:19 PM | ||
nerdydave |
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Joined: August 2011 Posts: 887 Location: Always beautiful canyon country of Utah | Just before Glen's mom left?? | ||
nerdydave |
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Joined: August 2011 Posts: 887 Location: Always beautiful canyon country of Utah | I meant just after | ||
dmkozak |
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Joined: April 2004 Posts: 234 Location: Phoenix, AZ | Also, FWIW, I am the original owner of a Deluxe Balladeer made Nov 1968 and purchased Mar 1969. It came with a black tolex hardshell case, not the brown plastic case. | ||
vintageGparts |
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Joined: July 2020 Posts: 9 | Yes thank you, standingovation had pointed out that this brown case didn't exist yet in 68. So it looks like this is a mid 70's neck married to a 67/68 balladeer body in a mid 70s brown case. I really appreciate all of you guys help in figuring out what I have, you all really know your stuff. I still need to find this a home so I am open to all offers. Otherwise I guess I will just throw it up on eBay and see where it lands. | ||
nerdydave |
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Joined: August 2011 Posts: 887 Location: Always beautiful canyon country of Utah | What do you mean just after Glen's mom left? | ||
tpa |
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Joined: December 2004 Posts: 556 Location: Denmark | Not all details a super sharp on the photos but whatever this guitar is composed of seems assembled well and joined by someone who knew what they were doing. In my time here I have several times hear of people who sent their guitar to Mothership for refurbishment and /or redefinition. If that were the case they might have put in another sticker and/or registered the work in their system. Neither of which seems to be the case. Guesses. Edited by tpa 2020-08-14 4:53 AM | ||
tpa |
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Joined: December 2004 Posts: 556 Location: Denmark | nerdydave - 2020-08-13 6:03 AM What do you mean just after Glen's mom left? The legend is summarised in post 6 in this thread: http://www.ovationfanclub.com/megabbs/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=12... Edited by tpa 2020-08-14 7:41 AM | ||
BCam |
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Joined: October 2014 Posts: 268 | vintageGparts - 2020-08-03 1:16 PM I don't have the correct tool to look inside to see if it has the fiberglass strip Assuming you have a smart phone, stick it inside in selfie mode and you should be able to see it. Alternatively a small mirror of any sort should work. | ||
BCam |
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Joined: October 2014 Posts: 268 | vintageGparts - 2020-08-03 1:16 PM I don't have the correct tool to look inside to see if it has the fiberglass strip Assuming you have a smart phone, stick it inside in selfie mode and you should be able to see it. Alternatively a small mirror of any sort should work. | ||
vintageGparts |
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Joined: July 2020 Posts: 9 | OK, thank you. I put my smartphone inside and took a photo of the fiberglass. Looks like maybe someone put some more fiberglass to strengthen and repair the crack? What do you think? | ||
leonardmccoy |
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Joined: December 2015 Posts: 287 Location: Katmandu | That's a terrible glue job. | ||
tpa |
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Joined: December 2004 Posts: 556 Location: Denmark | vintageGparts - 2020-08-19 6:40 PM To me it looks kind of OK. If one has a problem with appearance inside the guitar the fibreglass surface can be ground, but considering this is a players rather than a collectors guitar it wouldn't matter than much. The crack is possibly stable and judging by the photos the top seems nicely finished, the neck job also seems well executed and action also looks OK. Compared to some "Road worn" finished guitars this has much more mojo. Main isse to me would be a replacement rosette, because it looks like the refinish might have included the old rosette and that is why it developed cracks.What do you think? Edited by tpa 2020-08-22 9:19 AM | ||
DanSavage |
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Joined: June 2012 Posts: 2303 Location: Lake Forest, CA | Yikes! | ||
vintageGparts |
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Joined: July 2020 Posts: 9 | Thanks for all your input guys I really appreciate it. Seems like this guitar has had an interesting life and has managed to survive for 50+ years. Given that this guitar has some issues I am dropping it to $350 OBO. As I said before I am moving in a few months and need to pair down my stuff dramatically. If no-one here is interested I will just put it on reverb or eBay, but I think this guitar belongs with someone who can appreciate it. | ||
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