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Joined:
August 2009
Posts: 120
Location: Miami | Hello everyone. It's been a few years since I've posted here; in fact, it's been a few years since I've owned an Ovation! However, I was lucky enough to buy a used 6773 Country Artist off GC Used Online recently (it's on the way). I was just wondering if anyone here knows what tension strings were/are typically used with the Country Artists series. I'm thinking with the lowish action it probably has, the strings would be hard tension - would that be right? |
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June 2012
Posts: 2303
Location: Lake Forest, CA | Yep. I'd start with hard tension then see how you like it. |
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Joined:
August 2009
Posts: 120
Location: Miami | Okay, thanks. |
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Joined:
June 2012
Posts: 2303
Location: Lake Forest, CA | I should add that I've got a 1970s Ovation 1624 Country Artist.
IMO, it's one of the best sounding nylon string guitars. It's very balanced between the bass and treble strings.
Again, IMO, the 1113/1613 line with their deep bowls cause the bass overpower the treble strings.
The mid-depth bowls on the Country Artists 'soften' the bass response. |
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Joined:
August 2009
Posts: 120
Location: Miami | It arrived last week and seemed to have extra hard tension strings on from the previous owner. I thought these a little too tight, so I put some Savarez Corum Alliance hard tension on, and these feel about right.
It's a beautiful guitar and feels great to play - low action and no buzzing. It sounds fantastic through my Fishman SoloAmp. Acoustically, it is quieter than I expected, I have to say. I owned one of these more than fifteen years ago, and I remembered it as quite responsive unplugged, but that may just be the memory playing tricks. This one seems to have quite a thick top, and I'm thinking that may cause the more subdued sound. It's not unpleasant - just a little underwhelming. If I keep it, I imagine that I'll almost always plug in because it really does sound sweet through my amp.
Edited by Timolin 2022-08-13 10:55 AM
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Joined:
July 2019
Posts: 98
Location: northern Georgia | I suspect that part of the reason for the better balance is that the Country Artist is 14 frets to to body, which moves the bridge a little farther away from the part of the top that is most sensitive to input for the lowest order (and frequency) vibration mode. Think first Chladi pattern. It also moves it toward the peaks of some of the higher frequency Chladni modes. I do agree that reducing the body volume will also reduce the bass response as well, as this raises the resonance frequency of the Helmholtz resonator (the body of the guitar). And from what you noticed, the top on the Ovation nylon string instruments is probably thicker than on the typical classical. This increases the mechanical impedance mismatch between the top and the strings over the entire frequency range, reducing the acoustic output. However, this also reduces the susceptibility to feedback.
I have a 1673, which is 12 frets to the body - I had to go to the same Savarez Corum Alliance to get a better tonal balance, and that tonal balance is still not quite as good as my old Taurus Mod. 59 student classical. However, the Ovation is hard to get to feedback. I have a soundboard pickup right under the bridge on the Taurus, and I have to be very careful with instrument placement and volume level, even with a notch filter, to keep it from feeding back. While the acoustic volume level of my 1763 is a bit less than either of my other classicals, I find that the response is very even over the fingerboard, even for harmonics - it would not surprise me if this were true for your Country Artist.
Edited by keldon85 2022-08-13 3:24 PM
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Joined:
August 2009
Posts: 120
Location: Miami | Yes, you are absolutely right. The response is balanced, and the doubts I've had about the acoustic sound are quite quickly allayed by the quality of the plugged-in sound. The fretboard is also a delight. I'm finding that with the string spacing, the flat board and the low action, challenging pieces to fret beyond the 5th fret are easier than on other guitars. |
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Strings for the 6773 Country Artist
