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Joined:
March 2010
Posts: 30
Location: New York City | I just purchased a 1981 UK ll. Would welcome some feedback about this guitar if anyone has one. Also, I would like to "tweak" it as far as dings and other physical stuff. Can anyone suggest where I can go to have this done? I am in the NYC area. Thanks.
Phil |
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Joined:
September 2008
Posts: 1281
Location: Ohio | Get it to the mothership...... |
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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 7210
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | As far as any touch-up, I would send it up to the Factory in Hartford CT. Few people if any outside the Ovation world are going to know what to do with Urelite which is what that guitar is made of.
As far as feedback... just turn it up to 10 and stand in front of the speakers...
Seriously.. It was their "top 'o da line" solid body back in the day, and remained so with the only other production model of comparable build and innovation having come out just a few years ago in the VXT.
From my Solid Body and Storm Series site.
The UKII or Ultra Kaman II
SOUND you want and need to make your music
SOUND that fully expresses the tastes and demands of today's performers and audiences. blah blah blah blah...
The UK II (pronounced and sometimes printed UK2) was made in Moosup, Connecticut from around 1979 to 1982. The print ad to the right did absolutely nothing to sell this fine musical instrument.This is probably the most overlooked and misunderstood solidbody that Ovation Instruments ever produced. On the surface, there is nothing more than its shape to help it stand out in the crowd. However lets start with that beautiful woodgrain finish. Rather nicefor a guitar that has NO WOOD on the body! In fact the body is an aluminum frame surrounded by a lightweight urethane foam called Urelite. For maximum sustain and transference, the neck and the bridge were mounted directly to the aluminum frame. The humbucker pickups (with 10,000 winds!) were especially designed for this guitar to have a higher output than anything on the market at the time and 20bd quieter also. Each pickup had a series/parallel switch so that a player could achieve a single coil sound. The chrome plated, bar style pole pieces used in the pickups were non-magnetic to prevent any pull on the strings which dampens sustain. These bar style pole pieces also provided constant interaction between the strings and the pickups, so that no volume would be lost by string-bending. Even the special volume and tone controls were tapered so that when the volume and tone levels were adjusted the output correspond exactly with the numbers on the knobs.The body cavities were shielded with a non-conductive paint to reduce magnetic interference on stage or in the studio.
Bill Kaman is quoted in "The History of the Ovation Guitar" (by Walter Carter), "Part of the reason that these solidbodies failed is the they didn't have enough It You know, that elusive It." Further, "They had good-quality workmanship and innovative designs, but they didn't have It."
Well I disagree that they failed due to a lack of "It", but rather, the UK II was not as successful as hoped because few people really knew about "It." Most marketing consisted of a lot of "catch phrases" rather thancontent explaining what the UK II really had to offer. Few people knew enough from the brochures or other print material at that time to give this guitar a chance. It wasn't until the late 90's, long after they "failed," that one could learn in the above mentioned book that there was a lot more to these guitars than meets the eye. Even the Ovation book neglects to mention the connection of the neck, bridge and body which is arguably the heart of this guitar that produces the phenomenal sustain. There has been more useful information posted in 2002 at The Ovation Fan Club than ever appeared in print about this guitar. If any of the above construction information was made readily available and contained in the brochures during this guitars run, the UK II would have been a more popular guitar. |
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Joined:
July 2003
Posts: 3111
Location: Nashville TN. | Definately send back to New Hartford
they touched up mine. |
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Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 12750
Location: Boise, Idaho | Beal is biased. |
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Joined:
March 2008
Posts: 2683
Location: Hot Springs, S.D. | When they first came out, one of my fellow inspectors, Bob McCloud, who is a fantastic guitarist, was absolutely stunned by how good this guitar was. I believe he was one of the first to buy one. And I, who played mostly acoustic, was so impressed that I nearly bought one too. Oh how I wish I had. Someday I will buy one, and who knows, maybe I'll even learn to play some of those blistering leads that Bob can play. |
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UK ll
