[franchelB]

People will bad mouth Ovation, period.
Maybe it's because of the "Roundback" design, or its materials used to make the guitar(Lyrachord?), questionable brand parts on the guitar(Hint: Ping tuners!), or its overall "disposable" appearance: major guitar repair? you're better off buying another guitar instead...
But I happen to like the sound. When some would state that a certain guitar is a "canon", I would always think of Ovation. Ovations are consistently the loudest guitar I've ever played "unplugged". Besides, IMHO, they're the original travel guitar. I literally took my Applause 12-string EVERYWHERE I was needed for church youth services...