#1
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Adamas production ended
As some of you may know, production of Adamas carbon fibre topped guitars had resumed for about two years at the Ovation plant New Hartford, CT. However, recently more than half of the production staff was laid off and with that the end of Ovation custom guitar work and Adamas production. The two main Ovation dealers report having inventory of about 10 to 20 Adamas guitars between them, so this may be the last chance to get a NEW Adamas guitar!
Here is a link to last years Ovation USA catalog that shows the various Adamas models at the end: http://www.ovationtribute.com/Catalo...U_Catalog.html |
#2
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Sad to hear. My first acoustic was a Celebrity way back in the late 90’s and I have owned many Ovation and Adamas guitars since. I always thought the LX upgrades were a huge improvement and I really enjoyed the ones I had. I was hoping they would pick back up and get the US manufacturing back up again.
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<°)))< 1998 Very Sweet Wife 2000 Cute Daughter (Grand Concert) 2005 Handsome Son (Dreadnought) 2007 Lovely Daughter (Parlor) 2017 Cute Puppy (Duke the Uke) |
#3
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#4
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I think the problem was that the Ovations and Adamas were a 1970s/80s approach to a 21st Century market. Their attempts to keep up with changes in technology (e.g. the Ovation iDea preamp, etc.) were simply not innovative enough to keep ahead of the curve.
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#5
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Sad to hear this, especially the layoffs. OTOH, the company just made a big splash about signing on Richie Sambora, so I'm not sure that they're giving up the ship just yet. But there's a lot of competition out there and only so many people that are going to spend $2,000 and north for a fine guitar.
best, Rick
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#6
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Sad to hear. I'd always wanted an Adamas guitar but when I was a kid they were way too expensive for me -- and even nowadays they aren't cheap.
Who are the main Adamas dealers? I see that the Music Zoo has a nice one left in stock. $4K is still a lot of money for a piece of nostalgia. |
#7
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http://www.lostartvintage.com/ West coast: Damon Thomas http://www.redblanketguitars.com/ |
#8
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That was during my "one acoustic and one electric" stage. Would I trade one of my CF guitars for it now? No. But, it did the job for me at the time. Last year at Sweetwater's GearFest, I saw a couple Ovations with koa tops - sharp looking. I think having that Ovation all those years opened me up to wood alternatives... and in the words of the philosopher Martha Stewart: "And that's a good thing." |
#9
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Part of my less-than-enchanted stance vis-a-vis Ovations stems from my experience with a 1980s Celebrity Deluxe. I had wanted an Ovation for years, but the late 80s were lean times for us. I finally found a used one in gear shape, and loved that guitar. However, at one point (probably during a change in seasons), the wood of the neck and block and the plastic of the bowl began to separate and it became unplayable.
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#10
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It looks like Adamas is back. From what I can gather it is now a very small boutique shop with two or three luthiers and they only build the classic Adamas I style model but with all the modern upgrades, with deep and contour bowls (1687GT and 2087GT). They are very expensive though with 6k+ list prices. I figure they will have to sell about 100 per year to stay afloat. Not an easy task considering there are so many used ones around, but I sure hope they can do it. Best. Guitar. Ever.
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#11
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I hope to find one locally I can try, but I'm not optimistic.... I remember when they had a model called the SMT that I almost bought.
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#12
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A buddy of mine just picked up a brand new Ovation Celebrity model from Guitar Center a few weeks ago for $399. Seemed to play well enough and he seems to like it; although he is a beginner so take that with a grain of salt.
Cheers... Todd in Chicago |
#13
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I always liked the Adamas guitars back when they were routinely in stock, but they were always well above my pay grade. Plus Ovations in general don't fit me well - their round back and my round front don't play well together.
These days the 1-11/16" nut width would be a deal breaker too, although I have always thought that their twelve string necks were the best in the business. We do own a prototype resonator with a koa veneer top and palm tree sound holes. It was intended for the Hawaiian market where Ovation is VERY popular. Not my favorite guitar to play, but a lovely piece of sculpture for the wall. |
#14
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Until I got on guitar forums, I really appreciated the Ovation I had (for 14 years). It traveled with me (boat and RV), was my gigging acoustic, and was fine comfort wise (since I always played out standing up, and used a strap on it when seated). It had a great plugged in tone, with no fuss. I bet your friend is really enjoying his. |
#15
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I love the neck of my Adamas. I'd love an Emerald with that neck.
... and while I'm trying to talk myself into the next guitar, I'd love it to have MIDI too. Quote:
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Adamas W597 Ovation Elite Emerald X20 Select Series 12/17 E Emerald X10 Black Level 3 |