Ovation guitars

[patchmcg]

Originally Posted by Steel String

I can't get over having a plastic back. A guitar should be all wood!

Why?

[ruger9]

Originally Posted by Steel String

I can't get over having a plastic back. A guitar should be all wood!

You should try a Rainsong sometime. Unbelievable.

[Chordpounder]

I always wanted one when I was a pup because Cat Stevens played one. I didn't know bupkis about guitars or anything. People would say, "don't buy one because the day you buy it is day it will sound its best."

But I didn't buy an Ovation for the same reason I didn't buy a Martin. I didn't have enough money. Well, maybe I just didn't know enough about prioritizing money.

$80 for a Yamaha nylon that lasted me 30 years was what I bought.

WishIwoulda saved up for a great guitar. Oh well. Life's full of should haves.

[Zigeuner]

Originally Posted by guitarmanrlk

You don't see or here any big time people playing them.

Glenn Campbell plays Ovations. They sound good to me. There must be others.

It makes no difference what others play. We should have our own preferences.

[Omanarama]

Originally Posted by JohnZ

In spite of peer snobbery, I've owned and played Ovations (along with most everything else) since the mid seventies At present I own four; a 6773 Country Artist, a black Custom Legend 12 string (the first black one they made), a mandocello, and a mandolin. Overall, I've had fifteen or so. For me, they've been great for stage use, and sometimes for recording, but for sitting around and just playing, practicing, or writing, I almost never pick one up. Why? Because for me, they sound better to the listener than the player, and in spite of consistantly good setup, feel, and playability, they project too much and don't keep much vibration or overtones around for the player to enjoy. Today, they remain for me what they always have been...a tool, and a good one.

This is pretty much my experience as well. If I'm just sitting around or recording with a mic or maybe when playing a solo gig, I prefer my Larrivée LV-09E, a lovely sounding, lovely playing guitar. But when I'm going on stage with a band (and mostly even when I'm I'm going on stage by myself) I'm going with one of my LX braced, contoured back Ovations. I've tried other, more expensive guitars with way more caché and haven't found anything at all that has made me think I needed to switch out my Ovations.

[jseth]

I'm old enough (and have been playing long enough!) to remember when Ovations first came on the acoustic guitar scene...

They were always a bit of a "queer duck", with the rounded back and partial wood/plastic construction... there was a period when they were simply the best stage guitar, due to the internal amplification systems they employed.

Although Ovation managed to get some fairly high profile "name" players to play them, I don't ever recall anyone I knew thinking they were "cool". I knew a couple folks who played them on stage; I never knew anyone who played them, unplugged, not if they had any choice in the matter. Of course, Glen Campbell, Neil Diamond, Mac Davis, Al DiMeola were all famous for playing them...

To my (then uneducated, certainly) ears, Ovations just sounded... well, they sounded like they were made with plastic! Thin and kind of.. weird. Another HUGE detriment (in my mind) was the fact that they slid right off your lap, if you didn't hold on to them pretty tightly... so they never were even on my radar, as a guitar I'd like to own...

I thought of getting one, once around 1970 or so, when a friend was going to sail around the world and offered me a place on his sailing ship; I reasoned that an Ovation would stand the best chance of making it through a journey on the high seas, better than an all-wood guitar...

Ovations always seemed to have nick necks and play well, though, and they had a darn good set of electronics in them, for the time period anyway. I know there are some folks who SWEAR BY THEM, to this very day...

That's what makes a horse race, innit? "One man's junk is another man's paradise"... (Jack Tempchin)

just my 2 cents, from "being there"...

play on.........................................>

John

[Yggdrasil]

Originally Posted by Zigeuner

Glenn Campbell plays Ovations. They sound good to me. There must be others.

I saw Jorma playing one on the late 70s, after the first Hot Tuna breakup, around the time of the "Jorma" album (great album, BTW).

[Tomgh]

My Ovation's an Elite T 2078T. It was a 900 euros when I brought it. The price, it dropped a lot since. At the time, the best guitar I could get for that price.
I compared with Taylor's and Martin's but this Ovation was really all I ever wanted in a guitar.
Fast and easy to play. I love playing RnB and jazz chords and I just have to lay my fingers down and without any pressure I got clear tones.
This things sounds warm and full. What a big sound for a small guitar. No wonder, it was designed especially for that purpose. It's carbon with a solid spruce top, that's wood you know. I hate it when people refer to Ovation as 'plastic' guitars, as if it's some Toys R Us stuff. Well, haters gonna hate.

The USA build ones sound a lot different than the East Asian ones. I played some cheaper Celebrity's too and it was something totally different.

I never had the guitar slipping off my lap. Neither one of my friends experienced this. I often lent the guitar to friends who want to perform or record something.

The plugged sound, it's unique and I love it. Easy to recognize. Way better then anything I tried @ other brands in the same price range.
A 1200 euro's Martin had a great sound with some built in microphone, but that was the only thing that was better.

I'd like to conclude with a picture from my acoustic guitars. This was at the time I made an effort in playing the Ovation left. I sadly injured my left wrist and need to find a way around that...
Well, here it is.

[leehop71]

Originally Posted by PowerTube

They slide off my lap.

+10!!! Outside of that I like them!!

[Jimbo00]

For me, I had a checklist of things that the guitar had to excel at and it had to be solid ratings for each category as equally weighted:

Size. I was after a traveller. The Ovation Super Shallow bowl simply doesn't feel like a larger sized guitar.

Sound. Ovation hits a home run in that category too. And that was plugged in or unplugged.

Price. Applause & Celebrity are as much as hundreds less than a top N list of travellers, especially as pre-owned.

Reputation, Build Quality & Durability. Again going to be hard to beat Ovation at even the beginner guitars for that.

I wanted the guitar to not only be a fine instrument for road games in inclement weather, but a winner at home in a controlled home/studio environment.

Ovation checks all the boxes with high marks. I just don't see the competition measuring up in every category. One guitar for every possible scenario for as long as I'll ever want a guitar for, which is usually a lifetime purchase. I find what I like and it's mine for whatever lifetime I have on this planet.

I was so close to getting an eBay KTone knockoff of an Ovation for $ 99 delivered, but the pre-owned Applause & Celebrity justify passing on the KTone. I don't regret the pre-owned Indonesian Applause AE128 I ended up with, not for a moment. There weren't too many brand new guitars that even were close to being a sub $ 200 pre-owned Ovation in the condition I found the Applause I bought with all the features. They all scored a little lower on my scorecard. And where the Applause scored lower, the other categories it still had enough to be the choice/preference.

[cdkrugjr]

Round back on guitar . . .

Round tummy on player . . .

Not a great combination.


Honestly I try EVERYTHING, and bring home what moves me, so maybe someday . . .

[srick]

I am closing this thread from 2011. Lots has changed in the world of Ovation guitars since then, these arguments are old, and many of the participants in this conversation are no longer on AGF.

Rick