One advantage of owning an Ovation

[patchmcg]

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!

[WGTroutman]

...is that safe for the neck/fretboard/finish/top/neck joint/binding/tuners?

I mean, sure, your back is ok, but I'm not sure that that's all that matters.....

[stratt2828]

Patch....you GO! Loved the pics. Made my day!

[Elias Graves]

Nice.

EG

[gnobuddy]

Originally Posted by WGTroutman

I mean, sure, your back is ok, but I'm not sure that that's all that matters.....

My thoughts also.

Probably the most common problem I've seen with Ovation instruments is a cracked wooden top. I've seen these not only on well used instruments, but even on new ones that have sat around the store too long without being bought.

I'm told the reason is the difference in temperature coefficients between the composite body and the wooden top, which causes one to shrink or expand much more than the other, putting forces on the wood that eventually tear it apart.

I cannot verify the scientific accuracy of those statements, but I sure as heck have seen more than a few Ovations with cracks in the wooden top.

-Gnobuddy

[patchmcg]

It's OK guys. Pictures are deceiving. This is the mid-Hudson valley, the weather is notoriously flighty here; blizzard one day, sweater the next. It wasn't as cold as it looks, even though it was freezing the night before. Besides, I planned a little. The guitar wasn't out for more than a few minutes and was in direct sunlight.

But frankly, that beautiful frozen pond was to idyllic to pass up. And I like to think there's more than one way to have fun with a guitar. I've taken many photos in low temps of my Ovations without issues, even the old guitars are fine.

Heat transference is not instantaneous or we would never be able to get from our cars to the house with our instruments. So I move fast and get some nice pics for the Ovation Fan Club calendar. (You need appropriate backgrounds for January, February right? )

Glad you enjoyed them stratt2828. It's meant to cause a rueful little smile if I could.

BTW, we've gotten about another 12 inches of white stuff since. Maybe I should take a drive to the Vanderbilt grounds?

[gnobuddy]

Originally Posted by patchmcg

I've taken many photos in low temps of my Ovations without issues, even the old guitars are fine.

Glad your guitar is okay.

Just last night I played at a local acoustic song circle. The guy on my right was playing an Ovation with some wear on it. Nice and loud, and the owner had mastered the art of keeping a slippery round-backed Ovation in his lap without a seatbelt. But when I eventually saw the top of the guitar, it had three or four long cracks running the entire length of the wooden top.

I'm still baffled as to how that top was still holding together, being cracked from end to end into multiple strips, and with the tension of the strings tugging on it. I can only guess the bracing glued to its underside was the only thing keeping it in one piece.

-Gnobuddy

[patchmcg]

Originally Posted by gnobuddy

Glad your guitar is okay.

Just last night I played at a local acoustic song circle. The guy on my right was playing an Ovation with some wear on it. Nice and loud, and the owner had mastered the art of keeping a slippery round-backed Ovation in his lap without a seatbelt. But when I eventually saw the top of the guitar, it had three or four long cracks running the entire length of the wooden top.

I'm still baffled as to how that top was still holding together, being cracked from end to end into multiple strips, and with the tension of the strings tugging on it. I can only guess the bracing glued to its underside was the only thing keeping it in one piece.

-Gnobuddy

I used to have an old Ovation Celebrity like that. (I think my nephew has it now.) I was new to guitar and clueless in that way only someone in their 20's can be about the durability of personal belongings. That thing lived in my trunk on vacations. Got stored in a garage for a while. You name it. It has finish cracks everywhere, but still plays just fine. (I played it for years and take long trips down memory lane whenever I get to visit a while with it.) Everyone should have a beater like that. Play it anywhere and don't worry about it.

[gnobuddy]

Originally Posted by patchmcg

I was new to guitar and clueless in that way only someone in their 20's can be about the durability of personal belongings.

Yeah, I know what you mean!

I was a typical starving student when I first got into guitar, so I could never scrape up the money for a case after I'd bought a guitar. Of course the guitars suffered for it - mainly with dust slowly getting into everything, and eventually pitting the chrome plated parts.

It took me a long while to start to include the price of a case into the total before I even thought about buying another guitar. Now I just figure an extra $100 or so into the purchase price of any guitar I'm contemplating buying; it's not going home with me until it's snug and safe inside a case!

-Gnobuddy