Ovation guitars

[cjd-player]

Anyone got any suggestions as to why the bracing is shadowing on the top ? (you can see it on the last photo). My friend first noticed this a couple of months ago, I've never seen this before.

As I said in another thread about your Glenn Campbell model, almost every Ovation I have seen from that era has had a split top. I'm not sure that Charlie Kaman properly accounted the different expansion and contraction characteristics of the wood and the fiberglass. And, the Ovation literature did not speak at all to humidifying the top. I would be sure to keep that guitar humidified just as if it were a solid wood guitar.

 

[Beal]

you know there will be a tour,,,just can't tell you whennnnnn

 

[Darryl Hattenhauer]

Marc,

Your post remindsme that in the 70s and 80s, Ovations were a favorite for solo acts in small clubs where they had to do a bit of everything--folk, pop, rock, etc.

dh

 

[Thunderface]

I thought the fretboard inlays on that Ovation Glen Campbell looked familiar, and then it dawned on me that my '74 Ovation Deacon has the same inlays. I also had a '75 Ovation Viper as well, but I just sold it, because I liked the Deacon better. Strange shape, but very comfortable to play, sitting or standing.

 

[marcellis]

Marc,

Your post remindsme that in the 70s and 80s, Ovations were a favorite for solo acts in small clubs where they had to do a bit of everything--folk, pop, rock, etc.

dh

Yup. And it was a fantastic guitar for exactly that.
I never diss Ovations. They occupy a certain niche.

But it's ironic that I was originally shopping for a Guild Songbird & ended
up with an Ovation. Fifteen years earlier, I was originally shopping for
an Ovation and ended up with a Guild.

 

[Beal]

that is the way those things happen

 

[Darryl Hattenhauer]

Marc,

I think a lot of us bought our first Guild that way. I forget what it was I was looking for, but Buzz Levine suggested that the Guild was better, so I bought it and kept trying more and liked almost all of them.

hf

 

[chazmo]

you know there will be a tour,,,just can't tell you whennnnnn

Beal, sorry I was unclear... The tour is scheduled for 30-Apr-2010. Please follow this link: viewtopic.php?t=16515

 

[Beal]

Well, I guess it's been announced.
Ya'll should go. You will be impressed

 

[Darryl Hattenhauer]

Thunderface,

Those are two very fine looking guitars, though in very different ways. The top one would have great stage appeal, and bottom one has one of the finest shapes I've ever seen on a Les Paul type, and the maple board is fabulous.

What kind of pick-ups?

Trick question: Who hit the first homer in the Humphrey Dome? Pete Rose. It was an exhibition game the night before the first official game. Maybe that's the only time the Reds have played there, and Rose hit few homers, so nobody ever guesses right on this one.

Do the Twins still play the way Pig's Eye Swamp smells?

 

[Thunderface]

Darryl,

Great piece o' trivia there. I never would have guessed Pete Rose. We'll see if they Twins can beat one of the Cardinals for the first homer in the new Target Field when it opens in April. They're going outside for the first time since 1982.

As for the pickups on the Ovations, the Viper on the bottom as Ovation single-coil pickups, overwound so as to produce the tones that earned it the unofficial nickname of "Tele Killer." A sweet guitar, which I recently sold because I liked the Deacon better. The Deacon has Ovation humbuckers in it, and has a FET preamp on it, one of the first American-made guitars to do so. And the thing is comfortable to play, contoured to hug you like a Strat does and balanced well for it's shape.

Funny thing is, when Ovations, Guilds and Hamers were introduced, they were each their own creations. Now they're all owned by Fender Musical Instruments Corp. I don't have an actual Fender in my collection, but you could say I now have four Fender step-children.

 

[chazmo]

Thunderface,

I'm diggin' that Ovation. I've never seen that model.

You're right! Guild, Hamer, and Ovation are all now under Fender ownership, but really in your case it's much more specific than that... These brands are now all part of Kaman Music Corporation (well, at least the US part of Guild is, acoustics-only of course). That's a really focused subset of Fender's empire. Very cool.

You might be interested in the New Hartford factory tour that I'm setting up.... If so, check out my headcount thread in the member's only section.

 

[12 string]

Anyone got any suggestions as to why the bracing is shadowing on the top ?

Back in the early 70s a friend of mine bought a new Gibson J-200 that did that practically out of the box. It went back to the factory for a new top under warranty and I seem to recall that the word was that the original top wood wasn't properly cured.

I'm not at all sure that the exact same processes would be work in an older guitar vs a brand new one. The discolorization seems to be in the wood so a refinish wouldn't help. I don't think I'd worry about it at this point; I'd say just chalk it up to vintage mojo.

' Strang

 

[Ian]

Anyone got any suggestions as to why the bracing is shadowing on the top ?

Back in the early 70s a friend of mine bought a new Gibson J-200 that did that practically out of the box. It went back to the factory for a new top under warranty and I seem to recall that the word was that the original top wood wasn't properly cured.

I'm not at all sure that the exact same processes would be work in an older guitar vs a brand new one. The discolorization seems to be in the wood so a refinish wouldn't help. I don't think I'd worry about it at this point; I'd say just chalk it up to vintage mojo.

' Strang

Reckon I could send it back under warranty then ? :lol:

 

[Thunderface]

Thunderface,

I'm diggin' that Ovation. I've never seen that model.

Thanks, Chazmo. Ovation made Deacons and Breadwinners from 1972-1982. The Deacon was the upscale model, with a glossy finish, diamond inlays and neck binding. They show up once in a while on eBay or Craigslist, and now Eastwood guitars offers a Breadwinner model made in Asia. It's a fun guitar to play and certainly pulls in a lot of of "what is that?" comments.

Kaman got out of electric solid bodies right about the time they bought Hamer. My Hamer Special is a '93, made in Arlington Heights, Ill., before Kaman moved production to Connecticut.