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Of all the strange goings on with the closure of the NH facility, the death of Ovation and Guilds subsequent purchase by Cordoba and move to Oxnard...well now it turns out that Ovation is on the way to producing USA guitars once again.

DW somehow managed to wind up owning what is left of the former enterprise in NH when they bought up rights to distribute some former KMIC brands.

The scuttlebutt is that Drum Workshop (coincidentally/ironically based in Oxnard CA) has decided to move forward with plans to once again produce USA Ovations in New Hartford. I could not get my old contact at Ovation to 100% confirm this, but his fingers are crossed and many of us join him. DW is a forward thinking and incredibly talented manufacturer. I can't think of a better company to resurrect Ovation. I've heard there is a story in Acoustic Guitar magazine on this matter but I haven't read it yet.

They were declared dead but apparently the body is still not cold. I've proposed naming any potential new model 'The Phoenix' of course!
 
Westerly Wood

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great news for NH and fans of Ovations guitars!
 
chazmo

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I wonder who's still in New Hartford keeping the lights on... I had heard that things were not completely shut down at the facility, but this is really interesting news.
 
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chazmo said:
I wonder who's still in New Hartford keeping the lights on... I had heard that things were not completely shut down at the facility, but this is really interesting news.
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Chaz, John Budny is still there with a couple of guys performing warranty and non warranty repair on USA Ovations. Most of the eqmt is still there, mothballed on the 2nd floor of the former detail shop. No one is quite sure where this is headed but hope springs eternal.
 
fronobulax

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jeffcoop said:
My question as well.
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So who owns Hamer? Is it an empty shell in a FMIC portfolio or is there a group actually interested and willing to buy the name, and possibly other assets, from FMIC? I can see FMIC selling the brand but not reviving it given teh current FMIC strategy or consolidation and streamlining.
 
chazmo

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Is Hamer part of Drum Workshop now too? If so, well, we could see activity in that space too.
 
txbumper57

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merlin6666 said:
No, I think that the Hamer brand went with the rest of KMC to the JAM group (Canada) in a later deal.
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I know Takamine, which was a major part of Kaman Music Group and has been for years has a new Distibution agreement with ESP in America. I would be really interested to see Ovation make a comeback as well as Hamer. Hamer made some of the best guitars in the History of Rock n' Roll IMHO. Ovation has been such a mainstay as well as a sculptor of the sound of Popular and Rock music for so long that it would be sad to see them not make a return. The first 2 things that pop in my mind when I hear Ovation is Glenn Campbell and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Really hoping that they get resurrected.:adoration:
 
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txbumper57 said:
I know Takamine, which was a major part of Kaman Music Group and has been for years has a new Distibution agreement with ESP in America.
Click to expand...

In Canada, Ovation/Takamine distribution is with B&J music which also is also a division that the JAM group (along with Hamer brand) bought from Fender.
 
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chazmo

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Well, as merlin has presented the details, I would guess Hamer would be a totally different animal. I guess we'll see.

Takamine was an interesting case since those were only ever a distribution agreement (and service) with KMC/Fender. As merlin mentioned and bumper elaborated, they recently entered a different distribution scheme, and Tak is very much alive.
 
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