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Joined:
October 2002
Posts: 23
Location: Kentucky | Curious if anyone at the OFC tour had the opportunity to poke an Ovation corporate person in the eye about their web page, MOB, advertising, etc....
Oh god, I wish I could have been there. Matt Smith is why I own an Ovation. |
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Joined:
June 2002
Posts: 6202
Location: Phoenix AZ | Unfortunately the "suits" were in Phoenix for some meetings, so we just had our forum with the factory manager (Frank) and the product marketing manager (Rick). Who, by the way, were too very cool guys who put a LOT of effort into this tour. Turns out that they suffer from some of the same frustrations as we do and we did talk at length about the webpage, product placements, advertising, the big-box stores, etc. In a lot of ways we just have to accept that Ovation USA is just a small part of Kaman Corp. and suffers from certain lack of priorities on a corporate level. Believe me, the guys in the factory are not proud of (or responsible for) the crappy website. But at the same time, we should be delighted in the fact the given the size and diversity of Kaman Corp., the guys at Ovation USA can "fly under the radar" so to speak, and do some really cool things with guitar design and building that they could never do if they had to stand 100% on their own feet. So, maybe I'm in the minority here, but I say THANK GOD for the Korean imports and the big-box stores who move a lot of Ovation product (plus other Kaman product) and this in turn provides the life blood for our friends on Greenwoods Road to keep on experimenting and perfecting the Ovation USA products. Dave |
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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 10583
Location: NJ | I know of one person there that I am sure made his impression of the MOB know.
We did address the website and I talked about how the consumer has changed how it buys and that the internet is an integral part of that.
In a nutshell Ovation is part of Kaman music Corp and it shares resources with all of the companies under the umbrella, Therefore say a web person devotes monday to Ovations, then the following day to Hamer, then takamine, then seiko, then LP, then gretsch, then gibraltar, then toca, then well you get the picture.
The guys at the factory management and line people are passionate about the guitars they make. They want them to be the best they can be and want to have the respect and recognition that all the Ovation zealots believe it should have. Unfortunately there are the restrictions of the corporate structure and economics that sometimes hold them back.
I can assure you they read this board everyone from management to people on the factory floor and they listen and agree with much of what is said here. Their goal is to make the best product they can and if they read that the fan club the people that love the guitars have issues believe me they are looking to improve.
The OFC is a little over a year old and it is amazing the amount of influence we have had at the factory. We speak they listen. It is not always as fast as we like but there is a response and that is good.
I think that the status quo that has been a part of the Ovation plan is now being shaken to its foundations, and maybe the entire guitar will not be changed but there are structural and electronic changes that are in development to make the guitar better. |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 389
Location: RI. That small State out East | I did hear a coment on a web "improvement" soon...
Was that April? or May?
Some guy from the club kept bringing up that he can't find a current catalog... He kind of made an ass of himself and... Oh, that was me... Nevermind.
Woz |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | I think it was the Adamas site that (FINALLY!) was supposed to be "up" again around the beginning of April. |
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Joined:
October 2002
Posts: 73
Location: out there | OK, so you all tried the stick in the eye approach. Good move and long overdue IMHO. The suits were out of town. Big suprise! This looks like the all too typical corporate deal, the factory is run by great people with no power and a 6" leash that the corporate suits jerk from time to time often just for good measure. Like Don Henley said "They're spineless little creatures"
Did they say For Sure when we could expect improvements or was it a suitish generalization that can be reinterpreted later on in a manner that "suits" them best then? |
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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 10583
Location: NJ | Lightfoot
If you went on the tour you could have asked all the questions yourself and demanded answers. If you read any of my post above you would have found out that they do hear us and respond to what we say and are listening. Did I ever expect an exact date on answers No and I think that is unreasonable. |
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Joined:
November 2002
Posts: 1196
Location: Lafayette, Louisiana | I would love to see the Adamas website included pictures and history of the Adamas development. I really enjoy learing more about Ovation history....Paul Hebert |
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Joined:
August 2002
Posts: 39
Location: Bethel, Me | I'd like to see a vintage section (like they're building at the Hamer website) where you could research all previous guitars/catalogs. |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | The last version of the Ovation website had a lot of historical stuff, including solidbody & Storm series catalogs. |
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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 7247
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | It would be nice if Ovation put up all of the historical stuff, but then again..... I just need to get off my lazy duff and start scanning. I will hopefully have pictures of all of the models within a couple of months. |
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Answers for OFC