|
|
Joined:
September 2006
Posts: 4
Location: Norfolk, Virginia, USA | Hi All,
I need some help, some information. Yesterday I brought my guitar to work with me as we expected to have a bit of time to play at the organic food store where I work. One co-worker whose dad owned an acoustic guitar store here in town years ago, told me that her father and mother never sold Ovations because .....DRUM ROLL.... the composite materials that the round backs were made from consisted of recycled bomb casings or that she thought they may have said the composite materials were from deactivated nuclear war head. Now I doubt this very much. Her dad and mom sold Martin's and other traditionl type acoustic guitars. What I want to do is be able to point the way to the facts of what used to and now does go into the making of the Ovation type guitars.
Can anyone help point me in the right direction?
Thanks in Advance, |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 15682
Location: SoCal | The backs of the guitars are made of fiberglass, the same as surfboards and Corvettes.
Tell your co-worker that she and her parents have snorted a little too much granola......
They probably heard, correctly, that Kaman, the parent company of Ovation, is a defense contractor, and made a strange leap of logic. But in the 60's, when Ovation guitars were developed, Kaman built helicopters, not bombs. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
September 2006
Posts: 4
Location: Norfolk, Virginia, USA | Thank you, Sleepy Bones Lee!
I did know about Kaman having been an engineer for helicopters and that his job was to make them as quiet as possible. With reverse engineering he was able to make the roundback guitars as loud as possible, right?
Now do you know of a web site I could direct her to that has that information?
But if not, no worry. Most of my co workers are young and not used to seeking out information for the truth. I recently had an odd discussion with another co worker who is a PETA member who thinks Steve Irwin was NOT a friend to animals. I happen to know he spent huge sums of money buying land in 4 countries so that urban sprawl would not take away their home. Geez, wha' ya gonna do?
thanks again,
Guitar Granny, AKA Rockin Granny...
;) |
|
| |
|
Joined:
September 2006
Posts: 4
Location: Norfolk, Virginia, USA | PS I have a 1980 Legend Ovation, a 2000 Collectors Edition, and a 2005 Collectors Edition, plus a couple Variax's here and there...
thanks for your help.
GG |
|
| |
|
Joined:
April 2006
Posts: 1017
Location: Budd Lake, NJ | Welcome, Guitar Granny;
You certainly can't fault those folks for their scope of imagination, even if their ability to ascertain the facts is sadly lacking. You should have just told them that you were aware of that fact, and you've found that it makes a dandy night light!
Glad to meet you,
Karen and the crew
1111-4, CE868LX-4, Viper 1271 Natural, maple Tornado, American Strat, Steinberger 5-string bass, Galiano mandolin, Vega 5-string banjo, fiddle of uncertain antecedents |
|
| |
|
Joined:
October 2005
Posts: 4081
Location: Utah | Granny, welcome to the forum!
Do your coworkers worry about deforestation? What about the use of exotic hardwoods?
The top of the line Kaman products are the Adamas, which have a carbon fiber top and the plastic bowl. They use very little wood. You could make a good argument that the Ovations are more eco-friendly than wooden box guitars. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
November 2004
Posts: 286
Location: North Idaho | Welcome guitar granny.
Here's some history on Kaman:
http://www.kaman.com/history/kamanhist_main.php |
|
| |
|
Joined:
May 2006
Posts: 97
Location: Chicago | Originally posted by guitar granny:
Thank you, Sleepy Bones Lee!
I did know about Kaman having been an engineer for helicopters and that his job was to make them as quiet as possible. With reverse engineering he was able to make the roundback guitars as loud as possible, right? The roundback fiberclass construction actually causes the back to resonate less, with more focus on vibrations from the top. Makes for a cleaner sound with less "woody/boxiness" from the normal guitar style.
Hence, you hear people on this board say that you can have an ovation for $800 which sounds better and cleaner than a $2000 Taylor. And I think the round back focuses the sound back to the bridge to causing constructive vibration back to the bridge. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 1421
Location: Orange County, California | Wow,
That's the wildest argument for not knowing how to properly hold a gutiar so it doesn't roll off of your lap I've ever heard!! The real bummer is you can't recycle composite bomb casings for two main reasons:
1) Once a composite like Lyrachord® (or what ever bombs, cars, furniture, toys, household items are made of) is cast, It's Polymer glue; polyamide in this case. I think. I'm probably wrong though), and it's filler; mixed length glass fibers, carbon, and other by-products (only funny if you've read the complete and unabridged Hitchiker's Guide To The Galaxy), I digress. Once it sets up, the stuff is now useless for anything else. You can't separate the components again, and on a molecular level, there's no room for any more "glue" or "filler" material. You have to crazy glue it back together if you break it (crazy glue sticks to reeaally smaaall molecules) and that's never as strong as the original material. So what I'm getting at, is it's basically not recyclable, which would be a better argument against Ovation gutars in an organic food store, but they cost less in enegy to produce this way, and they don't waste wood (kill trees) on the back and sides of the guitar. Everyone (almost) knows the majority of the sound comes from the top anyway, and I've never had someone show up with say a cigar humidor, and exclaim "See, I made this out of an old guitar!! I've seen a few guitars burned, and at least one thrown down a flight of stairs :D , but never recycled.
Reason number 2) Anacronyms with "D.O." in them. The Department of Energy of the United States of America are in charge of anything that ever did or might ever become radio active, including glow in the dark emergency exit signs (I'm not kidding). They would send a permit application to Santora's Pizza Parlor in Mission Viejo, CA if somone told them about their award winning "Nuclear Hot Wings" You've got to try them for yourself to find out what makes them so "special". Anyway. the "DoE", "DoJ","DoT",and the NERC, are NEVER going to let anything that was part of, used to transport, used in the manufacture of, used in the storage or disposal of a nuclear weapons out of their sight for a nano-second. Not even just to slip away to the loo. Nope. No way. They won't even throw away the paper clips that held together the purchase orders for the $7000 hammers used to make the crates for the bombs. Nothing, Nada.
How they got from bombs to roundback guitars in the same conspiracy theory coversation can only be explained by Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong.
How I managed to write this post can only be explained by an appreciation for the "British Humour" and 2 cans of lo-carb Monster energy drink and a decent bloody mary last night. I slept great, and I'm wide awake now!!
God bless you all today!! :D |
|
| |
|
Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 10583
Location: NJ | are you sure they didn't say your ovation was "dah bomb". that would be good in current vernacular. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | You'd be very hard-pressed to find a bigger "TreeHugger" than Frank Untermyer, the Factory's GM.
Frank has (and continues) to find ways to produce guitars as lean/green as possible.
From the selection/application of finishes/adhesives, to the judicious use of wood.
If some of the BoxSniffers were to tour the Factory, they'd be quite surprised how "green" it really is. It'd be interesting to see an analysis between Ovation and a production "box" guitar company in regards to environmental impact. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | That is absolutely true. They are old bombs. I think the ones that sound really good are the ones that are still active.
They need to put that in their pipe and smoke it!!
Or put that in their toilet and flush it!
Or, well never mind........ |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2004
Posts: 629
Location: Houston, Texas | I heard that the shape of the Ovation bowls came about from the early stealth technology studies that resulted in the F-117 fighters and B-1 bombers.
There's actually hundreds of famous guitarist endorsees for Ovation, but they are so stealthy not many people know about them.
But I'm not so sure about the rumors I heard that the Ping tuners are made from depleted uranium. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
May 2003
Posts: 4389
Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | LOL,
Depleted uranium tuners
Recycled nuclear bomb casings for the backs
Paint is processed nerve gas,
I think they heard me play once. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
September 2006
Posts: 4
Location: Norfolk, Virginia, USA | Hey all,
You guys are great! I had to step away for a bit and just got back to read all of this! Thanks!
GG |
|
| |
|
Joined:
January 2006
Posts: 1132
Location: NW Washington State | This reminds of going to Subway Guitars in Berkeley years ago. I asked if they had any Ovation electrics. The owner, Fatdog, said he wouldn't touch Ovations because of Kaman's involvement in the defense industry. Too bad, because the store is full of other oddball stuff.
-Steve W. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 10583
Location: NJ | fatdog.
what a guy!! He used to come into my store back in the late 80's early 90's he bought piles of unwanted inventory and made his mutants with them.
never really got out to see his shop, I heard it is a real trip. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
September 2003
Posts: 782
Location: Waurika OK | Al, I was in the bay area in 2005, born in Oakland and went back to see one more time.
We went through Berkley one day and I made a side trip to his place. It is a real trip, I thought it might look something like his website, but it doesn't. Just piles, (hemorrhoids??) of old guitars and parts. Talked to him a few minutes and then he was off to somewhere else. He did have a good looking "tele" he had made and was not picked up by the person that ordered it. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
May 2003
Posts: 425
Location: SE Michigan | I was chatting with some of the all-wood-disciples. They were having a conniption fit about C.F Martin’s use of micarta for finger-boards and saddles. The consensus was that “it just wasn’t natural”.
I pointed out that plastic comes from oil, which comes from dead dinosaurs and plants, and these things are very natural, well at least as natural as fossilized walrus tusk. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
December 2004
Posts: 370
Location: Isle of Man, UK | Originally posted by Rick an4340:
Depleted uranium tuners
What a great name for a band!
JB |
|
| |
|
Joined:
August 2006
Posts: 41
Location: ITALY | Welcome Guitar Granny,
and please come back soon with some other request like this one.
Not only it's funny itself, but it has also initiated some very enjoyable responses. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 12761
Location: Boise, Idaho | My daughter is a tree hugger who works for PETA. She may be in Norfolk next week, in fact. I've heard the same argument about "natural" guitars from her. I quit trying to argue with her. I think she knows that if she wants my 1537, she needs to stay on my good side. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
June 2006
Posts: 659
Location: Hiram, Georgia | Hi Dad :D |
|
| |
|
Joined:
April 2006
Posts: 2491
Location: Copenhagen Denmark | I will stay on your good side too, I am ready for that 1537 :p |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 12761
Location: Boise, Idaho | All I expect in return is perfection. Oh, and the responsibility of supporting me when I get senile, which may already have happened.
Younger daughter's getting the 87 Collector's. |
|
| |
Prejudice towards Ovations