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Joined:
November 2005
Posts: 1126
Location: Omaha, NE | I'm starting to get that "buy a new Ovation" itch. I like the Koa Commemorative, but I'm kinda thinking round hole which gets me to Custom Legend.
Maybe this comes down to preamps. My main interest is to be able to plug directly into the board at church and get a great sound with the least fuss.
Which pre-amp would you choose? |
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Joined:
June 2005
Posts: 1320
Location: Round Rock, TX | I play my Ovations in church and I pretty much keep a case of '"buy a new Ovation" itch', so I'll chime in here. First of all, as to which preamp sounds better, a lot of that depends on your church's sound system. I play a 2006 Koa, a 1778LX and a 6756LX. Our worship leader plays a 2005 ES. For my money, in our auditorium, the VIP sounds more natural. I've got nothing against the OP-Pro. Until I played around with the VIP, the OP-Pro was my fave. The VIP, however, with the ability to choose different models, blend between the modeler and the preamp, as well as set the EQ, has become my my new drug of choice. It's just too versatile not to use it.
That's not to say that the VIP doen't have a couple of usability issues. Read around on this forum and you'll come across posts dealing with those. IMHO, however, they are waaaay too minor to be considerations.
The 2006 Koa has a lot more going for it besides the cool-man preamp. I would definitely give it a test drive if I were you. I did, I bought it (for exactly your application) and have never regretted a bit of it. |
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Joined:
April 2005
Posts: 331
Location: San Angelo, Texas | I use all three...Op-Pro, Op-Pro Studio and VIP. But if I had to pick one, it would be the Studio. The drive and the exciter are more important to me in leading worship than the VIP mic models....and the XLR is available for use with any of the three. Even my Op-Pro works well. My advise, stick with the OP-Pro or the Studio. |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 15682
Location: SoCal | Gee, the newest Ovation I have is my 1773LX with the OP Pro. Works great. The other 2 guitars I have both have OP24's. I'm very happy with both of those. It's no surprise that I like the OP Pro as it is essentially an updated version of the OP24.
I'm a big believer in not having too many bells and whistles. |
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Joined:
September 2003
Posts: 9301
Location: south east Michigan | I have not spent time with the Studio but IMHO the VIP is a quantum leap from the OP-Pro. Even with the awkward need to have a plug in to use the tuner. |
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Joined:
June 2005
Posts: 1320
Location: Round Rock, TX | Moody,
I agree, in general, on the "bells and whistles" thing. To me the features on the VIP don't fall into that category. They, instead, give the player truly useful tone-shaping capabilities, right there on the guitar. If I were playing through my own rig (amp, speakers, etc.) I might could go with you (although even then I'll take the VIP), BUT when you're plugging directly into another guy's board - having those features can come in real handy. |
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Joined:
April 2005
Posts: 331
Location: San Angelo, Texas | While I agree that the VIP is a great pre-amp, and with a professional sound engineer at the controls of a high end digital board that has an ear for guitar and how it SHOULD sound through that $2500.00 condensor mic, it sounds great, being able to mix and model to fit the song or the set...
But since that is not what most of us have in our local church, I find that the Op-Pro and Studio get the job done just fine, make a great guitar sound great and at the end of the day that is all that I care about...
Now, in the studio.... :) |
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Joined:
September 2003
Posts: 9301
Location: south east Michigan | I don't care about the mic/model choice. I haven't heard a big difference between the 5 choices.
What I like is that the VIP gives the option of blending or to completly eliminate the piezo quack. |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | Listen, they have to keep finding new things to sell you to keep ahead in terms of marketing. In reality a old 3-band Fet3 or Op24 sound just fine if you know what you are doing. If you can't get a good sound with those then the latest preamps wont solve your problems.
I played a show today and a guy in another band had a 7 series Taylor with an ES system. I don't think I've ever heard a worse amplified acoustic sound. He was followed by a guy with a recent Gibson J45/Fishman which was significantly better but still sounded pretty wanky. I plugged my Custom (OP50)Folklore into the same channel as the Gibson. No change in EQ or gain. Suddenly there was something that sounded like a real acoustic guitar. That and the fact that I actualy HIT the thing instead of namby-pamby pretending to play it. |
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Joined:
August 2003
Posts: 4619
Location: SoCal | but do you have a 4dB stealth "lead boost" :D :p :D |
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Joined:
September 2003
Posts: 9301
Location: south east Michigan | sound just fine IF you know what you are doing. Although I might know more about amplified acoustic guitars than the man on the street, there is still a lot I don't know. Something like the VIP gives me a much better shot at getting a better sound. |
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Joined:
September 2004
Posts: 777
Location: East Wenatchee, WA | I have the Op50 on my W597 and VIP on my 2080. I personally don't find in our church setting (as pointed out above, system and engineer making all the difference) any advantage to the VIP. Yeah it makes different sounds, and they are all pretty good, but I use a pedal for my tonal changes, and even that becomes problematic as I lead worship and it is distracting to be changing in the midst of song changes. |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 15682
Location: SoCal | There is that big "IF" you know what you're doing.... I have to admit that I don't really know what I'm doing with my guitar settings (how's that C chord go again?), but I've learned the best eq settings for the way I play and try not to worry after that. |
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Joined:
November 2003
Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | Paul,
You've been very polite and well mannnered lately. Are you on different medication? Is your wife now monitoring your posts? Are you acutaully the real Moody, P.I. or has some alien pod usurped your body, lulling us into complacency, before you take over the world and teach all living inhabitants that ellusive 4th chord? |
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Joined:
February 2005
Posts: 349
Location: Snellville, GA | I know what that 4th chord is. It's a Bm... |
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Joined:
August 2006
Posts: 55
Location: Pennsylvania | Originally posted by Paul Templeman:
Listen, they have to keep finding new things to sell you to keep ahead in terms of marketing. In reality a old 3-band Fet3 or Op24 sound just fine if you know what you are doing. If you can't get a good sound with those then the latest preamps wont solve your problems.
I played a show today and a guy in another band had a 7 series Taylor with an ES system. I don't think I've ever heard a worse amplified acoustic sound. He was followed by a guy with a recent Gibson J45/Fishman which was significantly better but still sounded pretty wanky. I plugged my Custom (OP50)Folklore into the same channel as the Gibson. No change in EQ or gain. Suddenly there was something that sounded like a real acoustic guitar. That and the fact that I actualy HIT the thing instead of namby-pamby pretending to play it. It's funny that you mention the ES. I went to GC looking to trade my Taylor 614CE in for something else because the ES sounds really harsh at performance level. It sounds good at low levels, but when cranked up it gets really ugly. You can cut the mids, but then you are sacrificing parts of the mids that you want, and unless you buy a bunch of equipment to only sacrifice the part of the mids you want, you have to live with it.
I saw the 2006-FKOA sitting there, and the guy said it was special order'd by someone who changed their mind. I plugged it in with everything set flat, and it sounded better than any guitar i've heared to date.
I wound up trading the Taylor even up for the 2006-FKOA w/case. It was a trade down in price, but without a doubt, a trade up in sound, and at least an even trade in build quality.
I have owned several Taylors, but the Ovations are of just as good sound and build quality, and much much better in plugged in sound quality.
In fact... Ovation is better in plugged in sound quality than any guitar and/ or system that i have heared/played to date.
This is the first Ovation acoustic/electric i've owned, but the ones i've heared allways seem to sound the best, and i think this VIP-5 is an awesome addition to Ovation, as are their other pre-amps.
Just my humble oppinion... :) |
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Joined:
November 2005
Posts: 1126
Location: Omaha, NE | Ok, Bob, we get it. You drank the koolaid to the bottom of the glass.
But I've been watching you over on the Taylor forum for months. You and I both know that you'll be singing the praises of your new...Breedlove in a few weeks! :-) |
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Joined:
August 2006
Posts: 55
Location: Pennsylvania | You could be right, but maybe my compulsiveness is due to lack of a good plugged in sound, and i am merely trying to cure myself of this dreaded syndrome, by finally getting a guitar that actually sounds great both plugged and un-plugged.
I must say that... This 2006-FKOA will be hard to beat.
I guess only time will tell... :) |
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Joined:
June 2006
Posts: 659
Location: Hiram, Georgia | Like I said, bobc for Prez! |
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Op-Pro Studio vs VIP