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| Thanks to all the Northwest members who made me feel so welcome at their gathering on Saturday. I had a terrific time and hope to be invited again. Thanks to Greg and Sherry for their hospitality and Mike, Mark, David, and Miles for good conversation and good will. Thanks again.
rayb...the Northwest Ovation rep. |
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Posts: 286
Location: North Idaho | Ray, thank you for bringing by many new models for us to hands on demo. My son commented afterwards--in a very positive tone--he had learned much about Ovation guitars, and he very much appreciated the time you spent visting with us. |
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Posts: 12761
Location: Boise, Idaho | Thanks for coming, Ray, and for bringing the guitars and other goodies. I enjoyed our talk about the Boise market for Ovation. Not sure we accomplished much in that regard other than have a nice chat around some great people and guitars. |
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Location: Central Massachusetts | Ray, thank you for coming! Sorry I didn't get to chat with you more, and sorry I missed the Koa 06 Collector's. I did get to play with the 2080 though and it was very slick. We'll definitely let you know if when we do it again. |
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Location: Oregon | Oh yeah thanks for coming Ray, real pleasure meeting you. I really appreciate the plunder I made off with. |
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Location: Upper Left USA | Arrrgh! Ovation booty and plunder, Eye!
Was someone missing an emblem for their case? |
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Posts: 12761
Location: Boise, Idaho | Ray gave away goodies and my daughter and I each ended up with a case emblem that we don't need. If anyone would like one, email me your address and I'll mail you one. They actually have little tabs where you could screw mount them to something if you'd like. I may keep one to put on the wall. |
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Location: closely held secret | Put one on the Boxster. It'll give it a little panache. |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | Good idea! Maybe I can cover up a couple of those rock chips. Why haven't you bought that Cayman that was in the Red Lion lobby? |
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Location: closely held secret | Kids got my loose change. |
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Posts: 777
Location: East Wenatchee, WA | Hmmmmm....wonder how an Ovation emblem on that TKL case for my W597 would look...oh never mind.
Ray, very nice to meet you and extremely neat that Ovation and you cared enough about your constituency to be represented. I was impressed with that.
I helped found a National fly-in in 2001 for the Cessna 150 and 152. It has been going strong for 6 years now (nearly 100 airplanes this year) and this airplane is the second most manufactured aircraft in the world, and brand loyalty (folks moving up to larger Cessna's after starting in a 150-152) is second to none. However, in all this time, Cessna does not even acknowledge the flyin on their website.
All that and they are only a couple of hundred miles from their factory.
So....you and Ovation deserve Kudo's for making an effort for the owners and fans of the brand. |
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Posts: 4081
Location: Utah | Ray, does your territory include Utah? Our Guitar Center in the Salt Lake area has a halfway decent selection of O's, but they could use some Adamas in the high end room! |
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Posts: 11
| I don't deal with the Guitar Centers directly. Kaman has "national account" guys that do that. My focus is on independent dealers, the Mom and Pops. I really enjoy that, since I've been working in and around music stores since I was 15. But every music store is different and is very affected by their local markets. Be sure to keep asking for the things you'd like to see. This applies to even strings and picks. The environment has gotten very competitive and profit margins have gotten very small at every level of the business these days, so store owners are reluctant to stock merchandise unless there is market support. I know I don't have to tell this crowd, but be vocal about what you want to see. I also appreciate hearing about dealers that are doing a good job promoting music in their communities and servicing customers and students. These are the people I would like to support as much as possible. Again, thanks for inviting me and I hope to participate in future gatherings and activities.
Keep playing life is too short for work.
RayB |
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Location: Upper Left USA | Ray,
Ted Brown in Tacoma has been awesome on the Ovation/Adamas end!
They stock well and will be giving away an Ovation on their Anniversary.
I got an invite in the mail which totally Ovation marketed.
The Christian Musician\'s Summit and magazines, Worship Musician and Christian Musician, have had full page ads on Ovation featuring the 2006 Collector with the VIP. This is a growing market area!
Let me know if you need som old guy with old guitars show up somewhere! I think I already have the store managers referring to me as that Ovation guy! |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | The assistant manager at GC called me the Ovation guy. He just left to go to work for Taylor. I was counting on him to give me a part time job when I retire.
Ray and I had a nice discussion about the Boise market. Maybe if I had been bugging the local mom and pop Ovation dealer as much as I've been bugging GC, they'd start carrying some better Ovations. |
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Location: Utah | Ray, in that case I'll put in a kudos for Hyland Music in Sandy, UT. He is definitely a "Mom and Pop" operation, and he carries a small but representative selection of Ovations. His on-line inventory says he has one Adamas in stock but nobody can find it in the stock room. :confused:
The only problem is that like many small shops his prices are a bit high due to smaller turnover of inventory. |
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Location: Upper Left USA | One of the conundrums here is that while I appreciate the stores having extensive inventories I will almost always network to locate the best price on an item over $700. I keep coming back to Al! |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | It's hard to shell out major bucks for a guitar you've never played. I never played an Adamas until I played one at Dave's because I couldn't find one here. Of course, I never played a 1537 or 87 Collector's until I bought them, totally on the recomendation of OFC members. It would be nice to have a representative sample of some higher end Ovations to wet the appetite.
It was nice of Ray, and made good business sense, to bring a couple of those examples to the NW OFC. |
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Posts: 11
| Yeh, guys. Unfortunately, GC orders products ntionally. I'm sure they too are concerned about what customers want though. You're right about Ted Brown. They're an excellent store that does a terrific job for Ovation. Phil is the manager in Tacoma and Mark is in Yakima. Terrific folks who are very committed to the music market at all levels, student to pro. A good example.
RayB |
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Location: Chehalis, Washington | Ted Brown is definitely a cut above on Ovation selection - they have a few Elites, Legends, and Balladeers most of the time, and right now have a 2005 Collector's and an Adamas 1680 in stock.
Ray, sorry I missed you in Portland. Have you been able to compare the 1680 and the U681 both by any chance? |
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Posts: 11
| I was able to compare very briefly at a meeting in CT. The U681 may be my favorite "sounding" Adamas. Just love the 12-fret neck, big bass sound...and the OP-Pro preamp is great. For overall playability, I like the 2080 with the contoured bowl. The 1680 may have more collector vibe...don't know. Can't really go wrong...it's about feels and sounds good for you. |
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| Just re-read your post and realize you asked about the 1680, not the 1687. 1680 and U681 are pretty near identical. I have never had the chance to play them side-by-side. I was thinking 1687 when I wrote the response about the 1680. Sorry...when do you know a rep is lying? When his lips are moving. Maybe when his fingers are tapping too. Good question, sorry I don't have an answer. When I get a chance, I'll ask some of the other reps. |
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Posts: 11
| OK, asked some other folks and the consensus is that acoustically, the 1680 and U681 are identical. The 1680 is shipping with the new VIP preamp, which may make a difference for you. The U681 is a 30th Anniversary limited production instrument. Collectible value may be higher. Cosmetically, one has walnut epaulettes and the other has the five wood kind. That's all we can come up with between those two sibling guitars. |
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Posts: 4619
Location: SoCal | Ray,
Compared with the price for the U681T and the price now for the 1680...I believe that there is approximately $1,000 difference in price.
Looks to me that someone at the factory recognized the value of their product...just glad I got the U681T before they realized. |
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Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | Ditto what Tony said! |
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Location: Chehalis, Washington | Ray, thanks for the info. Glad to have a contact with connections (that could be dangerous here!). Looking forward to meeting next time we get together here in the NW. |
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Posts: 12761
Location: Boise, Idaho | Originally posted by Tony Calman:
Ray,
Compared with the price for the U681T and the price now for the 1680...I believe that there is approximately $1,000 difference in price.
Looks to me that someone at the factory recognized the value of their product...just glad I got the U681T before they realized. I was just thinking the same thing. |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Didn't the tops for the U681 come from the old supplier before they switched to the new guys?
Dave |
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August 2006
Posts: 11
| As I understand it, tops for Adamas guitars have become much more expensive to make and more difficult to get. Good old law of supply and demand strikes again. |
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Thanks to Northwest Members