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Joined:
March 2003
Posts: 555
Location: Wooster, Ohio | This is a little out of the ovation line but you guys here are the most knowledgable of any I have found on any forum. I am going on a 3 day camping weekend with a group and would like to take my acoustic doubleneck (23 year old yairi). Given I don't want to screw it up. What are the real consequences of keeping it in a tent all that time.
Thanks,
Steve |
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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 10583
Location: NJ | one of my only camping trips was when I took a bim to the phila folk festival. I took an old epiphone made in japan acoustic with the bolt on neck. after 5 days in a tent with high humidity and rain the guitar never played well again.
sold it soon after.
take something durable. |
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December 2004
Posts: 1116
Location: Keller, TX | Trekkers are for, well, .... Treks. |
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March 2005
Posts: 1421
Location: Orange County, California | Originally posted by alpep:
take something durable. Like an Adamas. My U681T is the perfect campfire guitar! :D ;) :D ;) |
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Joined:
May 2003
Posts: 425
Location: SE Michigan | I have taken my Ovations on many camping trips and plan to keep doing so. Now keep in mind that I am not camping in the Costa-Rican rain forest. But on weekend camping trips around Michigan my Ovations are no worse for the wear.
A bigger concern to me is security, obviously a tent is not secure. I always lock the guitar up in the car, and try to park the car in a shady spot.
But if you are talking about backpacking style camping then obviously one of the travel guitars would be the way to go. |
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Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 12761
Location: Boise, Idaho | Ovation made great camping guitars. The Trekker or the 3/4 Applause would be nice campfire guitars. I bought my daughter an Applause AA13 for $76. Plays well and is pretty indestructible. It's a little big for backpacking. Or a Celebrity 057 would work nice. |
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February 2004
Posts: 1634
Location: Warren,Pa. | Lack of a controlled environment is the problem. You can't control the humidity, you can't control the temperature. A house with walls and windows and doors is a pretty good buffer against the ups and downs of the outdoors...even without heating and A/C.
My rule is don't take any guitar that I'd cry over if it got trashed.
I don't listen to my own words, though. I have a cheap Tak for things like this, but I usually wind up taking my good guitars. John <>{ |
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Joined:
May 2003
Posts: 425
Location: SE Michigan | Lack of a controlled environment is the problem. Gosh you guys are starting to sound like the fossilized walrus tusk all wood-box crowd. To me this is part of the attraction of the Ovation, it's not one of these girly-man guitars that need to be wheeled around with a drip IV inserted in the sound hole to keep the humidity at the proper level.
But I confess that my camping trips have only been a few days at most and also during optimum weather.
I take my guitars to lots of places, winter and summer, including my D-28. But I wouldnt take that one camping just for fear of theft or damage. I would take it to a outdoor event providing that the weather and crowd behavior are reasonable. |
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Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 12761
Location: Boise, Idaho | I'm not sure you guys from Michigan and Ohio are talking about camping in the same sense that I was talking about camping. If you have an RV with air conditioning, you might only have to worry about lack of humidity. |
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October 2005
Posts: 5332
Location: Bluffton, SC | "...an RV with air..."?
I'm not sure you're really talking camping at all, Mark, are ya...? :D |
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Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 12761
Location: Boise, Idaho | Nope. I don't consider driving a huge MotorHome camping, but lots of people do. I always thought that we really had it easy camping in our VW buses. We mostly used the tents for backpacking. Wouldn't want to take a guitar on those trips. Pretty much came to a halt when we got the cabin.
Grew up camping in places like the upper peninsula. I never had a sleeping bag warm enough. |
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Joined:
July 2006
Posts: 171
Location: Oregon | Hmm... reminds me of my hunting trip in 20 and below degree weather, and a propane heater that couldn't... glad me guitar wasn't there. Me and my dad vowed to never camp in 20 and below again. |
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January 2005
Posts: 4903
Location: Phoenix AZ | I would bring an Ovation camping. But not one that would break my heart if it got damaged. Dave |
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Joined:
January 2004
Posts: 627
Location: Cherry Hill, NJ | Bring a Chinese under $100, guitar, that plays decent. Don't risk ruining a US made Ovation. |
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December 2003
Posts: 13997
Location: Upper Left USA | Borrow a friend's Martin! |
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January 2006
Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | I've taken my Ovations camping for 35 years. Only problems have been security and they don't glow in the dark. As a result, one was stolen from a campsite at the beach and I ran over one I couldn't see while riding a motorcycle at night in the desert. Humidity and handling were never an issue. I always kept them in a case. One suggestion . . . don't play while sitting in an aluminum lawn chair. |
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Joined:
May 2003
Posts: 4389
Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | I've brought my ovation celebrity on vacations where we rented a cabin, in the middle of the summer, when it's hot and humid and in the fall when it's cool and dry. No heat or ac in this place. Never a problem. The only time I worried, was going snowboarding in the berkshires, when it got down to 10 degrees during the day. Then bringing it inside a farm house heated by wood stove. But again no problems.
I'd say, if you can keep it in the shade, don't worry. The only thing I'd worry about would be it getting knocked around or too much exposure to the sun. |
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Joined:
April 2006
Posts: 848
Location: Munich, Germany | Isn't the MOB (My other Board Tangent) the guitar designed to take to the beach? That would be the perfect camping guitar, and with being the must ugly Ovation I have ever seen with nearly no risk to be stolen!
I would take a Adamas for a camping trip, they are the most durable guitars I know. I would also take a Kryptonite chain with me - pulled through the rear access door, the big epaulette hole and then chained to my leg, neck, whatever comforts me. |
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Joined:
July 2004
Posts: 812
Location: Hicksville, NY | Originally posted by MWoody:
Borrow a friend's Martin! I can't say it any better than that! :p
That's why I have two beater Martins -- the DX1 and the LXM. I take either, wherever I go, and both has/had its share of classrooms, campgrounds, living rooms, churches, hospitals, facilities for individuals with special needs, backyard barbecues, hotel rooms, beaches, swimming pools, backpacking excursions, car trunks, NYC cabs, and parks.
Not excellent sounding guitars IMHO, but they sound very good for what they are -- minus the guilt, if they ever get slapped, banged, dinged, scratched, whatever ... |
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Joined:
August 2003
Posts: 4619
Location: SoCal | Now MWoody has the Jasmine.
I got one today because my nephew has two "rug rats" (formerly referred to as "linoleum lizards") since base housing now usually has carpet.
Strings looked like Temp had played them for a couple of months so put 1818's on it. Corrosion or rust spots. But, what do you expect on a free new guitar.
However, last time I was camping was when I took my Marines up on Mt. Hood and had them building snow caves. And, no guitars! |
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Joined:
November 2003
Posts: 56
Location: Edmond, Oklahoma | Speaking of which, don't forget the Martin Backpacker. It's a nice little instrument, and very portable. I think it's still possible, with a little searching, to get one new for $150. And used ones are always on Ebay. Last time I looked, used ones typically went for less than $100. I haven't taken mine camping, so I don't know how it reacts to weather/humidity. |
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Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 12761
Location: Boise, Idaho | They have a used backpacker at the local GC. My daughter tried using one for backpacking and found that it was really too big to fit in her backpack (she can't carry much) and was awkward to play. I got her an Applause instead, which is really too big for backpacking, too, but is more durable. |
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Joined:
November 2005
Posts: 4833
Location: Campbell River, British Columbia | Backpacking guitars! Now this sounds like a market niche crying out for Ovation....!
Small, indestructable, unaffected by changes in humidity... got two out of three covered before they even start. |
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Joined:
November 2003
Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | I took the Pacemaker on a multiple day wilderness excursion this past week. Performed like a champ and got good reviews ... even when I played it. |
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camping with guitars