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Location: Archbald, Pennsylvania | I have a 2002 USA Gibson Chet Atkins SST, Black, Spuce Top, Star Inlay, Gold Hardware, no issues,
light pick scratching, no fretwear. OHSC. I have used it on solo gigs and it sounds very full and even on all strings. It is the best acoustic sounding, thin bodied with sound chambers, acoustic/electric on the market. But I have not tried a USA Viper acoustic/electric yet. I am open to trades for a Viper, a 12-sting acoustic/electric, or a Hamer guitar. Please contact me if interested in trading. I am 47, from Pennsylvania, and have traded 33 times with Harmony Central users.
Thank you,
John Quinn (johnquinn@cinram.com)
570-383-3291 #3142 work til' 5pm
570-876-2591 home after 6pm
I don't have computer/email access at home. |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | Ah, A Gibson. "It is the best acoustic sounding" well that may draw some fire...... |
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Location: Archbald, Pennsylvania | hey, "cripple smugga smith", that's what I'm trying to do. I've never played a USA Viper so
I'm wanting to hear the comparison's and also to hopefully trade for one. I also love the sound of my Hamer Duotone Custom running the acoustic output right thru the board. I've played the Carvin AE185's, The Godin LGX', Parker's, etc...
but so far the SST and my Duotone sound best to me. |
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Location: Kentucky | Round one!! |
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Location: SoCal | Anyone living near John with an EA68 that he can try out? |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | He could drive over to aLeX's house... |
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Location: NJ | my ea 68 is eh....welll...ummmm....slightly modified |
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Location: Minden, Nebraska | I have had a number of SST guitars, and some have sounded better than others. The electronics on the SST are basic and similar to the EA68. They are both good guitars, though I give the nod to the Ovation.
One significant difference is the neck profile. I will take the Viper over the Gibson any day.
Another significant difference is price. The SST has -- unfortunately -- the higher resale market value than the EA68, being Gibson after all. The good news for those who know it is that dollar for dollar the EA68 blows away the SST. On the basis of that comparison, there is no contest in my opinion.
Al -- how is your EA68 modified (besides the mauve finish)? I am curious to know, because I would expect your own guitar to be quite functional. |
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Location: NJ |  |
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Location: SoCal | To quote Clifford, Al's Viper is, well, wrong..... |
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Location: Fayetteville, NC | It may be wrong but it sure sounds Great. |
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Location: Archbald, Pennsylvania | Paul,
thank you for your input and also I also want to thank Bruce Christensen (noah) who has been very generous with information. I am even more interested in trading my SST for a EA68 even if it would be a loss in value for me. I always loved the feel of an Ovation neck and having an Ovation with an actual wood back makes it even more inviting for me. So please pass it on to anyone you may think would be interested in a SST.
I am also interested in Hamer Guitars, and any electric or acoustic 12-strings.
Thanks,
John |
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Location: NJ | Not MY quote.
. . either Frank Untermyer or Rick Hall. |
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Location: Archbald, Pennsylvania | Paul, Bruce, and anyone else knowledgeable on the Subject of Ovation/Hamer acoustic bridge pickups.
I am the proud owner of 2 USA Hamer Duotones.
1 Custom archtop with fancy inlay, binding, with archtop with f-hole. The 2nd is the first USA Model with flat top and 3 sound holes. This model has an Ovation bridge in it. Does anyone know if it is close in sound to a EA68 Viper? Are the electronics similar? The bridges look exactly the same and the construction looks almost the same
except for fancy appoinments.
Thanks,
John |
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Location: Minden, Nebraska | John,
You will find a number of us who are Hamer fans here. That may or may not have to do with them being Kaman companies. What Hamer and Ovation share in common is being underappreciated and undervalued in the marketplace.
Cliff,
It will take me a long time to get that picture out of my mind..... That guitar looks like a luthier's equivalent to the unspeakable experiments being done on The Island of Dr. Moreau. |
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Location: NJ | hmmmm . . . maybe I can PhotoShop Brando's face onto Al's body . . . .
Al;
I meant to ask you:
What's the headstock on that?
btw:
It actually IS a cool sounding guitar . |
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Location: Minden, Nebraska | John,
The USA Duotones are superb guitars. I wish I had kept mine..... It's been too long since I played one to confidently compare the sound of the EA68, but what they have in common is similar bridges and pickups. Duotone electronics are obviously different.
Cliff,
I read the H.G. Wells story long before it was made into a movie. The movie is so cheesy that it becomes comical. If you can't edit Marlon's face onto Al, go for Val Kilmer. :-) |
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Location: Fayetteville, NC | Marlon would be funnier. |
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| Does al do that to all guitars before he ships them out?
I need to know. |
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Location: NJ | Only if you piss him off (which isn't really hard t'do) . . . ;) |
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Location: NJ | Rick Hall was the one that said "that guitar is just wrong on many differnt levels"
Guess there will not be an al pepiak model any time soon.
I will have to shoot a pic of the guitar and put it up when I get a chance. the body is a viper body with a 89 collectors neck an emg HB in the bridge with an emg SC in the neck. 5 position switch gives you bridge, bridge HB, hb, hb sc, sc, there is also a push pull vol pot to split the hb to a sc. I never use it I am not found of the sound of split coil hbs they never sound like sc's ever. |
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Location: Minden, Nebraska | Al, that guitar is definitely an attention-getter and a conversation piece. Does it also have the piezo in the bridge? If so, did you wire it like a Duotone or a T51F to take a stereo cable for splitting the signals? |
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Location: NJ | of course it has the piezo otherwise it would not be an ovation.
It has one cable out. I really dislike the dual cable on the duotone and was determined NOT to split signals. the emgs and the piezo are low z so they all sorta match. |
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Location: Archbald, Pennsylvania | I did a comparison last night between my USA Hamer Duotone Custom (fancy archtop) and my USA Duotone Standard (Ovation Bridge) and they were real close in acoustic output and tone. I am very impressed.
I have a band gig this weekend but next weekend I have 2 solo gigs and I am going to string up my Duotone Standard with acoustic strings and see how it stands up on a solo acoustic performance.
I don't know for sure, and I will never know until I get an Ovation AE68 Viper, that they may be close in being the same animal. Hamer designed the Viper body. Both the old style Standard Duotone and the USA Viper are thin mahogany body guitars with the same bridge pickup. The Standard Duotone may not look as pretty, but with the electric guitar output and 2 seymour Duncan pickups, you can't get much more versatile than that. I love the 2 separate outputs. Blending both is not a option for me because the 2 separate voices really fills in my 3-pc. band.
Running the acoustic out right to the board sounds so good, almost like a real acoustic (use 3rd wound string). Then I run the electric to my amp and it gives me the flexability to make it distorted, clean, or anyway I want want it.
Please someone trade their AE68 VIper for my Gibson Chet Atkins SST. I only want to be a Ovation/Hamer (Kaman) owner.
Thanks, John |
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Location: Minden, Nebraska | Al, on that guitar I assumed nothing just because of the name on the headstock. |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | The Duotone and this Viper can truely be said to be twin sons of the different llamas (but the same mama)
They were developed at the same time, by the same people but then turned loose and they grew up different. |
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Location: Archbald, Pennsylvania | cripple sugga smith,
thanks for info, but could you give more detail
if possible. If you have played both, what are the differences? how are they similar? Do or
can they sound the same with preamp tweaking?
Any info would be helpful. I need to know more
of how their genetics help make them perform.
Thanks,
John |
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Location: Archbald, Pennsylvania | I got my USA Duotone Standard (3-holes) and used it out on a band gig this past Friday. I also had my Duotone Custom with me. I played the 3-hole all night. It is definitely a different animal but not inferior to the Custom at all. I tweaked the eq on the fly and I am overall very happy with it. I traded my Gibson Chet Atkins for a solid body Hamer, so I am happy. But I must find a EA68 USA Viper someday. Let me know if anyone is interested in another USA Hamer Duotone (3-hole) another area musician has one and contacted
me this weekend (after I got my 3-hole) to let me know he is selling his. Here is how you can contact him. Donnie Cannon (hoosierdon@verizon.net) 570-237-0548
Orangeburst. 1996, No issues, been played. OHSC |
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Gibson Chet Atkins SST for Trade