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| I had an Ovation I bought on eBay 10 years ago. I knew very little about it, the auction had no info and bad pictures, but I took a chance. I loved the guitar and have been playing it ever since.
Recently it was stolen out of my car. Not knowing what it was, I had no idea what to tell the insurance company for replacing it. They offered me a small sum for the guitar, but if I can prove a comparable replacement they will cut me a new check.
So I need to find a comparable new Ovation. Here is what I know about the guitar:
1. Flamed top
2. Shallow/C neck
3. Very shallow bowl
4. Hard case
5. Epaullette soundholes
It had a very basic preamp, however I am sure all the preamps on current Ovations are more involved. I would prefer one with a tuner.
I once had someone at a music store remark, Hey, that's an original Adamas! However I thought all the Adamas guitars had graphite tops?
Let me know a guitar that fits the bill, and I'll show the insurance company this thread. |
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Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | Do you have ANY pictures from over the past 10 years?
There are some real wizards on this board for identifying guitars from pics. |
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| I can probably find one . . . but it would be more helpful to me to find a current guitar that is an adequate replacement, rather than actually IDing what the old guitar was. We are dealing with replacement value, not actual value. |
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Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | Hi d.a.n,
I'm mostly into electrics, but I'm thinking with the description you provided, you described a significant number of Ovation models. I think we're gonna need a little more description than a flamed top shallow bowl with epi's to help you.
I would suggest going to OvationGuitars.com, find one you like, ask questions about it here, and make a decision from that. |
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Location: NJ | so you have a guitar for 10 years.
no description
no pictures
no model number
no serial number
you want to report it to your insurance
and you want the Ovation fan club to be part of your fraud scheme????? |
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Location: Upper Left USA | Brilliant!
Take a browse through these sites and figure out what you had. If there were two dots on the bridge it was likely a Celebrity line.
www.ovationguitars.com
www.ovationtribute.com |
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Location: Blue Ridge Mountains | D.A.N., first of all, welcome!
Click on this link :
http://www.ovationguitars.com/?fa=series&sid=349
and then click on each of the guitar models until you find the one you used to own...from your description, it sounds like you may have had an Elite: perhaps an 1868 model. Those were SSB (Super Shallow Bowls - i.e.: thin)...they had different finishes and electronics...take a look and I hope you can find it.... |
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| Ah, guess the ground stop is lifted? |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | I can't recall a flamed top, SSB Elite. It was very common, however, for Celebrity Deluxes. It took me awhile to spot the differences based upon the end of the fretboard. |
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Location: Blue Ridge Mountains | Mark, I thought about that...and it could well have been a Celeb...and the fingerboard end would be a clue if he remembers what it looked like (and may be part of the reason why some mistook it for an Adamas)...
Ah, guess the ground stop is lifted? Ah, good guess!
Yep, when I can type and am not in pain... |
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Location: closely held secret | Originally posted by alpep:
so you have a guitar for 10 years.
no description
no pictures
no model number
no serial number
you want to report it to your insurance
and you want the Ovation fan club to be part of your fraud scheme????? Seriously. You had this guitar for 10 years, "loved it" and never bothered to look in the hole to see what model it was, never managed to get a picture of it and apparently never changed the battery or you would know what preamp was in it.
Are you all so caught up in being 'helpful' that you don't recognize insurance fraud when you see it?
"Let me know a guitar that fits the bill, and I'll show the insurance company this thread."
I bet you will. |
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Location: SoCal | I"m with Al and Psycho on this one.... |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | Oh come on guys be "nice" |
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Location: closely held secret | Gosh, you're right, Beal. Sorry, forgot where I was... |
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Location: SoCal | Hell Beal, I was being nice.... |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Aw, what the hey... I gotta say something. My first impression was that this is a Celebrity cuz of the flamed top. Y'all taught me in 2006 that pretty plywood and lots of fret markers is often over compensating for something.
And they way that I learned that was by doing Research on my 4861 before it even arrived on my doorstep! (I miss that guitar) But I still have photos and can tell you all about it.
So if I had a guitar for ten years, I think that I would have more info than that. I can tell you about the Guild that I had in 1975. I can tell you the first three serial numbers of most of my Ovation guitars, and they are listed by year in my sig.
So the Psychotic Wabbit and Al are ahead of all y'all.
So D.A.N... Just go through Guitar Center's catalog and pick the Elite that you want!
I mean, if the insurance company says that they will pay for it... Let's Go Shopping!! :eek: :D |
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Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | Lets not going jumping to conclusions... I spent about 15 years thinking I had an "Adamas" when in fact it was my Medallion. Medallion printed on the headstock and everything, but I just figured that was because it was a factory second so they couldn't put the Ovation or Adamas logo on the Headstock. I grew up in CT... Ovation made Adamas guitars. Never even thought about it. It had a round back.. it must be an Adamas.
Years later when I bought my first new Ovation, it was an Adamas II, but I gave Al such a hard time as I wanted it to be a "Real" Ovation and say "Ovation" on the headstock, not Adamas.
I realize I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, but most of you know more about the entire line and history than I know about the guitars I've owned.
For the record, I jumped to the SAME conclusion at first, then thought about MY insurance claims. No Insurance company is going to care what I, you or anyone "sais" a guitar is worth. They just want to see at least one (usually 2 or three) catalog ads of the same guitar with a printed price. It would be so much easier to just pull up the Ovation site, Musician's Friend and one other and say "yep, that's it" and there would be no questions asked. The fact they he came here to ask, tells me, it may be a legit question.
Finally d.a.n., in justification of those who think the worst first... we have had our share of scams here. People telling sob stories about their lost instruments and lifes woes and such... only to have members totally taken advantage of.
So skepticism is warranted to some extent...
Hope you stick around, we'll do what we can to help. |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | Although I'm normally a skeptic and have no sympathy for people claiming more than they are entitled to, so that the rest of us can pick it up with higher insurance premiums, I'm with Miles on this one. Although I had my Matrix for 30 years, I didn't know the difference between any of the models until I came here. Pretty much everything I know about Ovations is the result of this site.
The reference to an Adamas and upgrading a basic preamp to one with a tuner, however, has to make you wonder about the motives.
Of course, I've also learned a lot of stuff I didn't want to know from this site, like Cliff's shaving habits. |
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Location: SoCal | Originally posted by Mark in Boise:
Of course, I've also learned a lot of stuff I didn't want to know from this site, like Cliff's shaving habits. Let's not go there.... |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Something about this deal ain't right. CLICK |
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Location: Cicero, NY | Sorry. Gotta agree with the skeptics as well. You don't love and play a guitar for ten years and not have one picture of it much less not know anything about it. And being more concerned with replacement value than actual? I'm out. |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Authorities have been alerted |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | ... suspects up against the wall |
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Location: closely held secret | The usual wall? |
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Location: Utah | I don't know D.A.N. and don't have an informed opinion of his situation. However, I never had a picture of any of my guitars before coming here. I've owned a Yamaha acoustic since age 12 and still have it in the basement. I have no idea what model it is. I owned an Ibanez strat copy for 15 years, not a single picture was taken of it. My beloved Alvarez Yairi 12 string that I bought with my own money in high school never had a picture taken until doing a family portrait last year. Model number? Not a hint of an idea what it is. |
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Location: south east Michigan | D.A.N.?
Are you out there? |
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| Hang on guys, looking for a picture. I HAVE them, I just dont know where they are offhand.
And the guitar was not marked with a model name, number, or country of origin.
Even my luthier, who had taken it apart much further than I, couldnt ID it.
Again, it is much more useful to me to find a replacement guitar that fits the specs, than find out what it actually was. |
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Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | but if you post a picture we can give you an idea of which model it most closely matches. |
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| I found a picture, how do I attach it? |
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Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | if you have an account to put photos online like flikr or something you can link to it in a post.
We also have our social network site (link at top) where people put photos and link to them..
You could just email me the picture mileskb at aol.com and I'll post it for you.
Also, you may find answers to many common questions here Ovation FanClub FAQ |
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Location: Ontario Canada | Welcome d.a.n.
Sorry to hear of your misfortune, losing a favorite guitar is very troubling. Good luck with posting the picture.
Jim |
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| Here is me playing said guitar during a wedding:
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| Looks like a Celebrity CC48-RRB , or a Celebrity CS257 . It's definitely not a US-made Elite. |
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Location: NJ | dan
it is tough to view on the out of focus pic but no insurance company will care what a bunch of folks on a message board say. you need to find some comparatives on line and submit the replacement coast to them, then depending on the company they will either give you a compromised amount or if you have full replacement value the replacement. |
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| Al, I agree. That's what I am ultimately going to do. What I need is a currently produced model that is an adequate replacement. The problem I've had finding one is the neck. Most of the Ovations I've played have had V necks. I havent found any way to tell on the Ovation website which guitars have a C neck. |
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| G8r, do you happen to know if either of those guitars have a slimmer neck as I mentioned in my previous post?
I would prefer to replace it with an US made guitar. I thought thats what it was, however I defer to the experts. |
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Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | The presence of noticeable fret markers in the photo suggest that it isn't a CC-48. |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | It looks like a CS257 to me. The new ones have a tuner and I think they have a pretty thin neck. |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Professor -- They didn't make CC48's back then with the teeny abalone dots.
MIB -- Since they don't make CS257's anymore, the new ones are CC48's.
Unless you move up to the Solid Top CSE's and CDX's, they all have the OP4BT preamps.
Those are actually nice little preamps with a tuner. I had one in a GC057.
Personal opinion is that by the time you spend the money on a Solid Top Celebrity, you can get a Korean Balladeer or Elite....
Now the real question is are the Korean Elites any better than a CDX44? But they do have a Contour Bowl. |
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| It had a very very old, very very basic preamp. 1 or 2 sliders, maybe a button or knob. No tuner. I'd like a tuner.
In getting a replacement guitar, is the contour bowl that much better than the shallow? I like the shallow so when I have to take my guitar on the plane, it fits in the overhead bins.
Fairly certain this guitar predated the CS257. Did they make an earlier version? |
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | So, can you pick out the preamp from one of these?
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| Good Lord!
It wasnt one of the silver ones. The rest look pretty much the same to me. |
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| Hi d.a.n. from the angle of the photo the fretboard looks to be that of a celebrity model as opposed to a USA which has the longer tongue on the treble side angling back toward the bass side, but hard to tell from that angle.
were the fret markers on the fretboard MOP, Maple, or possibly abalone stars or abalone Elite/Adamas markers? and was the fretboard rosewood or possibly ebony?
if ebony and stars.. or rosewood with maple or Abalone triangular inlays I can think of one or two USA models that were made with a super shallow bowl and OP24 preamp with one knob and three sliders.
but they would have had to have had the elongated fretboards to be USA models and not Asian Celebritys or Applauses which have the docked fretboard end.
without a clearer picture of the fretboard end I would say it's a celebrity in Cherry-Cherry burst on a flamed maple laminated top. if it did have the ebony fretboard and stars it would be a GC 35th anniversary collectors model 1/50 made and would have also have had abalone binding on the body and neck, and a carved bridge. or if it was with a rosewood neck and abalone or maple triangular Elite/Adamas shaped fret markers, and with abalone body binding it would have been a custom Elite CE1868, but without the longer fretboard it is most probably a Celebrity model, most probably one of the Celebrity Deluxes. The epaulets look like those on a USA tho as well.
got another picture that shows the bridge/pickup or the end of the fretboard better?
Hope that helps. and Welcome!
Mike |
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| I am sure I have some other pictures of me playing it, but I wasnt able to find them. I found this one because it was tagged on Facebook!
If it makes a difference, it had NO marking anywhere on the guitar whatsover. And a 1/4" jack-- no XLR. |
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Best of luck, but my vote is an early CC-257.
Happy Trails! |
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| Ahhhhhhhhhh...........ya know the more I think about it.........I had a nice "Adamas 1" out in the car and now I don't see it........ Al send me another one of those custom adamas quotes will ya.......lets make this one a #8 cutaway with the studio and the contour bowl.........where did I leave that insurance information........
Thats why I come here. This is a great "Idea" site! |
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| good luck with this d. a. n. it has to suck to have something stolen. My experience with insruance companies is more papaerwork and bullshit than it is worth to find out they will replace your item with something similiar and always of lesser value unless you have amazing documentation and proof.
If the insurance company will foot the bill though and you want a USA model, call on Al Pep he has excellent Used guitars as well as New. or there are a bunch of us in here selling great USA Ovations right on this site. You take your chances with ebay.
Randy |
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Location: GATLINBURG TENNESSEE :) | Dan, This one looks close enough to me: Ovation |
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Location: Utah | Originally posted by d.a.n:
In getting a replacement guitar, is the contour bowl that much better than the shallow? I like the shallow so when I have to take my guitar on the plane, it fits in the overhead bins. The standard case for the contour bowl is the same as for the mid bowl. It fits in the overhead bins on 737 and larger aircraft. It won't fit in the bins of a regional jet, but then neither will a shallow bowl fit in the RJ bins.
The deep contour bowl feels more like a square box wood guitar, and has a fuller deeper sound. Many here would say it is a big improvement in ergonomics and tone. A smaller group would say that it is uncomfortable to play standing up. So as a generalization the contour is considered an improvement. If you're super skinny and play standing up a lot, you may prefer the mid bowl shape. Mid bowl tone is "normal" and not deficient, just not as bassy as the contour. If you prefer an acoustic that feels thin like a solid body electric, go for the super-shallow bowl but realize that the tone will be thin when not plugged in. |
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| Which is actually smaller to play, the mid-depth or the contour? None of my local stores offer the contour for me to try.
I really prefer the super shallow, but they dont make it in an Elite or Custom Elite any more. |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Mid-Depth is smaller to play.
A Contour doesn't feel much bigger than a Mid-Depth if you are seated,
But it is totally different when you are standing.
I would recommend the mid-depth as being closest to a SSB. |
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Location: Steeler Nation, Hudson Valley Contingent | The contour bowl is a real adjustment to those of us who have been playing turtlebacks for a long time. I find them VERY comfortable to play sitting down, but to strap it on while standing? You have to get the strap adjusted just so or it's like reaching around a kettle drum. In fact, they are much like my D-42 comfort-wise. They sound great though, and the contour bowl is not a deal breaker for me.
Now the mid-depth bowl takes some mental re-arrangement. I find them to have the same tonal differences as wood boxes that have different depths or shapes. Does a Martin dreadnought sound different from a 000? Of course! Does either one sound better? They both sound great!
The same with the mid-depth bowls IMO. It depends on the guitar. I can take or leave the spruce top MDB's. They sound just fine, but I prefer the deep bowl sound. HOWEVER!
The 2001 Collector's is an MDB that has a fantastic tone all its own that I think is one of Ovation's BEST acoustic efforts. I've not heard another O that sounds like it. YMMV of course, but that's my two cents. :cool: |
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Help finding a replacement for a stolen Ovation