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Joined:
June 2007
Posts: 2
Location: Pottstown, PA | I just purchased a celebrity CC01 after my first guitar, an epiphone, mysteriously broke right above the nut one day. A luthier I spoke to said that since I purchased it used, the previous owner may have mistreated it and sold it before it broke. Anyway I now own an ovation, not a usa, but hey, it's an ovation.
I feel got a good deal on the guitar at 190 including shipping, hard case, stand, electronic tuner, and all original documentation. So I feel it wouldn't be a bad idea to dump another 100-150 into it to get what i really want, which is an Ovation with electronics. I am still learning, so I want this guitar to last me a little while until I can justify getting another.
So my cc01 is a deep bowl with no electronics. I have done a little looking and found a NOS OP-30 for 60 bucks at a local store. If i get it, I would have it professionally installed, but how much more money am I looking in parts for a pickup and installation????
I'm guessing that people will say just wait and get a new Ovation with electronics in a year or so. My problem is that I don't have the money buy another guitar anytime soon. So I figured if i can swing the 60 for the op-30 and it's another 100 or so for the rest of the parts and installation, I can slowly pick up everything and have it insalled 6 months from now to prevent GAS.
Oh, one more thing, I know this guitar was made with a spruce or mahogony top. However, I don't know what a mahogony top looks like, but I think it looks a bit dark for spruce, unless that comes with age.
Let me know what you think.....
-Sean
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Joined:
May 2003
Posts: 4389
Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | Nice. Looks like mahogany to me, with spruce you'd see close knit tree rings. Maybe mahogany veneer on spruce hpl? Bet it sounds nice.
I think you have the right idea. Get this guitar, improve it, practice, save your beans, then move up to the next level.
Welcome aboard. | |
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Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 12759
Location: Boise, Idaho | Seems to be a mahogany veneer. Since you asked for advice--don't waste your money putting a pickup in this guitar. It will never be worth what you paid for it. It was worth exactly what you paid and won't increase by adding electronics. Play the heck out of it and get good. It's a good guitar for acoustic only sound. If you want to amplify your sound, which means you will be playing frequently to audiences of fairly large size or in bars where there is too much noise, think about a sound hole pickup. Adding the OP 30 would just be the start. It does you no good without an amp or PA system. You're probably looking at a minimum of another $200 there, just for the basics.
Without knowing whether you are a performer, that's as specific as I can get with the advice. If you plan on performing, you're out of my league and there are others that are more capable.
I just reread your part about installing the OP30 to prevent GAS. Don't even think it. I bought a Lawrence sound hole pickup with the same idea a couple years ago. I tried it in my Matrix for about 15 minutes and haven't used it since. About 15 Ovations and many thousand dollars later, I'm still searching for the cure for GAS. | |
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Joined:
August 2004
Posts: 604
Location: Tampa, FL | Well Sean,
You now know what a mahogany top looks like.
As for electronics, I'm with Mark on this. Unless you're playing out to an audience I think you might reconsider putting electronics into this. I've heard a few guys play gigs with soundhole PU's and they worked reasonably well. If you're looking to capture some of your playing on your PC, developing some skill and experience at mic'ing a guitar might serve you better in the long run.
Installing electronics in an acoustic only guitar.
Unless you're able to do it yourself (the electronics part is small potatoes, it's cutting the hole properly for the preamp and messing with the bridge that will be the challenge) I'd think you'd be best off talking to the service group in Hartford. I don't know if they do imports but I'd at least check there first.
YMMV | |
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Joined:
July 2003
Posts: 3111
Location: Nashville TN. | Sound hole likily the only option.
You might be able to put a Fishmen Rare Earth are pretty good.
http://www.fishman.com/products/details.asp?id=49 | |
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Joined:
June 2007
Posts: 2
Location: Pottstown, PA | Thanks for all of your responses and advice. After reading your responses, I think that I will keep it the way it is. Maybe some new strings and a good cleaning, but that's about it. I thought it was mahogony, I'm glad to hear that you guys think it is too. Hopefully I will be able to save up enough money to get a nicer ovation some time in the near future, but until then, I've got to get better to justify a new guitar.
Oh, and I am knowhere near taking my guitar skills public, but guitar heros is another story.
Thanks again | |
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Joined:
November 2005
Posts: 4832
Location: Campbell River, British Columbia | Welcome aboard sean. I am told there is no cure for GAS, only treatment. This is a support group for that treatment.
12 Steps of O&A/A
1. We admitted we were powerless over
GAS—that our lives had become unmanageable (without another guitar).
2. Came to believe that a collection of guitars greater than our own could restore us to sanity. (yeah, Right!)
3. Made a decision to turn our will and credit card numbers over to the care of AL as if we understood him.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of our guitars, and how much fun they are to play
5. Admitted to CWK2, to ourselves and to another OFC Member the exact nature of our GAS.
6. Were entirely ready to have AL put us down for a Lost Art Vintage model when they're available.
7. Humbly asked Him to hold our checks until after payday, and not to tell out wives.
8. Made a list of all persons we had given GAS to with our guitars,and became willing to help advise them on their next guitar acquisition
9. Made direct efforts to help such people (with the OFC, AL, Ebay links, etc)wherever possible, except when to do so would jeopardize an amazing deal on a guitar we've been waiting years to get our hands on.
10. Continued to take a personal guitar inventory and when we had GAS promptly sought/traded to fulfill it.
11. Sought through the OFC, Al, and Ebay to improve our collection (even if that means trading and selling off a few guitars to make room for something new), hoping only for knowledge of a great deal when we see it and the assets to acquire it without hassle.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this
message to WOOD BOX guitar players, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
(courtesy of mtnbikerfred) | |
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Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 12759
Location: Boise, Idaho | Sean, I keep saying I've got to improve my guitar playing to justify the next guitar, but my guitar playing has not kept pace with the quality of the guitars I buy. I'm probably now equal to my 30 year old Matrix, so at that pace I should be able to justify the OFC guitar when I'm about 800 years old. (Yes, that's 2 zeroes. I'll be 80 in less than 30 more years.)
Forget the guitar heroes thing and go for the real thing. For what you spend on a game these days you could buy a really nice Ovation. | |
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Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 5567
Location: Blue Ridge Mountains | Welcome aboard Sean...you made a great decision when you joined this group...(Of course no one here EVER has GAS :rolleyes: ) so you're in good hands. BTW, nice guitar...nothing wrong with that at all...if you could have seen what I learned to play on "back in the day"...Good decision not to go with the OP-Pro...if you need to amplify go with a sound hole pickup...cheaper and works fine for what you'll need for a while.
Blessings... | |
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Joined:
August 2002
Posts: 8307
Location: Tennessee | Sweet, Sean. My first Ovation was a lot similar to that one ... I've moved up to some other Ovations, but I still have my mahogany Ultra and I can honestly say it has had more play time than any other Ovation I've had ... probably combined if I take the Viper out of the mix. There should be a lot of great years ahead for you and the guitar as you learn how to play -- once your skills out match the ability of the guitar to make them sound great, then you can look for the next one, and then the next one, and then it becomes a sickness. :cool: | |
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Joined:
September 2006
Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | As a mediocre guitarist, and a low-budget collector of a few Celebrities...
My advice would be to keep that nice Deep Bowl just the way it is. For the money and hassle of sending it to the shop, you could just wait for another guitar with electronics. Kinda like waiting for that Miracle Ticket, the Right Guitar will appear.
Ya just gotta know it when you see it! :D
And Welcome! | |
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New Ovation Owner