|
|
Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | All production means all production as in everything. Adamas 1 was last. Ad2 never had cloth.
Paul T, There were dogs made with the cloth bowls for sure just as there are good ones with the smc. It's just while we're covering all the variables this should be thrown in the mix.
Lacquer was used in 66 and maybe till as late as 68. After that Polyester was used. Now this will sound pretty good if it stays thin enough. It's a very hard finish. There was a ton of trouble with finish cracks with it. Lots from shipping in the winter. SO urethane was added which made it softer and more elastic. I think it was 70 poly 30 urethane. They've switched to something else now, not sure what. It's like the next generation and I think it's much better than the 70/30.
I follow the theory that softer is bad because it tends to absorb sound. Harder will reflect it more. SMC by its nature in an absorbant material whereas the poly resign/cloth is more brittle and will reflect sound more. Morebetta.
SO now we can talk about the inside ring which holds the top to the bowl. The first ones were very small and thin and pressed with the same poly resign and a fiberglass matting stuff. Looks like that green scotchbrite stuff (you know, the fake steel wool) only this was white. Again, hard, thin lightweight. After that was this big black molded ABS 3/4" square piece. (ABS- read soft plastic) This started in the early 70's? It effectively made all guitars 1 1/4" narrower since it reduced the vibrating surface by that much. After this is the molded small inner ring like was used on the usa made applesause (75-82) This made it into the line by the mid 80's for all but the adamas1. It was used for the Ad2. This inner ring, while being abs is quite small and has a very high glass content, 30% maybe? The big black ring was all abs, 0 glass. It is quite close to the original design and much better.
and so much for today's discussion. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
July 2002
Posts: 10
| The 2003 Collectors features inlaid epaulettes. That seems like a pretty major innovation to be first featured on a Collectors model. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
May 2002
Posts: 3005
Location: Las Cruces, NM | dubyatoo
It sounds like some of the knowledge is still around for the barnburner that I proposed. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 15686
Location: SoCal | It almost sounds as if to get the production costs down, and the durability quality up, the guitars, from the 60's to the 70's, lost a lot of what made their special sound. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 15686
Location: SoCal | Now I'm curious, and I suspect that Bill can answer this question:
How can one tell what kind of bowl one's guitar consists of? Obviously, after 1985, the answer is mute. But for a guitar like my 1983 Elite 1537, how can I tell by looking, what it has? |
|
| |
|
Joined:
February 2003
Posts: 26
Location: Florida Space Coast | That’s a good question Paul.
I just checked my early seventies USA made deep bowl Applause and I’m not able to see much difference between it and my 2002 Balladeer mid bowl in the appearance.
I seem to recall that early on the Applause definitely had a fiber glass resin smell to it but I guess it’s faded with age like my memory :) |
|
| |
|
Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | Moody, the cloth bowls had either a wood heel block or a molded one. In either case they were glued in. The cloth bowls look a little different on the inside, more irregular, and no mold lines. If the heel block is molded into the bowl, it's all SMC.
GuitarMan. My first hand knowledge of Ovation stops at 1998. Inlayed epauletts sounds like a good idea. |
|
| |
Fancy Woods on Collector Series
