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Location: Germany, where delicious wine is growing (Rheinh) | Hopefully not!! The new signature models of Kaki King and Melissa Etheridge are no longer Adamas guitars, they are made offshore and are Ovation "AX".....
http://www.thomann.de/de/ovation_melissa_etheridge_2078me_6p.htm?re...
http://www.thomann.de/de/ovation_2078kk_5s_kaki_king_elite.htm?ref=...
Is this still Fender, or DW....??
Bernie
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Location: south east Michigan | There was a time.. a long time... where Ovation offered the most bang for the buck up and down the entire line.
Now I think the price of an Adamas has kicked up past the reach of many of us.
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That said... I hope DW sells a ton of the new signature models.
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Maybe they figured out that people who buy signature models are not as much concerned about sounding like their heroes as much as looking like their heroes.
Edited by Slipkid 2016-04-22 2:56 PM
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Yes that is true. No longer Adamas. But I think the price has been cut significantly so these may turn out to be very popular models. I saw and played them in person at NAMM and for the money was quite impressed. I would not consider this a bad change given the small number of adamas versions that were sold. |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | So... Basically these are a 2078TX with a Crown and a gasket...
and a 2078AX with an ME logo thingy and a mother of toilet seat epaulet.
Both with Wood Tops, as opposed to Adamas tops. 
I got two Sweet-T's that would probably blow them both away.
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Location: Frozen Tundra of Minnesota | Old Man Arthur - 2016-04-22 5:38 PM
...a 2078AX with an ME logo thingy and a mother of toilet seat epaulet.
****SNORT****
OMG OMA!!! You crack me up SO bad!!! LOL!!!!!!  |
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Location: Germany, where delicious wine is growing (Rheinh) | From this side of view you guys are absolutely right, but my thinking is not to ruin a good tradition and an excellent name of a brand....
Bernie |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | I was wondering if they asked Kaki or Melissa before they did this?
Or did they go ahead with it.
But then I found that the Sweetwater listing states that Kaki signed the label...
So I am guessing that Melissa signed hers too.
Still... It is an Elite TX, I wouldn't give $1300 for it.
Especially since I paid $602 for the USA 2078T Sweet-T brand new from Sweetwater in 2008.
And in a side-by-side a TX falls way short of a USA Elite T.
Also, those are both Contour Bowls, whereas the original Adamii were mid-depth. 
But Hey... Good Luck to them.
Edited by Old Man Arthur 2016-04-23 2:50 AM
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Location: Utah | This isn't the 2000's any more! I paid well under $1000 for my '07C new. One daughter paid about $400 for a brand new 2078T, the other about $600 for the 1778T-Red Flame new. My 2080 was, IIRC, about $1300 brand new.
If the market supports the new pricing for a TX, good! But to be honest I'd rather see all production back domestic except for maybe the lowest price point entry level models. Still, with all the automation these days the labor costs are less important. Taxes and regulatory compliance may be the bigger issues, idk.
Aside from all that, I think having a more affordable signature model makes sense just as long as it is clear it is not an Adamas. |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Simple solution: If you don't like these new models then don't buy them.
Personally, I'm happy that ...
1. Ovation are at least MAKING new models
2. They are pricing them at a point where they might actually SELL
3. After audit by the USA guys the QUALITY of the AX line is vastly improved
4. These are labelled as import Ovation, not trying to be passed off as ADAMAS
It's good fun to comment and complain but if they still made the USA Adamas versions of these guitars how many of us posting would actually step up and BUY one ?
They other thing that crossed my mind from a marketing perspective (sorry, but that's what I do for a living) why not go ahead and market these as LGBT friendly guitars? Put a rainbow motif on the label or something. Yes, it would drive away a few buyers, that's life. But I have to believe it would add to the attraction of far, far more potential players.
Edited by Standingovation 2016-04-23 10:55 AM
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Location: 6 String Ranch | I'd leave off the rainbow. We were thinking go a religious model at one time and had a bunch of good suggestions on how to do it. The one thing all the Religious said was don't do a fish, it's the kiss of death. |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | FlySig - 2016-04-23 6:07 AM
Aside from all that, I think having a more affordable signature model makes sense just as long as it is clear it is not an Adamas.
Remember, DJ Ashba requested that his signature models be Celebrity guitars because he thought that his fans could not afford a USA Elite or an Adamas.
As to the LGBT group, putting a rainbow on something doesn't make you tolerant.
Do someone's sexual proclivities really influence someone's choice in guitars?
Hey, these two guitars already represent that group. 
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Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | Old Man Arthur - 2016-04-23 12:21 AM
Still... It is an Elite TX, I wouldn't give $1300 for it.
Especially since I paid $602 for the USA 2078T Sweet-T brand new from Sweetwater in 2008.
Well that was 2008. Now they are again making fine musical instruments and pricing them accordingly.
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Y'all who seem to think that 2008 is ancient history...
It was only eight years ago, and that is still an import guitar.
I have Adamii that only cost a little more than that.
These are TX guitars with an OP-Pro Studio and a new epaulet.
These are NOT a revolutionary new guitars.
So, along with the Reverse Burst Celebrity guitars this might well be the "new strategy".
But I will wait for someone to buy and review one.
Edited by Old Man Arthur 2016-04-23 5:47 PM
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Location: Texas | There comes a time where reinventing the wheel reaches maximum saturation. The new, is much like the old. If there is a sweet spot, it will be in the affordable range...which are imports. Most folks that dig O's just don't have deep enough pockets for a new American Ovation... Luckily, the secondary market is chock full of killer American O's at a discount from what the imports sell for new. That doesn't work well for DW, but I am sure they knew this coming in. "market these as LGBT friendly guitars/Put a rainbow motif on the label or something" If pandering to special interest groups is important, I guess that is as good as way as any to tank sales of this model.
Edited by jay 2016-04-24 10:23 AM
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Special interest group ? |
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Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | jay - 2016-04-24 8:06 AM Luckily, the secondary market is chock full of killer American O's at a discount from what the imports sell for new. That doesn't work well for DW, but I am sure they knew this coming in. Buying "used" is not on the radar of most people under 30. In fact it's OFF the radar. I have talked to several younger guitarists and the thought of buying a guitar that someone else already played is disgusting to most of them. Not all, but most. And don't even go down the road of "but it will last a lifetime" That also is a concept that is foriegn. Like a car, or a house, or a job, in this day and age it's supposed to last a few years, then you move on to something else. |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | SWMBO is the same way, Miles, but she just passed 30 for the second time. "Do you know how old that is?" has become her favorite question. Yesterday it was flowers that she claimed weren't as "bright" as last year, so they need to be replaced. I keep telling her that she should have replaced me a long time ago when I got old and saved me a lot of money. |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | jump in a hurry |
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Location: Frozen Tundra of Minnesota | Mark in Boise - 2016-04-25 10:04 AM
SWMBO is the same way, Miles, but she just passed 30 for the second time. "Do you know how old that is?" has become her favorite question. Yesterday it was flowers that she claimed weren't as "bright" as last year, so they need to be replaced. I keep telling her that she should have replaced me a long time ago when I got old and saved me a lot of money.
LOL!!!!!!! You are a brave man!!! LOL!!!! |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | .
Edited by Beal 2016-04-25 10:09 AM
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Location: Campbell River, British Columbia | Standingovation - 2016-04-24 10:46 AM Special interest group ? y'know. Like...guitar players. |
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Is this the new strategy?
