Joined:
August 2003
Posts: 4619
Location: SoCal | From what I have seen, the II was introduced this year v. the earlier AD5. Couple of engineering changes and the OP-Pro. It is a deep bowl.
December 22, 2003
OVATION UPGRADES AL DiMEOLA SIGNATURE MODELS
(Bloomfield, Connecticut) -- Sometimes a guitar and a player are simply made for each other. "Before the 1960s, the acoustic guitar world had never seen an instrument like an Ovation. And before the '70s, the acoustic guitar world had never seen a player like Al Di Meola." That's how Ovation product manager Rick Hall gave the new Al Di Meola Signature Model some historical perspective.
It's pretty fair to say that Di Meola took acoustic guitar playing into unfamiliar territory. As Hall describes further, "Before Al, acoustic guitar playing, even flatpicking, mainly took place in what Roger Miller called 'the money zone' - the first five frets on the fingerboard. Al not only played the entire fingerboard, he blazed across it in a way that most guitars just couldn't handle."
Part of the design goal of the original Ovation was to build a guitar with even response over the entire playing range - a deficiency that Charlie Kaman perceived in most every other flattop guitar. And it was success in that goal that appealed to Al Di Meola. "Acoustic guitars sounded vague and indistinct to me, especially when you got further up the fingerboard", commented Di Meola. "When I first played an Ovation Custom Legend, I could tell right away that this guitar stood out from the rest. It had balance and clarity that responded to the way I played it like no other. It's been my choice ever since."
In 1998, that 'ever since' became the Ovation Al Di Meola Signature Model. Several years earlier, Ovation had built a special guitar for a tour Al had planned with The Guitar Trio, which also featured John McLaughlin and Paco De Lucia. It featured Al's preferred deep cutaway body and added a stealth feature that every guitar player would find useful - the ability to go to "11". A small black latching-button switch was installed on the upper bout of the guitar, about three inches above the neck/body joint. When Al tripped the switch with his left thumb, the output from the preamp would be boosted by 4dB. The stealth location and easy operation of the switch allowed Al to turn the boost on and off without the audience - or his band mates - ever noticing.
The guitar became one of Al's favorites and in 1998 it officially became the Al Di Meola Signature Model. In early 2004, several acoustic and electronic upgrades were introduced to the instrument.
The bracing pattern was slightly altered to deliver more low-end drive. Based on the Ovation "A" pattern, the individual struts have been slightly reconfigured and are now shaped on a computer-controlled (CNC) machine.
The instrument also features the new OP-Pro preamp and 'Ovation Original Patented Pickup'. Al has been closely involved in the development and testing the OP-Pro. The preamp has been voiced to deliver a clear and natural-sounding acoustic tone in medium to large-sized venues with a minimum of equalization. Al and his soundman report that "flat out of the guitar and flat on the console" delivers a superior sound night after night.
The Ovation Original Patented Pickup uses the exact components from early Ovation guitars - the guitars that first attracted Al to the brand. Ovation is now offering the Al Di Meola signature model in a natural finish as well as the previous gloss black finish. |
1769 ADII
