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Joined:
November 2002
Posts: 1196
Location: Lafayette, Louisiana | Hello everyone. I walked into a really nice music store this weekend, but left kinda angry. This store had a nice selection of Taylor, Martin, and other high end acoustic guitars. But I found only one Ovation. It was a beautiful 2002 collectors that was hanging on the wall away from the other guitars. As I picked it up and looked it over, the sales guy told me they were trying to sell it for someone. I strummed a few chords on it and noticed the strings were in terrible shape. Looked like the guitar had never had a string change. And what made me so mad was the darn sales guy said' Pretty guitar, but it sounds like crap" Ok those were fighting words for me. So I told him any guitar in here would sound like crap with these strings on it. I asked why didn't someone take the time to go over the guitar, and restring it. Guess what this ass said next. "You don't understand, that is the kinda guitar only an Ovation player would buy. No one who comes in here will even look at it unless they like plastic guitars" WAIT A MINUTE! I told him. Put some decent strings on this Ovation and I promise many people will look at it. By this time I had to leave. Here it was one of the nicest looking Ovations around, and it was treated as an outcast are a strange instrument that only some weirdos would buy. Well I plan on paying this idiot a visit with my Adamas, and I want him to take any guitar off that wall and we are going to do some comparing. And I got some new strings for the 2002 collectors. Dang this ticked me off. But my Adamas is waiting to show how good a "plastic" guitar can sound...Paul Hebert |
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Joined:
May 2002
Posts: 3005
Location: Las Cruces, NM | Paul
It appears that with some a-holes the attacks on Ovations by owners of other makes are working. It's a sad thing when gossip is repeated by the very people who are trying to sell a guitar. There have been other sad stories of this type on the board. I doubt that if God showed up with the Heavenly Guitar that a brain dead like that would recognize quality. If God played a guitar, what would He play? Just a satire on the "If Jesus drove a car" abomination. If Jesus drove a car, He probably would use his Godly power to rid us of some of these obviously defective humanoids. Apologies to any who are offended.
Bailey |
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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 7247
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | Let us know how the "compare" goes. I'm sure the folks up in CT are going to be chomping at the bit to hear the results also.
On a similar note, about tone.... (I'll find a way to keep ths short)... We rearranged the house last weekend (which is a whole 'nother story) but the result is that we now have a large "usaable" as Lisa puts it, living room. Well I don't usually bring any guitars up from the studio, but I was trying to match the color of the reverse blue Adamas II for a project I am working on, and brought it up to the living room. I was just sitting on the couch noodling some tunes, and Lisa (who does not play guitar) commented with "so THAT's what all the fuss is about" She never really heard me play an acoustic before, and this one made an obvious impression. It also helps that the room has a 27 foot peak and it FILLED the room with sound. I ended up playing for about an hour I guess. I moved around the room to see if maybe I was just sitting in a sweet spot, but no.... It filled the room with sound. Only an Ovation can do that, as far as I know. |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | I was doing sound for a show on Thursday & one of the guitarists had a recent mid-bowl Legend. He'd intended to change the battery before the gig but in his haste had left the battery & it's holder behind. The only option was to put a mike on it. The guitar was competing with 2 fiddles, percussion, guitar, accordion & 3 vocals. Cut through no problem with gain to spare. Only an Ovation can do that. |
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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 10583
Location: NJ | It is unfair and unreasonable to expect every guitar you play at a store to have a new fresh set of strings. As a vendor I can tell you that I don't have time nor an I a mindreader to know what gauge or brand you like to use.
I have been in guitar center mars and sam ash on saturday afternoons where parents drop their kids off to "play" in the music store and the kids pick up every guitar off the wall and beat on them. Well that would mean that these venues would have to change the strings every week. This is an expense that no one places into the cost of an instrument.
I do understand your concern and the attitude of the salesperson stinks but to walk in and demand fresh strings on all the guitars is just unreasonable. That not only includes Ovations but all brands. If you are really interested in a guitar and requested they would probably change the strings but to be honest in most stores the salespeople would not even be able to make that decision.
The other issue is that the guitar was on consignment and probably the salesperson would rather sell a guitar that was part of inventory. Maybe the comission is better or it helps the stores numbers.
Don't get me wrong I am not trying to defend a bad attitude I am just trying to give an alternative perspective. |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 15686
Location: SoCal | I've been in many music stores where Martins and Taylors had old strings on them and sounded like crap.
What pissed me off about this story was the attitude of the salesperson. I was looking at a page that a recent member had created as an ode to his new Ovation Collector's. He talked about a guitar store that I had never heard of in Carlsbad CA, about 50 minutes south of me. I started getting excited about going there and then read about the salesman who had great disdain for selling "plasic" guitars. I now feel like going just so I can run into the salesman and then make a complaint to the store manager. Brain dead salesmen like that drive me nuts.... much more that dead strings. |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | In order to conserve some "floor space" in our apartment, my girlfriend and I decided to hang the Adamas on the wall where it would be away from foot traffic and would be prominantly displayed as the piece of art that it is.
Being a Sunday, I called ahead to some of the local small shops to find out who was open and to see if they have the bracket that I wanted. Two weren't open and two didn't have it in stock. The furthest one from our apartment (naturally) was open 'till 5 and "had plenty". Upon arrival, I discovered (to my dismay) that what they had "plenty" of was these poorly designed/made brackets that I wouldn't trust (they weren't even designed to be affixed to a WALL!).
The "Last Resort" :
Travel just a little farther down the highway to (shudder) G-g-g-g-uitar C-c-c-c-enter!
After three minutes of waiting on line at the counter for "Bryce the Piercing King" to finish his conversation with his bass player (who had just stopped in to shoot the shit) before he does what he's PAID to do and tend to paying customers, my girlfriend said "I'll be outside".
Fifteen minutes later, when I joined her outside she said "How can you STAND all of that noise, confusion and INCOMPETENCE?? I was ready to run out of there screaming!!"
I simply told her "Welcome to my world". |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | Cliff, get a Hercules wall-bracket, uses the same locking mechanism as the Hercules stands. Distributed by Kaman in the US. |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | Yeah Paul, I was looking for those but Guitar Center didn't carry them (grrrrr!!).
Found a nice, sturdy unit made by "Off The Wall".
Hefty cast metal baseplate that screws into the wall with three screws, and a cast metal unit that screws in in a "keyhole" fashion with goodly-sized rubber coated hooks.
I wanted to get the Hercules stands as well for gigs, but didn't see them until AFTER I'd already invested in a bunch of Ultimate stands. |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 15686
Location: SoCal | Cliff:
I've got a couple here at the house made by String Swing. Both work well. |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | Yeah I saw those too at GC, but I opted to spend a few more sheckles on the other one cause it was a bit more "heftier". About the only thing that DID go right yesterday was that the exact spot on the wall where I needed to hang it had a stud behind it so I didn't have to place any trust in "mollies". All three screws solidly anchored into wood. I could probably hang MYSELF from this thing (when the time comes). :) |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 613
Location: Zion, Illinois | 1687Adamasguy,
If it were me, I would have used his twisted opinion against him and offered maybe $500 for his "crappy" sounding guitar.
Bradley |
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Joined:
May 2002
Posts: 3005
Location: Las Cruces, NM | That's making lemonade out of a lemon Bradley. That would be sweet revenge except he was selling it on consignment and would have punished the owner instead of the perp. Maybe an Ovation owner that puts his guitar up like that might deserve it, but I'll give him/her the benefit of the doubt.
Bailey |
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Dead strings made me dead angry!
