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September 2003
Posts: 9301
Location: south east Michigan | Okay...I'll go first.
What a time to be an Ovation fan!
The combination of science and traditional woodwork is what attracted me in the first place. If this new bowl can replicate the benifits of the old deep bowl in a size that is effectively smaller than the current mid-bowl, it will be a real quantam leap.
Not only are they continuing to raise the bar with the LX and now the contour bowl, the mothership is bringing out the best of it's past for an encore.
I wonder if the pre-Kaman Bar re-issues will have the LX truss rod? And I wonder just what they mean by "we retro designed our core USA models". Time will tell.
And what about this Adamas LX with the re-designed soundholes? Remember, you did not become an Ovation owner because you were a traditionalist.
Soooo many new things. It makes it even more important to go on the tour this year. It will be impossible to find a retail outlet that will have all the new features to sample. |
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January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | I believe that they will have the new truss rod system. The old stuff is not always better. |
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September 2003
Posts: 9301
Location: south east Michigan | nice
More reasons to up-grade. |
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July 2003
Posts: 1922
Location: Canton (Detroit), MI | Time will tell. The new stuff is not always better, either.
Roger |
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March 2002
Posts: 15677
Location: SoCal | There was a member of the board who got seriously bent out of shape early this year because he felt that Ovation coming out with the LX models, was telling him that his older Ovations weren't that good.
It's not a question of the new guitars are so damned good that they make older instruments obsolete. Buy quality and in 20-30 years it's still going to be quality.
I have 4 core Ovations that will be with me forever, and all get played -- 1968 GC DB, 1983 1537 Elite, 1983 1674 Country Artist, 1994 1688 Adamas 12 string. And I'm on the list for the OFC guitar. All older instruments.
Will I buy a guitar with the new bowl? Hell yes, once I get over the shock of paying for the OFC guitar. Will it be a better guitar than those listed above? Probably not better, but definitely different. It will bring something to the table that the others don't.
Don't get hung up on "new = better" or old = better". That's not the way to look at all this. |
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Joined:
July 2003
Posts: 1922
Location: Canton (Detroit), MI | Agreed. Better = better. And better is in the eye (or ear) of the beholder, whether the instrument is new or old.
Roger |
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November 2002
Posts: 3651
Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | There's also something about working your DNA into the critter, over time, also. |
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March 2002
Posts: 873
Location: puerto vallarta, mexico | is there a chance there will be a ukII reissue? now that composites and non wood guitars seem to more and more prevalent, i think the world might be ready this time. anyone who hasn't had a chance to play one that is set up well (probably most here haven't) is in for a pleasant and shocking surprise. by playing with pickup height and using the pu combo switch and coil switch on each pu you can dial in the sound that suits your style. i would like a master vol control, or a simple toggle to make one of the vols do that once the basic levels are there. as is you have to have that les paul training to tweak between licks. i guess that's why they made foot pedals.
i think i have also found a solution the the shaller metal bridge string break problem with graph tec saddles. all i need is a day off to drill, tap and put them on.
the only other thing i would change is an easier intonation setup with the bridge pu in place. since this isn't often done more than a few times in a guitars entire life (a respected ukII could have a long long life), the intonation cosa is hardly a problem for the average owner.
i really hope the mother ship (i love that) considers reissuing a solid body that lives up the innovation charlie started and bill continued with the ukII.
i would imagine this would be an expensive guitar, but could be extreemly consistant from one to the next.
any opinions? |
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April 2004
Posts: 13303
Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | Russ,
I agree that the UKII is an awesome yet totally overlooked gem in the solid body line. It will do just about any type of music without a hiccup!
I currently have 2 UKIIs with the bow tie fretboard and I have an unfinished UKII body that I picked up on ebay a while back.
I am playing with the idea of a UKII 12 string since I've got a neck, bridge, etc from Sam on the way.
I am also toying with dropping some Gibson burst buckers into the body and having probably the best sounding Les Paul clone ever assembled.
I love the Ovation solid bodies and they are still dirt cheap for the quality you are getting.
Stephen
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March 2002
Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | I would seriously doubt it . . .
Why re-issue something that didn't sell overtly well the first time? (An Edsel re-issue? :-)
I really DO get where you're coming from Russ, but with the way the solid body market is now, I doubt that Ovation would wanna consider re-entering it.
(Besides, I would assume that the EPA costs today to start spraying "Urelite" around again'd probably be pretty astronomical. . . :-)
Wanna really good new Ovation solid body?? Buy a Hamer. Seriously.
y'GOTTA come on the Tour this year!!
You'll see that the only thing that really separates the two . . . is a short flight of stairs. |
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April 2004
Posts: 13303
Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | Cliff,
I've heard the Hamer's were pretty good.
Which one would you suggest taking a look at?
Stephen
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March 2002
Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | Depends what you "like" and are looking for . . .
There are others here who are much, MUCH more "knowing in this topic than I . . . |
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March 2002
Posts: 873
Location: puerto vallarta, mexico | stephen, you got that uk body? good. i had it on my watch list but forgot to watch the list. if the 12 string idea comes out like the brownbird you would love it.
cliff, i really do hope to make it for the tour. it seems like its light years away from puerto vallarta.
i think the urelite bodys would be injection moulded, but knowing osha and the epa (two reasons business in the usa got tough for me) they would have more than a few pages of regulations. i think that one of the reasons the ukII didn't make it the first time was timing. now composites and plastics are much better and more pervasive in all walks of life. the ukII came out when tubular carbon fibre or graphite fishing rods were still getting wows. now we are producing graphite nano tubes (tube wall one atom thick).
also the ukII came right at the time that ovation officially signed off on the solid body across the table if i understand the timeline right. i would like to hear bill's idea on this in regards to the timeline. but cliff, i feel more like having an also short lived lotus europa sports car in my hands than an edsel when i'm playin' uk-layla. helluvalot better in the sharp turns than an edsel.
but ya know all of these hamer comments really have me interested in taking that flight of stairs. after all it's all in the family and a hamer or two would fit in well with all of their "cousins" at the musicamex tropical guitar spa. is it "hay-mer, or ham-er?" now you know my level of understanding these ovation relatives. is ther a hamer fan club? |
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March 2002
Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | HAYmer.
Russ;
If you look in the "Links", there's one for the HamerFanClub . . |
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December 2001
Posts: 7236
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | If you check out The Ovation Solidbody and Storm Series collection site. I have an article under the pulldown (UKII 1980-1983). It doesn't speak well of how the UKII was marketed back in the day. I think the early 80's were a perfect time for this guitar because of it's innovation at that time. Kramer, Travis, B.C. Rich, Carvin were all putting a "new spin" and trying to re-invent the guitar with a heavy emphasis on construction technique. Not sure when Parker hit the streets, but they seem to have done well too. |
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April 2004
Posts: 13303
Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | HAYmer.....is that the Yankee pronunciation...like PEEcon instead of the proper way of saying it? :rolleyes: |
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Joined:
October 2004
Posts: 14
Location: Ca | Originally posted by Slipkid:
Okay...I'll go first.
What a time to be an Ovation fan! ...
...with money to burn. More power to you. Wish I could join in the party.
Badger |
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Ovation -The Next Generation
