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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | So I am out for a sunny day's bicycle riding....
I go into Trade UP Music on Alberta just cuz I was there.
I was not going in there to buy anything, I had a guitar on my back.
They don't have any Ovations. I saw an recent edition Applause for $199... uh, No!
As I was leaving, there was another Applause by there door.
The aluminum fingerboard was obvious by the shiny wear-spots.
The tag sez "Killer Deal! Brovation Applesauce--$79"
So I had to stop and give it a strum. I tuned it up with my Snark, and it didn't sound too bad.
I looked inside to see what it was, I then realized that this has a Plastic Top. Like an Academy.
The label sez AA12, but I cannot find any Plastic Top AA12's online.
Somebody tell me about my new, weather-proof toy.
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Posts: 176
Location: Cologne/Germany | Black, OMA!??!? What about the scratches....  My first ever guitar was an AA12, natural finish. Wood top. Quite good guitar. Gave it away to a colleague once, but it came back to me..... Until the wall got too small, then she had to go again. The buyer was happy.... As I said, good guitar. Enjoy!
Edited by red-twins 2016-06-27 12:11 AM
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Yeah... This one has scratches. And a some cracks in the paint.
But you take what you get.
I have really wanted another Academy KA-17.
This is about as close as I am gonna get at this moment.
Here are some crappy photos of the inside of the Plastic top.
That is a "compact" make-up mirror...
Not too many dents in the frets (low rez photo, sorry)
And a bolt-on neck, of course.
And this will survive the rain.
I just gotta find the best strings for this acoustically.
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Location: Pittsburgh | Nice catch, OMA! My first O was an old, cracked, black Applause. Gateway drug. |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | cool, enjoy it! |
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Posts: 12759
Location: Boise, Idaho | That's a new one on me. I didn't know they made an Applause with a plastic top. I wonder if it was before, during or after the Academy. |
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Location: Frozen Tundra of Minnesota | What a Neat Find!!!!! Enjoy!!
You are lookin' really Good OMA!  |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | Nancy - 2016-06-27 9:13 AM
You are lookin' really Good OMA!
That's because he's been using that compact makeup mirror. Really, why do you have one of those, OMA? |
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Posts: 608
Location: Caribou, ME | I'm connecting dots that aren't actually there, but I do own 3 or 4 AA-12's and I have noted that they are all late Moosup production, typically 1983. I've speculated under my breath that they used up some of the Academy tops on 'regular' Applauses and the fact that there is a rosette only suggests to me that they may have ground down some broken AA-14 pickguard/rosette assemblies. Just speculation on my part. Likewise for the fact that every AA-12 I have ever seen has had a black painted neck. I question if these were ones that had cosmetic flaws and the decision was made to spray them black and use them up.
All speculation on my part because getting Moosup info has been all but impossible.
Allison was my 'go to' and she shared some cool memories but she left Moosup at the beginning of 1983 and had no recollection of the AA-12 model. At the time we had that conversation, she suggested I may have gotten a prototype but since then I've picked up 3 or 4 more. I have no idea anymore. There are 65 Applauses in that one room. |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Mark in Boise - 2016-06-27 8:56 AM
Nancy - 2016-06-27 9:13 AM
You are lookin' really Good OMA!
That's because he's been using that compact makeup mirror. Really, why do you have one of those, OMA?
I bought a full face hand-held mirror at Dollar Tree to check-out the bald spot on the back of my head... The one that I never knew was there until someone told me.
The little make-up mirror came with it, so I put it in with my guitar repair weapons. 
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Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | And I was waiting for KSDaddy... The Applause Expert.
As I implied... If it hadn't had the Plastic Top I would not have bought it.
I was explaining to the clerk how rare that was...
They thought that I was nuts. 
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Posts: 12759
Location: Boise, Idaho | Good thing you didn't pull out your makeup mirror when you were in the store. I wear my bald spot prominently in the front so there's no avoiding it. I got it really sunburned yesterday. I should keep my hat on for lots of reasons. |
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Mad Dogs & Englishmen, Mark.........
Arthur, quite a find. It seems, there appears a creation from the proverbial Land of Doctor Moreau, time-to-time, that baffles this populace. Shoot, there's about 50 years of possible events & peculiar outcomes. That's one of the reasons for our obsession & association, I guess. |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Mark in Boise - 2016-06-27 8:03 AM
That's a new one on me. I didn't know they made an Applause with a plastic top. I wonder if it was before, during or after the Academy.
Oh... I have the answer.
My Academy KA-17 (now gone) was made in 1971.
If the serial number is right on this Applause it was made in 1978.
MWoody said that "Someone likely redistributed the label" so it might be wrong.
But as far as I understand, they didn't make Applause back in '71...
So I guess that the Academy came first.
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Posts: 608
Location: Caribou, ME | The serial numbers on Applauses and Academies don't follow the Ovation system at all. They're all over the place and should never be used to date one. Aside from the neck/body rubber stamps, which are only there about 50% of the time and another 50% of THEM are illegible, there's precious little to date a Moosup. Beal thought he might have some records in a filing cabinet somewhere but that was 5 years ago or so and I've not heard anything more. I can pick a 1976 out easily enough, because they used slightly different tuners and the ring where the top meets the bowl is a little different (as viewed from inside). I say 1976 because I've never seen a 1975...they may exist, I don't know. I do have a 1975(?) Medallion, which pre-dates the Applauses and could be loosely described as a forerunner. As far as I know, the Academy series came out in 1978. There was the KA-14 with aluminum 12 fret neck and the KA-17 with a wood neck and slotted headstock. There may have been others, who knows... I know they came in "refrigerator white" and "freezer burned vanilla ice cream tan". |
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Posts: 608
Location: Caribou, ME | Here's a good example of the serial number thing. This number would lead you to believe it's from a 1975 Ovation....but it's a Korean Applause, which didn't exist until 1984 at the earliest.
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | ksdaddy - 2016-06-28 4:00 AM
Here's a good example of the serial number thing. This number would lead you to believe it's from a 1975 Ovation....but it's a Korean Applause, which didn't exist until 1984 at the earliest.
Well, that sucks.
I thought that those USA-lookin' 6-Digit stickers were... well, USA.
So, Are the Tear-Drop shaped Applause labels USA or what?
(see how quickly the nerd gene kicks-in)
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April 2003
Posts: 608
Location: Caribou, ME | The WHITE teardrop labels are USA. The BLUE ones are early-ish Korean. And of course they never made aluminum neck Koreans. I do have a strange NOS neck from Alpep that is wooden with a rosewood board, adjustable truss rod, yet it is bolt on. I don't know if I've ever seen a Korean bolt on but this neck looks very much like a typical Korean AA31 from the 80s. And it will NOT bolt up to a US bowl. So it's a mystery. I almost think I recall reading that some naked bowls were sent to Korea to have tops put on. Oh, and one huge giveaway even from 20 feet in low lighting, all US Applauses had the raised "bumper car" binding. The Koreans were...."normal" |
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Posts: 608
Location: Caribou, ME | Actually I take part of that back. I thought sure they made blue teardrop labels but I can't find one on the interweb.
USA:
Korea:
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Location: Texas | This is better than Unsolved Mysteries |
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September 2006
Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | I thought the there was a Black or Dark Blue ROUND with light print Applause label...
But I never really paid much attention.
I am inclined towards the "Let's build something with these spare parts" Theory.
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March 2007
Posts: 698
Location: Cork, Ireland | So many variations in the old Applsauce models. My aa31 has labels like the 'korea' one in the photo above but the blue one has 'made in usa' on it. Wood top and fretboard and not bolted on |
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Posts: 608
Location: Caribou, ME | Interesting! Can you post a pic of the label? |
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March 2007
Posts: 698
Location: Cork, Ireland | Might be on on here somewhere but will try to take one later |
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March 2007
Posts: 698
Location: Cork, Ireland | Best i can get. Seem to have ripped off some of it with duck tape when messing around with cables. It did say made in USA, honest !
https://1drv.ms/i/s!Ahfhrrb-UXCai0Av4XBohn1TXPoh
Edited by sycamore 2016-07-02 2:06 PM
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I never thought that I would buy an Applesauce.
