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Joined:
May 2002
Posts: 3005
Location: Las Cruces, NM | These are some GREAT stories each and every one. My story is extremely lacking in impact, but it's the only story I have. In the 70's I was playing bluegrass with the son of our local (Poway CA) music store, and being helped a lot by the ex-Marine Korean vet, Bill, who owned the store. Bill was getting us gigs, loaning us sound equipment, and giving me tremendous discounts on everything. He had been a partner in a music store in Escondido, CA that went out of business and had been an Ovation dealer, to settle some dispute they sent Bill what was left of their Ovation inventory and among them was a new Viper that I was attracted to, thinking that some day I might want to go electric, so he gave me a good deal on it, happy to get the cash. I don't recall any good Ovation acoustics in that inventory or I might have bought one. As the years went by and bluegrass never went to electric lead, the guitar set in it's case and even visited a pawnshop a time or to as I was struggling to become established here in NM, it was like new so they usually gave me a couple hundred or more right off which was enough and I was still able to redeem it with no problem. I finally decided to play the thing a few years ago, and got curious about it and visited the Ovation web site and ended up on this board. I have always been totally impressed by the sound and quality of my Viper, but am still a novice when it comes to electric playing even though I've played acoustically, mandolin mostly and guitar, for over 50 years. I am contemplating an Ovation 12 string of some sort.
(My name is Bailey, and I'm a GASaholic Ovationist)
Bailey |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 53
Location: Los Angeles | In 1990. A blue birdseye maple top that was supposed to be NEW, from Guitar Center in Covina, CA(I am not sure the model number but I believe it was a special edition.The battery went out about three days after I got it and when I had it changed at a local store, the man told me that this guitar was definetly not new. So I raised a stink with the manager at G.C. and told them that I would only be happy if I could pick the guitar up directly from the wherehouse so I could make sure that they did'nt screw me again, and they relucantly let me pick up my brand new 12 string sunburst Ultra from the wherehouse. I then moved on to "THE BEAST", a new 1994 1858 Elite 12 string that has had the headstock cracked twice and repaired, after blowing off the stand at outdoor windy shows. It has been blistered and warped from playing it poolside in the Las Vegas desert heat, and finaly the box was run over and the top cracked, by the UPS truck after receiving it back from the Ovation factory, where John said, it looked as though I had been wrestling alligators with it. It has been crazy glued together and still plays and sounds beautiful. |
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Joined:
February 2003
Posts: 43
Location: South Africa | Mine is just a basic Korean made Celebrity, bought new only a few months ago in December 2002. I love it! :) |
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Joined:
November 2002
Posts: 3650
Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | My mission has been to pluck damaged O's from the icy grasp of The Grim Reaper, restore them to function, and pass them along to, hopefully, new converts to The Membership. I believe the count is now at six, given my memory is a target-rich environment for Age & Gravity. I still have the original 1111 (no hyphen, no number) that is the best thing since sliced bread. I also kept the CS255 honeyburst 12 A/E, because I HAVE to own a 12-string- it somehow fills my ears and soothes my nerves (Yes, Norsey, they ARE magical!). My technique still sucks, but I still want to play. I believe its because they're roundbacks (my story, and I'm stickin' to it).
Thanks for letting me share. It works if you work it. Keep comin' back!! (No offense to Friends of Bill W.) |
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Joined:
November 2002
Posts: 14
Location: tennessee | I was around Ovations when I was a teenager. Several of the "cool" kids at church had them. I also remember Glen Campbell and Bobby Goldsboro playing O's on TV. I had to wait 30 years to get my first one, though--an applause AE68. Sold it buy a Celebrity. Am thinking I need the aforementioned 12 string program. ;) |
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Joined:
August 2002
Posts: 8307
Location: Tennessee | I was the owner of a fairly new Takamine F400S 12-string around 1976 when I saw Dave Mason live several times and was blown away by his Ovations, both 6 and 12 strings. It took me a few years to scramble the money (I was having to put rear tires on an SS396 every couple of months), but finally bought a mahogany top USA Ultra in 1983. Since then the Takamine has gone, but was replaced by a Custom Legend 12-string. Also along the way picked up a solid body Viper, a supershallow Balladeer (got rid of it) and a 2000 Collectors. Bought my son a cheap 3/4 size shallow body Applause for his first ... not much on sound but sturdy as hell and impervious to the "El Kabong" antics of normal nine year olds. Later picked up a CS212 Celebrity mid bowl which sounded much better, and made for an improved second generation of weaponry. Now he plays my O's (eliciting screams of "pick control, pick control!"), but the traitor went out and got himself a J-200. Alas, parents sometimes have to let their kids make their own mistakes. :) |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 873
Location: puerto vallarta, mexico | 72 balladeer------still have it and still affectionatly play it. it now has over 30 other ovation brothers and what is my next ovation seems to be the question i ask myself. i think it will be a longneck------- |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 15677
Location: SoCal | My first Ovation was purchased in 1972 and was a shallow bowl Artist. Like many people, I had seen Glen Campbell play one on tv and was facindated! I even saw an article on Glen and Ovations in my grandfather's Popular Mechanics magazine. I bought the Artist for $295 (reduced in price from $320 because the gutiar had fallen over and a corner of the headstock was broken), first putting in on layaway, then paying for it over time when my dad co-signed for me. I bought the Artist because I didn't think I could afford the high cost of the Glen Campbell model -- $265! Another $75. Boy was that dumb.
I traded that in 1979 for a Legend (big mistake --- I wish I still had the Artist). Then in 1993 I bought a ten year old 1537 Elite (huge story on that), then in 1996 Big Blue. In about 2000 I bought a Classical (1763), then in 2001, a Country Artist (cutaway). Last October a Preacher Deluxe 12 string, and in December I sold the classical (no regrets) and bought a Thunderhead that had been built in late 67, early 68.
Also, about 4 years ago I bought a Viper and over the last year built it into a Viper Deluxe.
Sorry to bore you guys with such a long missive. Bottom line, 1972 -- Artist.
The next question would be, who here FIRST bought an Ovation? Can anybody beat 1972? Bet somebody can. |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 21
| started out playing one of those horrible $19.95 Montgomery Wards acoustics at the age of 12ish; after sticking with guitar for about a year (about how long it took to tune that piece of poo) my dad took me to a music store and let me blow my lawnmowing money on an aluminum fingerboard Applause in the sunburst. It was a great guitar (compared to anything else my friends had) and I played the heck out of it. Darn near drove my folks crazy with bad versions of Neil Young songs for hours. Picked up a used Legend and played that through college; after I got my first job out of school I scored a 1988 Ovation Limited that I still own and love. Funny thing is that I always wanted a good "traditional" acoustic, but I was "raised on Roundbacks" and I just haven't found a "trad" that sounds right to my ears lol. Picked up a cedar-top Takamine EN10, but I prefer the tone of an Adamas or Elite with fresh strings. Currently spending some time with some longnecked thang... |
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Joined:
June 2002
Posts: 863
Location: Central Florida | My first Ovation, a Standard Balladeer (natural top), came my way in 1971 at the ripe old age of eleven. I, too, had been bitten by the Ovation bug as a result of Glen Campbell's weekly TV show. The music store where I was taking guitar lessons had gotten this one in used, and the kindly old gent that owned the store knew how badly I'd been wanting an Ovation, so he worked with me (and my parents!) on the deal. Since then, I ve probably owned thirty or forty different O's (at various times). Today, I have ten guitars in my arsenal, seven of which are Ovations. I also hope -- one of these days -- to post pictures of my "babies" in the Gallery.
Regards,
Jeff |
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Joined:
December 2002
Posts: 29
| I started on a crappy St. George solid body electric and a Champ amp when I was about 12. Traded that straight across for a Gibson ES175C (not a bad deal, huh?). Didn't have that very long because I came across a cool looking (Moserite look-alike) Vox (1965ish) Bulldog with a Fender Vibroverb amp so I traded the Gibson for that (stupid, stupid, stupid...). Then, in my junior year of college, I, too, fell victim to those Glenn Campbell shows and picked up a spankin' new '72 Artist Balladeer (1121-4). I didn't take it to school though. It lived in its case under my bed at home. I took a $75 beater guitar to school and didn't worry about it. The Ovation is still in pristine condition. I added a fishman active pickup and it still plays pretty well. I could be happier with the electronics. I have struggled a little recently with neck adjustments and string gauge because I'm trying to get the action closer to my electrics. I still have the Vox, but have added a Fender Lonestar Strat, a Washburn bass, an Ovation Balladeer 12 string, and an Aslin Dane Jazz35 (335 clone). |
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Joined:
March 2003
Posts: 9
Location: AZ from TEXAS | A red 1978 Custom Balladeer that I traded someone a plane ticket for about ten years ago. You can't even trade plane tickets anymore. |
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Joined:
March 2003
Posts: 2
Location: W.Redding, CT | I've wanted an Ovation for many years, and while attending a guitar show in Auburn Mass this past weekend, I purchased a CS 257 Celebrity Deluxe. I've tried to trace the serial number as I was told by the selling dealer that this guitar was only 4-6 months old. Does anyone here know how to trace serial numbers for the Korean O's ? |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 255
| My first Ovation meant a lot to me. When I was working in Customer service back in 1993. Al D`Meola`s Sunburst custom legend came through. The body was shot and the neck was bashed. I later asked him why the neck was this way.{ he is very picky about his neck]s. The roadies were careless. This was the guitar he played in live at San Fransico with john M. and Paco D. if anyone knows. The body was cut in half to retrieve any important stuff like label and electronics. Plus everything had to be cut in half so people wouldnt retrieve them and bring them to local repair shops. Mainly because they complained. I was able to save the neck and put it on a beautiful custom legend top that needed repair. WHAT A SOUNDING INSTRUMENT. |
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Joined:
March 2003
Posts: 63
Location: Dallas, GA, USA | About 1990 or so if I recall, I went to the beach with some friends and family (who all play), and one guy had a black roundhole cutaway O that sounded fantastic. I spent a bunch of time sitting in the floor playing his guitar. When I got home I spotted a white (or probably more correctly, cream-colored) 1982 1111 Balladeer in a music store used, I think I paid about $200 with a case. I still have it, and the longer I have it the more I appreciate how nice it sounds. I later bought a natural Celeb Deluxe just because I like the multi-soundhole models, and now that my wife has her eyes on that one I just bought an Adamas CVT from Alpep... man, if that guitar doesn't get here soon I'm gonna go nuts! |
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Joined:
July 2002
Posts: 280
Location: Waterloo, IL | I first heard an Ovation when I was in Korea. I was trying to teach myself how to play. A guy had an O and gave me a couple of lessons. Had to wait until just before this deployment to the Middle East on board a ship to get my own O. Bought a used 1711 Balladeer. Great guitar. Had a Marine on board with a super shallow celebrity. We got together and played some. He was amazed at how much better my Balladeer sounded over his Celebrity. His Celebrity was the first A/E that I have seen that did not require a battery to plug in.
Chuck
Still in the Middle East waiting for the war to end. |
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Joined:
July 2002
Posts: 280
Location: Waterloo, IL | I first heard an Ovation when I was in Korea. I was trying to teach myself how to play. A guy had an O and gave me a couple of lessons. Had to wait until just before this deployment to the Middle East on board a ship to get my own O. Bought a used 1711 Balladeer. Great guitar. Had a Marine on board with a super shallow celebrity. We got together and played some. He was amazed at how much better my Balladeer sounded over his Celebrity. His Celebrity was the first A/E that I have seen that did not require a battery to plug in.
Chuck
Still in the Middle East waiting for the war to end. |
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Joined:
April 2002
Posts: 196
Location: Shelton, Washington, USA | a 78 1111. still got it. still play it. still sounds great. bought it cuz i fell in love with it when i tried it out at the store. had to have it. picked up a few more O's since, but that one (frances lerenia) is my favorite. |
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Joined:
March 2003
Posts: 127
Location: Corvallis, OR | I own two ovations, including the wide neck Folklore (I play finger style). I am attracted to the durable construction, the sound,and the feel of the neck.
But there is another reason, and it's hard to articulate. But there is a part of me that doesn't want to be like other people. And the Ovation simply doesn't look like other people's guitars, and I am quite comfortable with that. |
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Joined:
April 2003
Posts: 1
Location: Lansing, Michigan | First Kaman Corp. product: A 1st-generation Applause steel string, acquired in 1976. I'd been eying the roundbacks ever since they'd come out, but I was still a poor college student (post-grad at this point). In mid-1976, my local used-instrument store (Elderly Instruments, www.elderly.com) put this Applause on their "Dutch Auction" (Price is dropped until it sells or it gets turned into firewood.) Some surface finish cracks, all that I could see. I had an entry-level Ibanez dreadnought that I figured was worth about what the Applause was down to, and we swapped even. I still have the instrument, though I'd scraped the paint off the fingerboard to bare metal at the D chord.
My first "true" Ovation was a ca. 1981 Stereo Classic that I picked up in 1988. You can't see it all that well but I'm wielding it in the photo on my music page (http://members.aol.com/jwfmusic/music1/index.htm). I'd just started my first post-college job, and was in my first serious guitar-buying hunt, looking to upgrade from my entry-level Yamaha classical guitar. Anyway, Elderly had three nylon-string roundbacks, at least 1 with a 14-string neck, but the Stereo Classic caught my eye hardest. Somebody else had put a hold on it, but the salesman suggested I put another hold under that one, in case the first buyer didn't come through. Well, he didn't, and it came home with me. It's been my primary instrument ever since. A sweet sound and plays nicely, with the capability to plug in if necessary.
-- John Filpus |
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Joined:
July 2002
Posts: 1900
| First new Ovation? 1971 Standard balladeer, shiney bowl, acoustic only; Loaned it to a friend and he broke it. His dad made him buy me an Artist model to replace it. I traded that for a "Campbell" artist, then a 'country artist', then another model and another model,etc.,.......
....I have been an 'ovationaholic' ever since. |
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Joined:
February 2003
Posts: 398
Location: Gig Harbor, Washington | O.K. - Here's my shot at whimsical nostalgia...The year was 1973, in mid-June, & I was 13 1/2 with my first real job (as a dish-pit monkey in a waterfront restaurant). I stopped into the old Ted Brown Music, in Tacoma, Wa (Matt Smith will be there on May 8th!) and picked up & plugged in an A/E Artist (which was a big step from the garage sale classical I was trying to learn Beattles, Byrds & Turtles on!) and I was instantly spellbound.
By the time School started in the fall, I had a 1621-1 (6 string A/E artist in sunburst) which cost $495 + 100/case and 5.3% tax - for a whopping total of $626.54 (wholelottabucks4a13yrold!)
I still have that sweet lady, we've been all over the globe together, and she's 5 feet away in my office as I write (and yes, I can't keep my hands offa her!). Fortunes have come and gone, I've seen the rise & fall of numerous studios and collections of instruments, but she (and my wife of 20 years!) have remained constant. I better wrap it before I get emotional on y'all! Peace, Love and Feedback Control...Keep In Tune~ MisterGolf007 :cool: |
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Joined:
February 2003
Posts: 398
Location: Gig Harbor, Washington | O.K. - Here's my shot at whimsical nostalgia...The year was 1973, in mid-June, & I was 13 1/2 with my first real job (as a dish-pit monkey in a waterfront restaurant). I stopped into the old Ted Brown Music, in Tacoma, Wa (Matt Smith will be there on May 8th!) and picked up & plugged in an A/E Artist (which was a big step from the garage sale classical I was trying to learn Beattles, Byrds & Turtles on!) and I was instantly spellbound.
By the time School started in the fall, I had a 1621-1 (6 string A/E artist in sunburst) which cost $495 + 100/case and 5.3% tax - for a whopping total of $626.54 (wholelottabucks4a13yrold!)
I still have that sweet lady, we've been all over the globe together, and she's 5 feet away in my office as I write (and yes, I can't keep my hands offa her!). Fortunes have come and gone, I've seen the rise & fall of numerous studios and collections of instruments, but she (and my wife of 20 years!) have remained constant. I better wrap it before I get emotional on y'all! Peace, Love and Feedback Control...Keep In Tune~ MisterGolf007 :cool:
P.S. My current stock of O's consist of 6 necks, 8 pickups and 42 strings (you do the math!) ...Well, gotta-go, I'm chairing the meeting of the local chapter of OvationBuyers Anonymous! !Hasta Luego, Hombres! ;) |
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Joined:
February 2003
Posts: 9
Location: Indiana | 197? GC 12, 1118-4 I think. The neck has a little dip in the middle now but it still sounds great and doesn't buzz unless you really bang on it. Bought it new,would never sell it. |
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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 10583
Location: NJ | I realized I never answered this.
In the mid 80's I was cruising around a flea market and bought an applause with a metal neck for $20. I took it home and strung it up to find out that the neck was warped. I called up Ovation service. (realizing years later I probably talked to John Budny) and asked if they could fix it. they had a fix and it was $35. I got the RA number and sent the guitar back. A month or so went by and I called and asked about the guitar. They said they were backed up and the guitar was in the works. I called back a month later they apologized and said the guitar was in finishing. Now I was afraid since I did not ask for the guitar to get finished and it had some deep scratches on the top. Well I just waited. a few weeks later the guitar arrived.
The neck was straight, the cracked rosette was replaced and the scratches in the top were buffed out and taken care of. I was blown away at the amount of service I got for my $35. I called and thanked them for the great job they did on this guitar.
A friend came over fell in love with the guitar and had to have it so I sold it to him. A few years later I got an early Adamas and I never looked back. |
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What is your 1st Ovation? When & why?
