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Joined:
March 2004
Posts: 3
Location: Mohawk, NY | Hi All,
I thought it was about time I made use of the expertise here! A couple of months ago, I bought a 1980's 1718 Elite that I really enjoy playing. I am not that thrilled with the amplified sound, however. I think my Seagull S6 Cedar with K&KSound western pickups had a more pleasent amplified sound but was kinda ugly and harder to play.
The Elite has a somewhat harsher sound. Has anyone else had a similar opinion? If so, has anyone tried the Shadow replacement pickup?
I don't mind the guitar's sound that much, but wonder if it would be worth replacing the stock pickup.
Thanks for any help. |
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Joined:
April 2003
Posts: 2503
Location: Fayetteville, NC | Kevin,
Welcome aboard. There's a whole lot of people more qualified to answer this. But I'll take a shot. Most of The Ovations I've played have a very pleasant plugged in tone. So I would take a shot at asking The Folks with Ovation Customer Service their Opinion. Unless someone else comes to the rescue to your satifaction. Sound can be a very subjective thing. What sounds great to some may not sound great to others.in my own opinion,
I wouldn't try anything other than another Ovation system. They are designed to work better with the roundback design.
If anyone else has any ideas..post away to help out our New OFC brother.
Again Welcome aboard. |
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Joined:
December 2003
Posts: 13997
Location: Upper Left USA | Some of the variables include what are you going through? If it's an acoustic amp or a Guitar amp or a PA.
Which pre-amp is on your elite as well?
Piezo's can sound hot if unbalanced and plugging into an electric guitar amp will produce a less than desirable sound. |
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Joined:
May 2004
Posts: 295
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada | Greetings, Kevin, and welcome. I too have an Elite 1718 (sunburst). If memory serves me correctly, information on the Ovation website indicates it's a few years younger than yours.
I don't find the amplified sound to be "harsh," even though I don't have the greatest amp going (a Crate acoustic 60). It may not have the same "woody" sound as traditionally constructed guitars, but I like its unique voice.
I've ordered an Adamas W597-BZ; it'll be interesting to compare the Elite sound to a carbon fiber soundboard tone. |
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Joined:
April 2003
Posts: 2503
Location: Fayetteville, NC | I have discovered with my O that the sound is really great going directly to the PA. Just use a Direct Box and go directly there. Run your EQ settings on the guitar flat and adjust EQ at the soundboard. My Elite 1858 really sounds great that way...just a thought. |
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Joined:
March 2004
Posts: 3
Location: Mohawk, NY | Thanks for all the good advice. I am using a Roland Keyboard amp for stage , and direct to the PA for the main signal. I haven't spent much time looking at the setup since I switched guitars, and the answer might be pretty simple. I did notice that the Elite output is much hotter than the seagull. I may be clipping slightly somewhere.
From your responses, a "harsh" tone doesn't seem to be typical of these guitars. I'll look at the signal chain before resorting to any modifications.
Thanks,
Kevin |
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Joined:
February 2004
Posts: 1634
Location: Warren,Pa. | I'll add this just to muddy the waters, Kevin. I installed the K&K Western pickups in my '02 CL 12string becaube I didn't like the sound of the stock p/u. The sound is much improved (IMHO), but still not the sound I have in my mind as the perfect sound...maybe THAT is impossible to attain and will always just be in my mind. John <>{ |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | In terms of tone they are a few pickups out there which sound more accurate & natural than the Ovation pickup to my ears. However the Ovation pickup is superior to most, if not all in terms of output, feedback threshold & especially string-to-string balance. Depends on your needs really, but when it comes down to playing acoustic guitar at concert volume, with a rhythm section & monitors the choices of pickup get pretty narrow |
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Joined:
March 2004
Posts: 3
Location: Mohawk, NY | I was tempted to install the K&K Westerns in my Elite, but the bracing doesn't allow it. They sure sound sweet in the Seagull. I do like the high output of the stock pickup and the feedback threshold is much better. I'm still wondering if anyone has had any experience with the Shadow replacements?
Kevin |
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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 10583
Location: NJ | I have a k & K in a whacky dobro project that failed.
the guy that built it for me just did not get it.
I hate him.
the pickup sounded good though |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | Shadow make several pickups (guitar, bass & mando) which look identical to and are direct replacments for the Ovation pickup. Shadow make great pickups & have some history with Ovation. Ovation's first attempts at a guitar synth (if we exclude the Condor) were in conjuction with Shadow and as well as the synth unit I'm pretty Shadow also made the hexaphonic piezo pickup. This was pretty much a standard Ovation pickup but had a separate output for each of the 6 piezo crystals. I don't think fitting a Shadow pickup instead of an Ovation pickup would produce a significantly different result, tonally. |
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Joined:
June 2004
Posts: 271
Location: Ft. Lauderdale, Florida | Been talking to Joe at Shadow AND Kim at "O" about such things... seems Ovation only used Shadow for 1- maybe 2 years max and that was in fact the Hexaphonic (which currently is called the "polyphonic"
From and engineering point of view one would think the 6 seperate inputs would give more flexiblity to a pro to mix the sound any way possible...
Maybe for blending the sound and customer friendly controls they have kept the single line pick up...
Not sure what's going on in the NEWEST OP-50 with XLR ??? Seems the pick up looks the same from above as the original pro pick up with the intonated, 8mm wide saddle... But Kim @ "O" tells me it's been upgraded... Anyone know how ???
Also discovered the saddles (at least the older pro models) are made of delrin, are hollow and filled with silicone... What's up with that ???
Nuts are TUSQ I believe. Saddles delrin??? Delrin is really soft compared with other choices... Tonal superiority or what ???
Can anybody recomend a minimal amp, or sound system with at least 2 inputs 3 or 4 would be better, with aproximate costs for a basic system neccessary to reap the bennies from such luxuries as XLR ??? Maybe something that is upgadable or stackable for a sound system for small gigs...
AB |
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Another Newbee Pickup Question
