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Location: East Wenatchee, WA | After getting the guitar home last night I spent a bit more time doing a thorough review of the 2080. The following are only my thoughts and impressions and YMMV.
General Appearance, Fit and Finish: The first thing I did was remove the crusty old strings and replace with 1818’s. During this initial inspection and restringing I can generally say it is a well built and nicely finished guitar. The only negative I found was that the body binding (some type of synthetic) was not very clean with sanding marks and one nick in the body just below the binding at the neck. Beyond that flaw, the fretwork, neck, machines…everything else, was quite nice. The overall appearance is quite stunning in an understated way. I had a group at my house for worship practice, and all liked the looks. The word my wife used was “Plush”. As in, it looked very rich and full but not showy. Everyone commented on the Nike “Swoosh” however. That should probably go away.
Playability: The action is about the same as my 1537 which hasn’t been touched in at least 10 years. It is low enough, but not two low (I didn’t measure, sorry) and there was no buzzing or ringing. Both my 1537 and W597 can get a bit of buzz or ring if I am not careful where I put my fingers. After recent discussion of the Contour bowl, I basically lined up all three of my O’s (1537, W597, 2080) and tried them both sitting and standing as I would during worship. Surprisingly, I discovered the 2080 was quite uncomfortable. I am 5’8” and have relatively small hands and short arms, and found it to be tough to get a comfortable grip on. The mid bowl was the most comfortable and the deep 1537 2nd. I will give the 2080 more time, but the feel was not even like a box guitar (one of the folks there last night had a Carvin Cobalt 850 that I sold him…dreadnought cutaway). The Contour seems to have a difficult time finding a balance between when my hand finds the strings and my left hand is comfortable with a straight wrist on the neck. I will give it some time as it may simply be developed habits which I am sure are not all good (keep in mind, I am a mediocre guitar player). Sitting, however, I could see no real difference between the O’s, and all were more comfortable than the Cobalt.
Electronics: This is a good news, bad news affair. The VIP electronics are very strong in output, and clean with minimal noise created from the package. I am not entirely convinced of the utility of the mic simulation, but like all the switches on an electric that I rarely use, the various settings do add a different dimension to the sounds. I ended up with the 2nd simulation and mixed about 60/40 pickup to simulation. One thing I found odd was that the EQ seems to be very tweaky. As in, a hairs width adjustment takes the bass from overpowering to tinny. It was not easy to find a nice eq and I finally just went flat across the board. Part of the problem may have been my PA speaker placement as they are stacked in a corner right now. Overall, however, the output level is a real bonus as the OP50 in my W597 is really weak creating the need for a lot of gain (yes I did put in a new battery) when compared to my 1537. The 2080 is hotter than the 1537. The real bad news in this is the hokey set-up to activate the electronics package. There is just something wrong with having to carry around a silly dummy plug to activate the onboard tuner AND the XLR plug. Keep in mind the latter. You must plug the dummy plug into the ¼” then plug in your XLR cord or nothing happens. Very strange way to run a railroad on this class of instrument.
Sound: Okay….here it is, the totally subjective verdict of a jury of peers. As I mentioned, I had four folks at the house for worship practice. 2 ladies (including my spouse) and 2 guys. We decided to do a taste test. The subject guitars were: The 2080, W597, 1537, Ovation CC057 Celebrity Shallow Bowl and the Carvin Cobalt 850 (compares well with low end Taylors according to reviews). I played each guitar in the same order and playing the same passage both with strumming, some picking and some finger picking. We went through this several times with everyone’s eyes closed so as not to be influenced by which guitar was which.
The results were: (drum roll please). The Celebrity was toast. Not one person really cared for it at all. The Cobalt only faired slightly better with a couple of comments that “I like that one better than this one” when comparing the two. The W597 and 2080 surprising were very close, but not because of better or worse, the comments were just that they were different. The W597 was liked for the distinct, bright tone quality and crisp bass. One person said it was a very “articulate” guitar in that the notes were so easily distinguishable. The 2080 was likened to “that sound you hear an acoustic guitar make on the CD’s”, which to me is a huge compliment as this probably refers to probably some very expensive Martins and Taylors and professional recording enhancements. Balanced and Smooth were a couple of adjectives given to the 2080. But…there was not a clear consensus as everyone liked both in a different way. Well, except my wife. She loved the sound of the 2080 as she is not into “bright” (which is why she married me right). The winner….hands down was the 1537. This did surprise me as I had very high expectations for the two Adamas’. The adjectives used on the 1537? “Ahhhhhhh”, “SWEEEEETTT”, “That’s the way a guitar should sound”.
Well, sorry this is so drawn out, but thought it would help those considering a purchase. Obviously the 1537 has not given up it’s place as the King of the Acoustic Hill, but the 2080 was compared favorably from an acoustic perspective, and the electronics package is superior. At least for now, it gives up a bit of comfort to the W597, and the annoying battery activation issue is a downer, but all in all, it is a great Adamas. |
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Location: North Idaho | Thanks for the extensive review, Jeff. It's always nice to have objective comparisons with several models in the same setting. |
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Location: Bluffton, SC | I agree - great review. I only wish I could have been there to hear the side by side of the 2080, 597 and the 1537. |
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Location: East Wenatchee, WA | Thanks for the compliments,but it really is a "subjective" review since we are all novices and the technique was hardly scientific. Purely based on each persons listening tastes.
Of course on the other hand, that is probably the majority of audiences that listen to our guitars anyway. |
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Location: PDX | Yeah Jeff, thanks for the reviews. Were they all strung with the same strings? Just curious.
_____
gh1 |
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Location: East Wenatchee, WA | Didn't think about that, but the W597, 1537 and 2080 all had 1818's. The Cobalt has a too-old set of Elixers that I put on it before selling it, and I have no idea which century the strings on the 057 were from. Let's just say they were pretty nasty. |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | Lets add in the Ute and 87 Collector next week. Thanks for a great review. |
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Location: Chehalis, Washington | And a 1718 for kicks. I'm curious to hear that one next to the 1537 anyway. |
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Location: NW NJ | Andrew - that 1718 ain't a bad axe at all, is it? :) |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Hi Jeffrey,
Thanks for the great review. Very interesting about the 1537 but not at all surprising to me. My experience is that any time I try a blind fold test between adamas and wood topped guitars, the subjects almost always pick the wood topped guitar as "the best". I am quite sure that this happens because that "woody" sound is what most people have engrained in their subconciousness as what a guitar "should" sound like. Adamas is "different". Better in many ways, yes. But it's just different enough that it doesn't necessarily register with everyone as the "default" guitar sound. You know what I mean?
As far as the VIP goes, I don't have one so I'm just speaking out of emotion here. But I ask myself "in 10 words or less, why do I need this".
As far as having to put in the dummy plug to activate the XLR or tuner, that is just plain stupid. All the plug does is make a contact and open the power. For christs sake put in an on/off switch if you have to.
Anyway, you've sure got yourself some nice instruments to compare to each other, and thank you for sharing your observations with the rest of us.
Dave |
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Location: East Wenatchee, WA | Hi Dave,
I agree on the issue of "best sounding" (which I tried to make clear...purely subjective test). I enjoyed the clear crisp sounds of the W597 when I got it. It was better at cutting through the mix acoustically.
As for the VIP....I am slipping into your camp upon owning one. The only reason I didn't go for one of the re-issues, is that I wanted electronics that had the built in tuner. That to me is a must have item. My ear just is not as good at tuning on the fly as it used to be. But the whole idea of a dummy plug is just...well dumb. Not sure who's idea that one was, but hope they fix it on later models.
As it is, I will give the 2080 a shot for a couple of months. I like the way it looks, sounds and feels, except for the contour bowl, but need to try it for a bit. If it does not adapt, then it goes on the block. My only question now is whether to keep or sell the W597 which works for me okay (except now my wife is attached to the 2080...oh bother). |
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Location: Central Massachusetts | So in order to use XLR you have to have the dummy 1/4" plugged in as well? Or would it work with an XLR cable that has pin 1 bonded to the shield? Is that with or without phantom power? If you have to plug something into the 1/4" jack to get XLR to work, I'd call that broken.
There's a local guitar store here that will make the necessary cable pretty cheap. I'll bring mine to the shindig for experimentation. |
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Location: NJ | The .25" DummyPlug is just to use the tuna w/o the XLR in . . . |
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Location: East Wenatchee, WA | I plugged my guitar into my Mackie board via a microphone standard microphone cord and had NO power to the electronics UNTIL I plugged into the 1/4" jack.
So....not sure what should or should not work, but had absolutely NO output at all without the 1/4" plug in it.
Does that mean broken....not sure. I will read the paperwork tonight and see if there is any reference, but phantom powered xlr would not activate the electronics by itself. |
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Location: NJ | Is pin 1 grounded to the shell on the jack? |
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Location: East Wenatchee, WA | Don't know.... It is just a standard microphone xlr that I use for my Condenser microphones. It also works fine powering my Op50 equipped W597.
Does it take a special cord then to power using Phantom. I wasn't aware of that. |
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Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | I'm with Cliff on this. Depending on the ground, some XLR cables will not work (and mic cables are NOT all grounded the same.) |
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Location: Chehalis, Washington | Originally posted by worshipleader:
Andrew - that 1718 ain't a bad axe at all, is it? :) You figured me out, huh? :D
Jeff, I'm stumped on the 1/4" thing. Though, now that I'm thinking about it, didn't someone else post a while ago here about trouble with the same thing on one of the newer preamps? About the most recent thing I've got is an Optima w/XLR, which I've only used the XLR plug on a couple times, and it had no trouble at all coming through with just a standard mic cable. I wonder if it's the "phantom power" thing that causes the break in the loop. |
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Location: closely held secret | Jeff, just use an ohmmeter and check the cable by making sure that there is continuity between pin 1 and the outer shell of the cable end. If the cable end has a plastic shell, it won't work. If there is no continuity between pin 1 and the shell, it won't work. |
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Location: East Wenatchee, WA | Kind of had a fun afternoon. Took the 2080 to Ted Browns music up in Kennewick...kind of a smaller version of Guitar Center and regional. They carry Ovations (even had a double neck and Elite T).
Anyway I was in playing with pedals. A couple of the store guys said they used to carry Adamas and they seemed quite intrigued with the 2080. Some customers were standing around asking the salesmen "what is that cool guitar". Kind of fun.
After that, I went to a car sale to look at a new car for my wife. Ended up buying one (that may justify keeping two A's), but it was really dead there with about a dozen salesmen standing around, so....since it takes them 2 hours to close a deal now, I pulled out the 2080 and started messing around (it was an outdoor tent type affair). Pretty soon guitar player wannabes, and some seriously good players among the salesmen were all checking out the A. Car guys they are, they know materials. Young fellers (20's) were like "Whoa man, is that a Carbon fiber guitar?"
So....it was a very positive Adamas good will tour. |
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Location: south east Michigan | Good job Jeff!
At the last tour, (ya should-a been dere)...Rick Hall expressed his graditude for the field work the OFC members do.
If I had a job where I might have to sit idle for an hour or more, I'd be sure to have my uke tucked in my desk drawer. |
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Location: Lebanon, TN | This "plugged in to work" thing is something I suffered with the Martin OMC Aura. Can someone tell me are the VIP electronics made by Fishman too? If so then the problem is a deliberate electronic design issue. You have to plug the 1/4" in on the Martin Aura guitars too to use the tuner.
On the value of the sound modelling approach, I dont know so much for live work but for recording, using the Aura direct into my recording interface got me rave reviews for the excellence of my accoustic micing technique for several songs I recorded for my daughter and I.
Based on that and how much I loved that little OMC, I was sold on the Aura pre-amp as being the answer to my quick recording and occasional live recording gigs to give that well mic'd guitar sound without a studio and $500-1000 condensor mic. But that's just my 2 cents and why I'd love a 2080 or maybe a 2006 collector. |
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Location: Keller, TX | Originally posted by Stuart Miller:
This "plugged in to work" thing is something I suffered with the Martin OMC Aura. Can someone tell me are the VIP electronics made by Fishman too? If so then the problem is a deliberate electronic design issue. You have to plug the 1/4" in on the Martin Aura guitars too to use the tuner.
YES! Back when I first started having problems, I took the VIP apart. "Fishman control pcb" is printed on the circuit board inside the preamp case. |
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Posts: 140
Location: Spain | I have a similar problem with my MEII have not been able to get the XLR to work properley ..I assumed the guitar was faulty but sending it back is not really an option .I just carry on using the jack .Are you saying I may just need to modify a normal XLR lead to get it to work?? |
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Location: Keller, TX | Update:
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2080 Play Off (1537, W597,CC057, Cobalt)
