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Posts: 185
Location: Long Island, N.Y. | If you had a choice, What guitar would you choose for tone, clarity and punch?
87 collector series or 99 waterfall bubinga collector.
Thanks for your input |
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July 2008
Posts: 185
Location: Long Island, N.Y. | sorry. posted in wrong section. |
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Joined:
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Posts: 3969
| Send a message to the admins (click the "Report Post" icon) requesting that they move this to the General Section. They'll do so at the request of the original poster.
To your topic question: the 87C is considered by most to be among the best guitars in tone, playability, and sheer beauty to ever come out of New Hartford. The 99C is stunning, but the bubinga is a laminate (albeit very thin) over spruce, so as with any laminate top it's restricted in its vibrational characteristics compared to solid spruce, and doesn't "open up" as much as a solid top guitar does with play. I own an 87C, and it will go to my estate. |
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Joined:
July 2008
Posts: 185
Location: Long Island, N.Y. | thank you. actually you have given me my answer.
the next one i buy, if i can find one will be an 87c |
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Posts: 15682
Location: SoCal | They come up on ebay occassionally... |
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Posts: 12761
Location: Boise, Idaho | Having had both, the 99 is a stunner, but with the lam top and midbowl, it didn't have much bottom. I much prefer the 87 and still have it, until next year when it goes to my daughter on her 25th. |
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Location: Steeler Nation, Hudson Valley Contingent | When I owned a 99C, I did not know enough about Ovation construction methods to check, but I did know enough about the tone I liked to realize I made a mistake when I sold it. I seriously lucked into a very limited edition Custom Elite made with the same bubinga top. The biggest difference besides a lot of bling was that it had a deep bowl instead of a mid. It added volume and sustain while maintaining the warm, woody sound of the 99C. When I looked inside, I noticed that I could see bubinga on the back of the soundboard, weird for a laminate top. John Budny informed me that they made it the same way they made an Adamas top; birch sandwiched between veneers of bubinga. (You can see pictures of the interior graining on my ning site in my bubinga Elite photo album.)
I have an 87C as well, and it's everything people say it is. But between the 99C and the 02C, I have become a real fan of Ovations panel master tops. They sound as phenomenal as they look!
If I ever have to start selling, the 87 would go first if only because it is easier to replace than my custom bubinga, though not by much. If everything remains close to normal, neither one of mine is going anywhere.
Either way, you get to enjoy a fantastic musical instrument eh? :cool: |
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Joined:
July 2008
Posts: 185
Location: Long Island, N.Y. | Thank you folks for replying. I appreciate your time and opinions. Would any of you folks say that an 87c is a better sounding, playing guitar than a vintage custom legend? |
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Posts: 15682
Location: SoCal | Better? Who knows?
They are different sounds. The CL is a round hole, A braced guitar. The 87C is a multi hole Quintad braced (similar to the A bracing) guitar.
In my experience, the round hole A braced guitars tend to have a bit (not a lot, but a bit) more bass then multi hole guitars. The multi hole guitars tend to have a more even response from top to bottom.
The exception is the 1537 which has a very good and warm bass response.
Better? In the ear of the beholder...... |
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Posts: 4238
Location: Steeler Nation, Hudson Valley Contingent | An A-braced CL with a deep bowl is hard to beat tone-wise. The 87C has a different tone, but as stated earlier, is considered one of Ovation's best sounding guitars. That being said, CL's, even vintage ones, crop up way more often than 87C's. CL's can also be had for less $$$ more often than not. You will be pleased either way as they are both worth what they cost and more. |
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November 2006
Posts: 3969
| Can't state it better than Moody. "Better" is entirely subjective and depends on what you like. Why not get both? There's a reason I have 15 guitars (among them an 87C, a 1537 and an A-braced Custom Legend), and not because I just collect them for the hell of it, or just to say that I have them. Each one has its own distinct voice and feel, and each offers something unique for what I happen to want to play. And they're a helluva lot less hassle than 15 girlfriends... |
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March 2005
Posts: 12761
Location: Boise, Idaho | Originally posted by G8r:
And they're a helluva lot less hassle than 15 girlfriends... or one wife. |
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July 2008
Posts: 185
Location: Long Island, N.Y. | thanks G8r, I am trying to sell my 82 C.L. now so i can sock some money away for a 87c. I would like to keep it and have both but im out of work at the moment |
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Your opinion on tone - 87 coll.series vs 99 coll.bubinga
