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My new vintage Ovation, not rare, but wonderful

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DetlefMichel
Posted 2018-08-22 9:02 AM (#544998)
Subject: My new vintage Ovation, not rare, but wonderful



Joined:
May 2011
Posts: 751

Location: Muenster/Germany

On eBay there was an old Ovation Folkore guitar for sale, for a reasonable price. I always was curious about these guitars and I am not afraid of smaller repairs with Ovation guitars, if needed.
I did not know how old the guitar was, as far as I knew these were built between 1972 and 1982. The case was in bad shape with some cracks ouside, so...
..what I did not expect was an absolutely flawless guitar (only little fretwear, no wonder after all these years). The serial nr. said it was built in 1977.

Watch the factory-built-in counter-bearings for the machine axles, these are not in use on many guitars today.Makes tuning easier.

I wondered how these 12-fret x-braced guitars might sound. This one sounds like no other Ovation I ever had. Imagine a custom legend with a strong mid-boost, it´s a bell-like tone with impressive basses (I use Thomastik strings like on all vintage guitars) and with a really incredible low action. The neck is straight, it´s a set neck guitar, the neck angle is still perfect and the old preamp works perfectly.

Now I wanted to know what bracings made this surprising sound, the 1614 guitar was not even equipped with the highest grade spruce top, but it sounds so wonderful:

What you see is not the picture of an ols attic, it´s the inner bracing of a goos sounding guitar. Unbelievable, if you compare this to other guitars which cost 610 USD-in 1977!! no wonder that I found no nails in it;-), this is another proof for the fact that the Ovation people choose whatever they wanted to make a guitar, with stunning results.

I believe that this is going to become one of my favourites.

 

 



Edited by DetlefMichel 2018-08-22 9:06 AM
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Mark in Boise
Posted 2018-08-22 9:26 AM (#544999 - in reply to #544998)
Subject: Re: My new vintage Ovation, not rare, but wonderful


Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 12750

Location: Boise, Idaho
It's about time! I found a very similar gem many years ago, just after I discovered the OFC. I think mine is also a 1977. It has some fret wear and had a cracked brace caused by a hole drilled for the pickup wire, which was easily fixed with some glue. If you look at your picture of the bracing, you can see that the brace next to the pickup wire might also have been hit by the drill.
I found it on ebay for a crazy low price because the owner was told it was for nylon strings and he couldn't get them to stay on. The sound is wonderful. To me, it's the way Ovations should sound. I may be biased by the fact that 1977 is the year I really became interested in Ovations and got my first one.
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jay
Posted 2018-08-22 9:42 AM (#545001 - in reply to #544998)
Subject: RE: My new vintage Ovation, not rare, but wonderful



Joined:
January 2009
Posts: 1249

Location: Texas

Agree...these are great guitars. It would be interesting to see what the original JW looked like in this area. Here is a pic of what they did with the 40th

 





(40th.jpg)



Attachments
----------------
Attachments 40th.jpg (31KB - 1 downloads)
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Nancy
Posted 2018-08-22 10:45 AM (#545003 - in reply to #544998)
Subject: RE: My new vintage Ovation, not rare, but wonderful



Joined:
December 2014
Posts: 1713

Location: Frozen Tundra of Minnesota
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

What a Gem!!!! Don't you just love it when the shell opens up to reveal a *Pearl*?
She is a Beauty, Congratulations, and enjoy it!!!!

Edited by Nancy 2018-08-22 10:46 AM
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Love O Fair
Posted 2018-08-22 11:09 AM (#545004 - in reply to #544998)
Subject: Re: My new vintage Ovation, not rare, but wonderful



Joined:
February 2016
Posts: 1768

Location: When??
Looks like a steel-string cousin to Chapin's '77 1613 classical that Dan just finished restoring. Jealousy here. Congratulations on a very nice find!
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DetlefMichel
Posted 2018-08-22 11:35 AM (#545005 - in reply to #544999)
Subject: Re: My new vintage Ovation, not rare, but wonderful



Joined:
May 2011
Posts: 751

Location: Muenster/Germany
Mark in Boise - 2018-08-22 4:26 PM

To me, it's the way Ovations should sound. .


The guitar plays and sounds great but IMHO the REAL Ovation sound is the one of an (old) A-braced custom legend guitar. (Did I mention sunburst?)
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DetlefMichel
Posted 2018-08-22 11:48 AM (#545006 - in reply to #545004)
Subject: Re: My new vintage Ovation, not rare, but wonderful



Joined:
May 2011
Posts: 751

Location: Muenster/Germany
Love O Fair - 2018-08-22 6:09 PM

Looks like a steel-string cousin to Chapin's '77 1613 classical that Dan just finished restoring. Jealousy here. Congratulations on a very nice find!

Thank you all, you are right, it was a great surprise when I opened the case.
I had a 1613 before, one of the best guitars ever built, but I had trouble with the flat classic fretboard. The Folklore is better, has a slightly radiused fretboard. The only thing that is confusing me a little is that the guitar has a wider neck than usual steelstring. (I got so accustomed to Ovation necks that I even changed the string spacing of my Martin guitar to the narrower Ovation measurements). But decades ago I played classic guitars only, I guess my fingers will remember how it works;-)
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d'ovation
Posted 2018-08-22 12:31 PM (#545007 - in reply to #544998)
Subject: Re: My new vintage Ovation, not rare, but wonderful


Joined:
December 2003
Posts: 846

Location: Canada
Congrats, Detlef. I am always impressed by your abilities to track down these gems in Deutschland.
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Patch
Posted 2018-08-22 2:13 PM (#545009 - in reply to #544998)
Subject: RE: My new vintage Ovation, not rare, but wonderful



Joined:
May 2006
Posts: 4221

Location: Steeler Nation, Hudson Valley Contingent

I loved the old folklores so much (especially the burst finish ones  ) that I eventually had them build a custom one for me.

Congrats!

(And send pictures to me...hint, hint.)



Edited by Patch 2018-08-22 2:14 PM
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alpep
Posted 2018-08-22 6:18 PM (#545017 - in reply to #544998)
Subject: Re: My new vintage Ovation, not rare, but wonderful


Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 10581

Location: NJ
Nice

Enjoy!!!
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arumako
Posted 2018-08-23 12:53 AM (#545026 - in reply to #544998)
Subject: Re: My new vintage Ovation, not rare, but wonderful



Joined:
October 2012
Posts: 1018

Location: Yokohama, Japan
Awesome DetlefMichel! Congratulations! Those 12-Fretter Os are really something else! While you're taking pictures for Patch, please upload a video! Haven't heard a new video from you in a while; and it would be so cool to hear what she sounds like!
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DetlefMichel
Posted 2018-08-24 5:13 AM (#545043 - in reply to #544999)
Subject: Re: My new vintage Ovation, not rare, but wonderful



Joined:
May 2011
Posts: 751

Location: Muenster/Germany

Mark in Boise - 2018-08-22 4:26 PM

 If you look at your picture of the bracing, you can see that the brace next to the pickup wire might also have been hit by the drill.

Of course the drill was a little wild on this guitar, too. The hole for the cables was big enough for two, reached until the area under the 6th string.

Like always, I took a little piece of spruce anf filed it to fit in the redundant drill hole:

Instead of clamps I used a piece of wood to fix it (remember Arumako: DRY RUNS!!)

The brace inside was not affected too much, but the pin fixed it at the same time.

No big deal.

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leonardmccoy
Posted 2018-08-24 6:45 PM (#545054 - in reply to #544998)
Subject: Re: My new vintage Ovation, not rare, but wonderful



Joined:
December 2015
Posts: 287

Location: Katmandu

Astounding that Folklore sounds so good given how crude/primitive her X-bracing is.



Edited by leonardmccoy 2018-08-24 6:46 PM
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DetlefMichel
Posted 2018-10-02 12:42 PM (#545451 - in reply to #544998)
Subject: RE: My new vintage Ovation, not rare, but wonderful



Joined:
May 2011
Posts: 751

Location: Muenster/Germany
Here´s a video:
https://youtu.be/i7tq2Qzp9Vc
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arumako
Posted 2018-10-02 5:46 PM (#545454 - in reply to #545451)
Subject: RE: My new vintage Ovation, not rare, but wonderful



Joined:
October 2012
Posts: 1018

Location: Yokohama, Japan
DetlefMichel - 2018-10-02 2:42 AM

Here´s a video:
https://youtu.be/i7tq2Qzp9Vc

Thanks for posting the video DetlefMichel! It's such a joy to listen and watch you play! That 1614 sounds very nice. I like the depth of it compared to the Legend, although the Legend does sound more refined while the 1614 sounds more suitable for ragtime or blues. Although a video mic never quite captures the subtle nuances of the full majestic voice of the guitar, your comparison really makes it easy to tell the differences between the 14-Fretter and 12-Fretter. Really enjoyable! More, more, more!
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