I bought an Ovation!

**mr. beaumont** · 07-26-2016, 09:54 PM

Nothing expensive, just a celeb elite. I've wanted an Ovation since my guitar teacher gave me a tape (off his original vinyl) of "Friday Night in San Francisco" when I was about 14-15...

Anyway...here it is:

I bought an Ovation!-20160726_171804-jpg

I bought an Ovation!-20160726_171804-jpg

Trutfully, for a $500 it's pretty damn impressive. Loud (surprising, for a super shallow) and very balanced, with super low action, and a soft V neck similar to my tele.

This would be a great first "jazz guitar," for someone really...for me, it will fulfill the duty of "out in the yard with my kids or in my classroom" guitar. But I'll tell ya...I'm gonna be playing this one a lot.

I'll do a video soon.

**rhoadsscholar** · 07-26-2016, 10:03 PM

Very nice. Ovation fan here too. They are great buys and once amplified, they have a great unique voice. Congrads

**neatomic** · 07-26-2016, 10:34 PM

here's one gratis!

I bought an Ovation!-standing-ovation-gif

haha

enjoy

cheers

**Danny W.** · 07-26-2016, 10:38 PM

I owned a boatload of them in the '70's-'80's. Always thought they were great guitars, and far more playable than most flattops back then.

Danny W.

**GNAPPI** · 07-26-2016, 10:40 PM

Congrats!!

I too have liked them since I first played one. The alignment of the planets and finances were not in conjunction when I played one I liked.

Then a few months ago I found a GREAT OLD one in a hole in the wall LGS but I was on my motorcycle and figured I could go back in a few days and get it.

When I went back, the store was closed... forever. Arrrgghhh!!!

**RonD** · 07-26-2016, 11:39 PM

Nice. Owned a few, back in the eighties. Looking forward to your review.
Congrats.

**KirkP** · 07-27-2016, 12:28 AM

I assume it has a factory piezo pickup and preamp? How's that sound? Or did you want it for its acoustic voice?

I have a model 1111-4 Balladeer that I bought new around 1970. It still looks and after a refret plays like new. It has no pickup though -- it's just a camping guitar these days.

**rlrhett** · 07-27-2016, 12:40 AM

I loved Ovation, until I bought a Celebrity in the mid 90's. I couldn't GIVE that POS away.

Glad to hear they improved their QA. They had become the but of jokes, and I don't think the design deserved so little respect. They can be... No SHOULD be cool guitars.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

**Hammertone** · 07-27-2016, 02:21 AM

Think of the money you've saved when you go camping.
You can use it as a guitar AND a paddle!
Good paddles are expensive.
(yeah, yeah, just kidding around).
Enjoy the guitar.

**Thumpalumpacus** · 07-27-2016, 02:33 AM

I'm not a huge fan of their acoustic voice, but the ones I've played have all had great playability.

I do love FNiSF, one of my favorite albums ever.

**Jabberwocky** · 07-27-2016, 07:07 AM

That's a lot of style for $500. Gotta watch out for the infamous Ovation bridge lift. I'd downtune it before storing it away.

**medblues** · 07-27-2016, 07:48 AM

Looking forward to your take on Mediterranean Sundance :-) (hope you take requests)

**Max405** · 07-27-2016, 08:47 AM

Originally Posted by medblues

Looking forward to your take on Mediterranean Sundance :-) (hope you take requests)

Or Fantasia Suite for Two Guitars.
I didn't realize there were so many AL fans here.. He never gets mentioned much. He is in my Mount Rushmore..
JD

**Max405** · 07-27-2016, 08:59 AM

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

Nothing expensive, just a celeb elite. I've wanted an Ovation since my guitar teacher gave me a tape (off his original vinyl) of "Friday Night in San Francisco" when I was about 14-15...

Anyway...here it is:

I bought an Ovation!-20160726_171804-jpg

Trutfully, for a $500 it's pretty damn impressive. Loud (surprising, for a super shallow) and very balanced, with super low action, and a soft V neck similar to my tele.

This would be a great first "jazz guitar," for someone really...for me, it will fulfill the duty of "out in the yard with my kids or in my classroom" guitar. But I'll tell ya...I'm gonna be playing this one a lot.

I'll do a video soon.

Mr B.
Great Guitar man. When these 1st came out, I had to have one myself. A cost effective Adamas styled, blast to play, GREAT sounding acoustic. They are outstanding values for the money. You can tune the top and minimize feedback by tightening a single screw on the back.
I love mine. In fact, I've never owned a guitar for a longer period of time. I've always wondered how it would sound with TI12's on it.

I think Glenn Campbell then Al DiMeola put these on the map. Great, indestructible Guitars.

JD

**Boston Joe** · 07-27-2016, 09:13 AM

Great, indestructible Guitars.

Hardly.

Keep an eye on the bridge and the neck.

I had a high-end Ovation back in the 80s. On one occasion the bridge detached from the top. on another occasion, the neck detached from the body. Mind you, this is on a guitar that cost $1,000 back in the early '80s when $1,000 was real money.

I had them reattached, but it never sounded the same after that.

Before all that happened, though, I loved the thing.

**mr. beaumont** · 07-27-2016, 09:26 AM

Originally Posted by KirkP

I assume it has a factory piezo pickup and preamp? How's that sound? Or did you want it for its acoustic voice?

I have a model 1111-4 Balladeer that I bought new around 1970. It still looks and after a refret plays like new. It has no pickup though -- it's just a camping guitar these days.

I'm not expecting too much from the pickup, but I imagine I will play it plugged in from time to time.

This was really to play around the house with my kids running around, outside, and to have in my classroom...I even went with a laminated top, for extra durability.

The acoustic sound is quite impressive for a shallow bowl...Reminds me a lot of...gasp...an archtop! Very even response, a bit mid rangey...it won't win any "acoustic tone contests" with my Taylor, but my Taylor also cost 4x as much, and it's been getting dinged a bit more than I prefer.

**ESCC** · 07-27-2016, 09:59 AM

I bought an Ovation Country Legend in 1979, at that time they retailed for approx. $1,000. Sold it three years ago, I only play sitting down and the deep bowl became an issue. It sounded great and the playability was excellent.

Enjoy.

**T1mothy** · 07-27-2016, 03:18 PM

What a beauty! Congratulations. Amazing playability is what comes to my mind regarding these guitars. Looks great too.

**rkettner** · 07-27-2016, 08:15 PM

Congratulations! My first real guitar was an Ovation Balladeer so Ovation has always had a special place in my heart. When I got older and was able to purchase a new acoustic, I choose an Ovation Elite with the shallow bowl. It looks very similar to your finish. The guitar plays beautifully and I've always loved it. The neck is like that of an electric guitar. It sounds great through an amp. In retrospect, I wish I now had a Martin or a Taylor, but the guitar is really a work of art. I don't play it as much anymore but I'll never let it go.

**va3ux** · 07-27-2016, 08:18 PM

Very nice. I too have always had a 'thing' for an Ovation but i never did get one. I think it all started with the Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour back in the late 60's.

**M-ster** · 07-27-2016, 09:58 PM

Congrat's, Jeff. Enjoy it!

**Cavalier** · 07-27-2016, 10:18 PM

All my acoustics wound up being Ovations. I really like the ones from the 70s to mid 80s. Solid tops, good grains and playability, fantastic value. I do have a Celebrity mandolin that needed work but uses the same pickup and preamp as the higher end Ovation. The big news is they CAN be used as canoe paddles! My Country Artist 1624 nylon string was acquired for a song after being submerged for days in hurricane Sandy. That is the first time I took a guitar into the shower.I had to get the mud out but it revived after carefully stabilizing the moisture content. It needed a new pickup but I was able to save the pre amp, the old ones used military spec components.

**Al Br.** · 07-28-2016, 01:57 PM

I bought one back in the 80's as a travel guitar. I was on the road a lot for my real job and did not want to lug around a large acoustic or electric and amp. The Ovation was great and wonderfully playable. Only complaint was that it sounded flat very quickly no matter what strings went on it. First week or two fine, then dull. It held up for a very long time with no apparent issues.
First problem came up when I settled in to my present local, Houston. In very short order cracks appeared on the front.
I think moving from a very dry climate to a sauna did it in. It experienced a lot of indoor out door activity which may also have been the culprit.
Whatever, it was a very good piece for relatively low cost and very easy to play. Don't know if I'd go for another but definitely worth a second look.
To the O.P. very nice and enjoy!

**Woody Sound** · 07-28-2016, 03:02 PM

I used an Elite for several years. Sounded very nice plugged in, great action. But I had a few problems with it.

1. I don't like V necks.
2. My shirt often rubbed against the vol knob, suddenly changing the vol.

Here's a tip: They make a sticky pad to put on the lower waist if you find it slipping down off your thigh.

**Doctor Jeff** · 07-28-2016, 06:35 PM

Originally Posted by Al Br.

I think moving from a very dry climate to a sauna did it in. It experienced a lot of indoor out door activity which may also have been the culprit.

A sauna is DRY heat. My ex-wife was Estonian-American, and I installed a sauna in my previous house. Typically the humidity is 5-10%, temperature up to 200 degrees. When you throw water on the rocks, the humidity will immediately jump up to 50% and though the temperature will drop it will feel MUCH hotter. God I miss a good loyly...

Sorry, back to your previous programming...