Any Ovation owners/players here?

[Mikeymac]

Well, it seemed that Ovation USA was dead (killed by Fender, like some other brands, of course), but maybe not yet.

Several of the Kaman brands were sold in a lump deal to DW (Drum Workshop), who just happen to be neighbors of Larrivee in Oxnard, CA! Link to announcement by Fender.

No word yet on whether the brand will continue, but an employee at Ovation USA responded to a customer (with a guitar in for repair) that, with this announcement, it has been a busy few days there; here's a quote from the Ovation Fan Club forum (John Budny is the Ovation employee):

"This just in from John Budny:

Hi Jeff,

Sorry it has taken a bit to get back but it has been an exciting couple of days. We are here for a while, hopefully a long while and not sure what will happen but will get you information on your guitar by tomorrow. We are operating as usual for the time being.

John"

Here's the link to that forum thread.

Will be interesting to see ... but I don't hold out much expectation of a resurgence of Ovation. Their time in the spotlight has come and gone...

[Riverbend]

I have an Ovation mandolin...does that count? It's actually a decent instrument for the $400 used I payed, and I bought it just as much for the electronics as for the acoustic sound. For as little as I play the thing I'm happy. Of course, I'd love a Larrivee mandolin but I've never even seen or heard one in person in these parts. I'm thinking I'd play more mandolin if'n I did!

[Mikeymac]

Nothing like digging back into an old thread!

But I finally pulled the trigger on an Ovation L717 (Legend 1717 lefty). It's a 1993 model. I would love to find a really old one (with a shiny bowl), but the chances of finding a lefty like that - and then being able to afford it - are slim to none, and slim just left town...

Looks like it's in great shape - seller is American Music Seattle; they describe it in their Reverb.com ad as "excellent" condition. Hardly has any pick scratches on the plastic rosette or the top wood.  Also got it for a couple hundred $$ less than the one I looked at several months ago.

Hope it ships soon, but I may not see it till next week... I'll report back then...

P.S. It's also nice to know that Ovation is ramping up to build USA Ovations again - they've always been top notch about doing repairs on customer's guitars (some very extensive), so hopefully if I ever need anything, I can get it fixed at the "mothership" (as the 'O' groupies call it).

[Mikeymac]

Here's a You Tube demo of a Legend that actually sounds pretty good (pretty well recorded). Gotta add this song to my repertoire, too!

[SMan]

FWIW American Music in Seattle has a good reputation in the area and is a long operating store.  I've purchased gear there but no guitars.  Hopefully it is as advertised.

[Mikeymac]

FWIW American Music in Seattle has a good reputation in the area and is a long operating store.  I've purchased gear there but no guitars.  Hopefully it is as advertised.

Thanks - I was hoping someone here would chime in about them! Glad to hear about their reputation.

The pics look pretty good. I see one possible blem in the wood on top of the guitar (near the bottom of the lower bout), but as long as it's not a crack, I'm not worried (on a 22 year old guitar - about the age of my OM-05).

[Dr. LJ]

I have owned a few Ovations in my time.  I had an Elite with a mid-depth bowl and a 1980's era Balladeer with a cutaway and a deep bowl.  I really use to play the Balladeer a lot and still miss it.  I sold it to a nutty guy I used to play guitar with in a moment of weakness.  If I found one just like it, I might buy it. It sounded great and had a wonderful neck on it. 

[Mikeymac]

The guitar is scheduled to arrive Friday via UPS - and they always deliver very late in the day in my neighborhood - so I'll be away setting up for a gig! I'll probably have a neighbor watch for it and put it in the house when it arrives ... don't want to reschedule for Monday; want to have it to mess with over the weekend! 

...also discovered (according to the serial number) it's a '92 ... maybe original owner just purchased it in '93... (minutia, I know ... how we obsess)

[Mikeymac]

The guitar is scheduled to arrive Friday via UPS - and they always deliver very late in the day in my neighborhood - so I'll be away setting up for a gig! I'll probably have a neighbor watch for it and put it in the house when it arrives ... don't want to reschedule for Monday; want to have it to mess with over the weekend! 

...also discovered (according to the serial number) it's a '92 ... maybe original owner just purchased it in '93... (minutia, I know ... how we obsess)

Well, I never followed up after this Ovation arrived, but the guitar was in very good - excellent condition for a 23 year old instrument. No major issues - neck is straight and action is reasonable. I took out one shim that was under the saddle - still a couple more under there, which I'm not a fan of, but can't remove them without issues. I didn't like the string spacing, so I cut a new bone nut for it - plays better. It does have some pretty major wear on the first 3 frets under the B and E strings - if I decide to keep it long term I'll have to get that addressed.

Here's the kicker:

I just purchased a second lefty Ovation that was on e-bay - an 1157-7 Anniversary model, I think it's an 82 model? Highly respected model on the Ovation forum, and I hemmed and hawed around about whether to buy it, but a lefty like this doesn't come up very often, so I plunged in! It will arrive around the middle of next week.

The 1157 doesn't have a built in pickup - I'm interested in seeing how that impacts the sound. I'll compare these two, and if the 1157 is far superior to the L717, I'll probably just keep the better one.  A pickup can be easily added (with less impact on the tone than some of Ovation's own pickup systems).

I'll report back more faithfully after this one arrives, but here are a few pics from the e-bay ad:

[dberch]

This is the only picture I can find of "Old Reliable" - my first good guitar. Still have it. a 1990 Elite deep bowl.

[photodork]

that is a beautiful guitar!!! what a lovely top!!! congrats!

Well, I never followed up after this Ovation arrived, but the guitar was in very good - excellent condition for a 23 year old instrument. No major issues - neck is straight and action is reasonable. I took out one shim that was under the saddle - still a couple more under there, which I'm not a fan of, but can't remove them without issues. I didn't like the string spacing, so I cut a new bone nut for it - plays better. It does have some pretty major wear on the first 3 frets under the B and E strings - if I decide to keep it long term I'll have to get that addressed.

Here's the kicker:

I just purchased a second lefty Ovation that was on e-bay - an 1157-7 Anniversary model, I think it's an 82 model? Highly respected model on the Ovation forum, and I hemmed and hawed around about whether to buy it, but a lefty like this doesn't come up very often, so I plunged in! It will arrive around the middle of next week.

The 1157 doesn't have a built in pickup - I'm interested in seeing how that impacts the sound. I'll compare these two, and if the 1157 is far superior to the L717, I'll probably just keep the better one.  A pickup can be easily added (with less impact on the tone than some of Ovation's own pickup systems).

I'll report back more faithfully after this one arrives, but here are a few pics from the e-bay ad:

[Mikeymac]

Finally getting around to reporting in on the 2nd round back to enter my collection recently...

The guitar arrived with much more wear than was revealed in the photos or description on e-bay. The one main thing that needs to be addressed is that the frets need to be crowned and smoothed out on the ends - someone leveled them, I think, but then didn't do any crowning or polishing - this makes sliding up and down the fret board quite painful.

I sent the seller a message pointing out the issues with a guitar he described as in "excellent condition" - including the fact that he insured it for $500 when my purchase price was $750 (airing my dirty laundry here...).

He denied that the guitar had any undisclosed issues or problems, and even claimed it was insured for the full amount plus shipping (this is not what it said on the USPS tracking site); but in the next sentence he offered to reduce the price by the $250 (which I requested in my message to him, in order to give him a good rating on the sale).

So I got the guitar for 1/3 less than the original price - much closer to what it's worth - and I can now justify spending some money with my tech to get the frets addressed. Some of the guitar's other nicks and blems, while obvious upon casual inspection, are still fairly minor for a 30+ year old guitar, and don't affect the playability/tone.

I'm relieved that this worked out as it did - I would NOT have been a happy buyer had the seller not met my request...

But being a 10th Anniversary model in lefty, it's somewhat rare, and a 

[dberch]

I have a 1990 Ovation Elite Deep Bowl Cutaway. Bought it new and it is still my goto guitar when it's too hot or too cold to take my Collings or Larrivee out to a show. That Ovation neck always feels like coming home. :) And the sound from the Op24 preamp always surprises me. Good tone and excellent string separation.

I'll never sell it!

Here's a recent pic from a 45 degree Farmers Market :) ....

[Silence Dogood]

I had one of the import shallow-bodied Celebrities once upon a time.  I think it cost me around $400 over 20 years ago.  It was great if you wanted to play plugged in, and it felt like playing an electric guitar.  Sold it when I got my Larrivee and never looked back. 

[StringPicker6]

I tried an ovation in a store years ago, and the rounded back threw me off, it kept slipping off my leg. But they are very beautiful and interesting.