Redwood. This one is trying to pry my wallet open. M.u.s.t R.e.s.i.s.t .......

JohnW63

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Rayk

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Solid top ? Very pretty . I can't find any new Ovations around to play but I've been wanting to try one been a long time since I had one in my hands .
If it calls to you grab it !
 

Christopher Cozad

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Yummy! I see no reason to continue to resist, John, unless you are saving for another Guild. Hope that helps.

Ovation offered a limited run back in 2001 called the Collector's Edition that featured Curly Redwood tops. That looks just like one of those guitars.
 

JohnW63

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Some one bought it, off Reverb, shortly after I posted the picture. It had a slight belly lift, according to the seller, but the price was dropped to $650. It was one of the 2001 Collectors FR models for "Figured Redwood". All of about 650 were made. I guess I was saved by someone from buying another guitar I don't need or would have time to play a lot. After the honeymoon phase of course.
 

Rayk

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Bummer , I could hold to the dang things as they kept sliding off my lap lol
Eyes open for another one A' :)
 

JohnW63

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An Ovation collector, expert, fellow poster in another forum, said it would have been a STEAL at $650. I should have clicked first and asked questions later.
 

Rayk

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Ah don't second guess yourself John if it was meant to be it would have happened . Maybe just maybe it would of cost you more in repairs if the top was lifting .
 

JohnW63

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That was my concern. My question to the seller was to find out how MUCH belly bulge there was and to see how quickly they responded. They responded pretty quick, with " Sorry , it just sold. "
 

Rayk

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That is a bummer in a way because it leaves you second guessing yourself something many of us gone through lol

I wonder why they do laminated tops in my head it makes no sense . Why not just offer a solid top instead of saying solid spruce top with X veneer ?

In a sense of importance to me on this type of guitar the top is the only wood part how much is the financial gain of a veneer/esthetics vrs tonality ?

I think mine was Glen cambel model huh man that was long ago lol
 

adorshki

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I wonder why they do laminated tops in my head it makes no sense.
A: In archtop jazzboxes (or just ampliifed acoustics) they tend to resist feedback.
B: They're impervious to cracking from drying out, which, in combination with a body that's indifferent to humidity fluctuations, actually makes sense, but that last part only just occurred to me.
:friendly_wink:
I also suspect it would have been prohibitively expensive to use a solid redwood top so I'll give Ovation a pass on that.
But if Guild tried to put a lam top on an acoustic I'd revolt.
:glee:
 
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merlin6666

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I wonder why they do laminated tops in my head it makes no sense . Why not just offer a solid top instead of saying solid spruce top with X veneer ?

In a sense of importance to me on this type of guitar the top is the only wood part how much is the financial gain of a veneer/esthetics vrs tonality ?

The new owners of Ovation, DW Drums, have a huge stash of exotic and cool looking woods that they use for drums. These woods don't necessarily make good tonewoods for guitars, but when laminated provide stability and may still sound ok, particularly if played amplified. It's a bold marketing move to focus on looks rather than acoustic excellence, and it may work for some of the younger player that they want to attract to Ovation. I certainly won't consider one of them. Their more traditional Made in USA models are supposedly still stellar though.
 

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I recall playing one briefly that someone had brought to the camp I worked at back in the late '60's / early '70's. It was a new concept at the time but I do not recall anything about the sound quality. I do seem to recall that slide off the lap problem however..... perhaps a strip of Velcro in the right spot would resolve that..... In later years I wondered if that bowl was actually parabolic to "shape" the sound towards the sound hole (port?) or was is just an arch for stability.
At $650 even if it was not a player it was a mighty fine looking piece of wood and somewhat "collectable" (okay maybe just unique).
 

adorshki

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I do seem to recall that slide off the lap problem however..... perhaps a strip of Velcro in the right spot would resolve that..... In later years I wondered if that bowl was actually parabolic to "shape" the sound towards the sound hole (port?) or was is just an arch for stability.
At $650 even if it was not a player it was a mighty fine looking piece of wood and somewhat "collectable" (okay maybe just unique).
From the "the usual source" (Wikipedia), in case you're still wondering:
"Charles Kaman put a team of employees to work to invent a new guitar in 1964.[4][13] For the project, Kaman chose a small team of aerospace engineers and technicians, several of whom were woodworking hobbyists as well. One of these was Charles McDonough, who created the Ovation Adamas model.[history 1] Kaman founded Ovation Instruments, and in 1965 its engineers and luthiers (guitar makers) worked to improve acoustic guitars by changing their conventional materials. The R&D team spent months building and testing prototype instruments. Their first prototype had a conventional "dreadnought" body, with parallel front and back perpendicular to the sides. The innovation was the use of a thinner, synthetic back, because of its foreseen acoustic properties. Unfortunately, the seam joining the sides to the thin back was prone to breakage. To avoid the problem of a structurally unstable seam, the engineers proposed a synthetic back with a parabolic shape. By mid-1966, according to Ovation, they realized that the parabolic shape produced a desirable tone with greater volume than the conventional dreadnought.[14]"

I for one could never get past that "slides off the lap problem" either and by my twenties viewed it as a classic example of one of my pet peeves, dysfunctional design.
 

Rayk

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Well they'll crack eventually if you Leave then out in the weather long enough but I would not want a twinky guitar . I don't believe the cracking thing is a viable excuse mine did not crack . Lol
And tops don't cost that much it's all hype to make us pay more .

Anyway at least they do have solid top models and graphite ones to or something like them those are the true twinky models ! But a tad bit expensive ......

I'll still have a grudge against any guitar the just refuses to stay put on my leg as I play and I wanted a steel lap guitar I would by one !!!

Tally hoeeeee !
 

Rayk

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I recall playing one briefly that someone had brought to the camp I worked at back in the late '60's / early '70's. It was a new concept at the time but I do not recall anything about the sound quality. I do seem to recall that slide off the lap problem however..... perhaps a strip of Velcro in the right spot would resolve that..... In later years I wondered if that bowl was actually parabolic to "shape" the sound towards the sound hole (port?) or was is just an arch for stability.
At $650 even if it was not a player it was a mighty fine looking piece of wood and somewhat "collectable" (okay maybe just unique).

Mighty fine looking veneer ! Lol
I liked the guitar and it's tone but I'd have to play it again as that was like eons ago .... umm where am I again ?
 
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walrus

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Yup, I worked at a record store in the late '70's, and we had a few guitars hanging from the wall, too. One an Ovation, that we all used to play since it was the most expensive! It drove me crazy sliding off my lap. As a Glen Campbell fan, I wanted to love it, but instead, I hated it...

walrus
 

Rayk

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Yup, I worked at a record store in the late '70's, and we had a few guitars hanging from the wall, too. One an Ovation, that we all used to play since it was the most expensive! It drove me crazy sliding off my lap. As a Glen Campbell fan, I wanted to love it, but instead, I hated it...

walrus

But how was it's sound/tone back then to you ?
 
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