Ovation Guitars acquired by GEWA music

SFIV1967

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12/22/2020

Ovation Guitars acquired by GEWA music

The Adamas and Applause brands are also included

Following on from Mesa/Boogie's move to Gibson, an iconic name in acoustic guitar has found a new home with GEWA music's announcement that it has acquired the Ovation brand from Drum Workshop, Inc.

The German company had previously been the exclusive distributor for Ovation throughout Europe and soon began developing Ovation designs for that market. From 1 February GEWA Music USA will take over distribution from Drum Workshop in the United States.

Associated brands Adamas and Applause are also included in the deal and Ovation‘s New Hartford Custom Shop will now focus on the manufacturing of high-quality Adamas models.

Hans-Peter Messner CEO/President GEWA music GmbH: "We look forward to using our knowledge and expertise in the guitar field to link new ideas and concepts with one of the most legendary guitar brands of the 1970/1980s.

"We are already working on the implementation of several ideas that will soon be presented to our worldwide Ovation fans & trade partners. No other guitar brand has shaped the sound of the 1970s and 1980s like Ovation. It is a very special challenge to continue the legendary story that began with Charles Kaman's vision. We dedicate ourselves to this with a lot of enthusiasm! We would like to thank Drum Workshop for the fair and open discussions and the good cooperation over the past years."

Source: https://www.musicradar.com/news/ovation-guitars-acquired-by-gewa-music
 
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walrus

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Interesting. Some consolidation going on in the guitar business, that's for sure...

walrus
 

SFIV1967

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Wonder what it means for New Hartford.
The German guys would be stupid changing anything. The press info already said: "Ovation‘s New Hartford Custom Shop will now focus on the manufacturing of high-quality Adamas models."
But it's funny that now US guitar companies are owned by companies in the Markneukirchen/Germany area (Adorf is close by) where C. F. Martin was born and came from to the US.
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Rambozo96

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Having Ovation changing hands so quickly concerns me
 

SFIV1967

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Having Ovation changing hands so quickly concerns me
GEWA and previous owner DW had already a relationship for many many years, so they knew each other well. Who knows what the economic reasons were to sell the guitar business to GEWA. At least GEWA is a relatively large player in the instruments business.
Ralf
 

Rambozo96

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How long do you mean when you say "so quickly"? Without looking anything up I would say DW owned Ovation for four or five years which doesn't seem quick to me. :)
I was worried maybe if it changed hands twice in a 10 year span it just makes me wonder if the parent companies are having trouble making sales to justify retaining ownership of Ovation. I often wonder how Kaman/KMD ended up selling the brand off.
 

merlin6666

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I was worried maybe if it changed hands twice in a 10 year span it just makes me wonder if the parent companies are having trouble making sales to justify retaining ownership of Ovation. I often wonder how Kaman/KMD ended up selling the brand off.
Fender had bought all of KMC and when their financial troubles were growing they sold off the various parts of KMC as well as Guild to get cash. Ovation was bundled in with various drum brands including Gretsch that was acquired by DW Drums. Obviously being a successful drum producer was not enough to keep a guitar brand going.
 

Rambozo96

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Fender had bought all of KMC and when their financial troubles were growing they sold off the various parts of KMC as well as Guild to get cash. Ovation was bundled in with various drum brands including Gretsch that was acquired by DW Drums. Obviously being a successful drum producer was not enough to keep a guitar brand going.
Who knows maybe it’ll work out in the long run. I don’t really think FMIC did many favors for some of the companies they bought out with the exception of Gretsch and Charvel/Jackson. Tacoma is long gone, Sunn as well even though you’d think the Doom/sludge metal crowd would be incentive enough to revive Sunn, Hamer nearly suffered the same fate, I feel like Guilds market share is smaller than before the Fender buyout than after Cordoba took Guild off FMIC’s hands and seems to be giving their best shot to revive the name, and shuttered MIA Guild (possibly Hamer) and Ovation production upon closing the New Hartford factory.
 

merlin6666

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The speed and extent of how music businesses and brands are acquired and consolidated is mind-boggling. KMC was the larges distributor for many years and had already consolidated a huge number of brands. Then Fender sold the leftovers to Canada based JAM Industries which calls itself now largest distributor in the world. Check out their website for a list of brands that we thought to be competitors but they are all under the same umbrella. Then in 2018 JAM was acquired by Irish DCC, and I have no clue what they may be up to.
 
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