Jinder Posted August 27, 2018 Share Posted August 27, 2018 Hi all, A friend of mine passed away recently and his widow has asked me to sell his guitar on her behalf. It’s an unusual thing, a natural top Ovation K1111 Balladeer reissue from 2006. Apparently a real top end Custom Shop style job, released in limited numbers mainly to the US market, and retailed at around $3500 new. I know nothing about these guitars-I joined the Ovation forum but they require 15 or so replies before I can start a thread, and I don’t have 15 things to say about Ovations! I need to find out what they’re worth on the secondhand market so I know where to start in terms of eBay etc. Do any of you fine folks have a waymarker on these? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drathbun Posted August 27, 2018 Share Posted August 27, 2018 I take it the reissue K1111 is a rare item. Here is a listing at Reverb: Ovation 40th Anniversary Balladeer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard McCoy Posted August 27, 2018 Share Posted August 27, 2018 The resale value of Ovation guitars, even if high-end (which this is not), isn't great. For their 40th anniversary, Ovation produced a limited run of a few of their vintage models, among them the X-braced K-1111 Balladeer reissue. Specs are true to the original with the shiny fiberglass cloth bowl, 3-piece spruce top, 5-point Brazilian rosewood bridge, enclosed Kluson vintage tuners, inlayed chainlink rosette right down to the thick ‘duckbill' lip headstock and model logo on the thick ’skunk’ striped neck. If you look at past successful Reverb or eBay auctions, you will probably get a good idea what she may be worth. While rare, yes, she still is an early-Ovation reissue, and therefore looks very prototype-y and not in a good way. She supposedly sounds fantastic, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparquelito Posted August 27, 2018 Share Posted August 27, 2018 Here's how Fjestad's Blue Book describes that special model, and how they value it: BALLADEER 40TH ANNIVERSARY (MODEL K1111) Non-cutaway deep body, AA solid Sitka spruce top, round soundhole with original ribbon-style rosette, black/white multi-layer binding, 14/21-fret ebony fingerboard with dot inlay, three-per-side chrome tuners, Brazilian rosewood bridge, Natural finish, 25.25 in. scale, mfg. 2006 only. Original MSRP was $2,499. Worth now, in Excellent Condition - $1,150 - 1,350 Worth now, in Average Condition - $700 - 850 I hope this helps, mate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinder Posted August 28, 2018 Author Share Posted August 28, 2018 Thanks all! Super helpful info. It would seem i’m looking at around £700 UK in that case. I’ll let the lady in question know-thanks so much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinder Posted September 2, 2018 Author Share Posted September 2, 2018 I played this for the first time today. I went in totally prepared to hate it but was blown away. Really big, deep, rich and articulate. Weirdly as loud and projecting for fingerstyle as for strumming and flatpicking. I have no room at the inn for another guitar (especially with my F25 incoming) but I really enjoyed spending some time with it...found myself spinning and weaving all sorts of melodies and parts that seemed to jump out of the guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave F Posted September 2, 2018 Share Posted September 2, 2018 I bought my 1st Ovation in 1970 . It is a 335 clone but a bolt on neck. They body was made in Germany and the rest in the U.S. Still have it. A few years back I bought a 2778LX Elite and really liked it. The only problem I had was the movement of the neck and soundboard. It was a constant chase that I finally gave up on and sold it. Sometimes I wish I had kept it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinder Posted September 2, 2018 Author Share Posted September 2, 2018 I bought my 1st Ovation in 1970 . It is a 335 clone but a bolt on neck. They body was made in Germany and the rest in the U.S. Still have it. A few years back I bought a 2778LX Elite and really liked it. The only problem I had was the movement of the neck and soundboard. It was a constant chase that I finally gave up on and sold it. Sometimes I wish I had kept it. What kind of movement was happening with the neck and soundboard? I know some guitars just keep moving around like crazy, my old Dove was like that. Solid as a rock for a year and then randomly decided it wanted to be a tree again-neck bowing, body bellying, frets popping out, allsorts. All of that in a humidity controlled room at a constant 45-60%RH! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard McCoy Posted September 2, 2018 Share Posted September 2, 2018 I'm not hugely surprised that K1111 sound as killer as it does considering that my Ovation Legend easily trumps any high-end guitar you throw at it in terms of sound and playability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave F Posted September 2, 2018 Share Posted September 2, 2018 What kind of movement was happening with the neck and soundboard? I know some guitars just keep moving around like crazy, my old Dove was like that. Solid as a rock for a year and then randomly decided it wanted to be a tree again-neck bowing, body bellying, frets popping out, allsorts. All of that in a humidity controlled room at a constant 45-60%RH! I didn’t need a calendar to tell what season it was. I know some guitars move constantly but this one would be unplayable unless I adjusted it. It came with saddle shims and they were usually enough to do the adjustment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinder Posted September 2, 2018 Author Share Posted September 2, 2018 I'm not hugely surprised that K1111 sound as killer as it does considering that my Ovation Legend easily trumps any high-end guitar you throw at it in terms of sound and playability. Yeah the playability was wonderful. Such an easy going neck and the ebony board seemed to play like buttered butter on a buttery thing. The tactile response and dynamic range surprised me the most though, superb volume and projection with the lightest touch. The gloss bowl was a little odd to begin with, but it did encourage me to sit in the correct position and not slouch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex_78 Posted September 20, 2018 Share Posted September 20, 2018 Hi all, A friend of mine passed away recently and his widow has asked me to sell his guitar on her behalf. It's an unusual thing, a natural top Ovation K1111 Balladeer reissue from 2006. Apparently a real top end Custom Shop style job, released in limited numbers mainly to the US market, and retailed at around $3500 new. I know nothing about these guitars-I joined the Ovation forum but they require 15 or so replies before I can start a thread, and I don't have 15 things to say about Ovations! I need to find out what they're worth on the secondhand market so I know where to start in terms of eBay etc. Do any of you fine folks have a waymarker on these? Old thread, but perhaps you still want to hear the opinion of a K1111 owner. That is indeed a replica of the first production model sold in 1966, it's a quite minimalistic guitar then as well as now: dots, simple rosette, vintage toned finish etc... It is just acoustic, with a deep glossy bowl, handmade supposedly...Mr. Kaman was a great fan of Martin and this guitar is very inspired by Ms: the neck is a soft V slightly thinner than a vintage Martin, but the fingerboard has a 12 inches radius. The top is in three pieces as they were using spruce from helicopters rotors (no kidding), the bridge is brazilian rosewood, quality of the ebony and mahogany are equal or better than my HD28V. As a sound it's also clearly Martin, very powerful and robust, it's probably the loudest guitar I have, the sound is rich and dark, again like a HD28V, but with more note separation, that makes the M better for strumming but O better for fingerpicking...good luck finding one, it appears they made 50 or 60 of them, I bought mine new unsold for $1000 as at that time nobody wanted a Ovation without pickup and the company was sold and sequentially killed by Fender. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinder Posted September 23, 2018 Author Share Posted September 23, 2018 Old thread, but perhaps you still want to hear the opinion of a K1111 owner. That is indeed a replica of the first production model sold in 1966, it's a quite minimalistic guitar then as well as now: dots, simple rosette, vintage toned finish etc... It is just acoustic, with a deep glossy bowl, handmade supposedly...Mr. Kaman was a great fan of Martin and this guitar is very inspired by Ms: the neck is a soft V slightly thinner than a vintage Martin, but the fingerboard has a 12 inches radius. The top is in three pieces as they were using spruce from helicopters rotors (no kidding), the bridge is brazilian rosewood, quality of the ebony and mahogany are equal or better than my HD28V. As a sound it's also clearly Martin, very powerful and robust, it's probably the loudest guitar I have, the sound is rich and dark, again like a HD28V, but with more note separation, that makes the M better for strumming but O better for fingerpicking...good luck finding one, it appears they made 50 or 60 of them, I bought mine new unsold for $1000 as at that time nobody wanted a Ovation without pickup and the company was sold and sequentially killed by Fender. Thanks Alex! Really interesting info and opinion. Oddly enough, the one I was selling on behalf of my friend’s widow sold today for £700...just over $900. I think that’s a fair price for all concerned. I wanted to keep it, but I just don’t have room at the inn for another acoustic right now and have just spent my last spare shekels on my F25. Selling it was hard going as everyone in the Ovation market seems to want an electro. It’s a stunning sounding guitar despite barely being played since new...with some miles on it I bet it would sound absolutely stellar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex_78 Posted September 24, 2018 Share Posted September 24, 2018 Thanks Alex! Really interesting info and opinion. Oddly enough, the one I was selling on behalf of my friend's widow sold today for £700...just over $900. I think that's a fair price for all concerned. I wanted to keep it, but I just don't have room at the inn for another acoustic right now and have just spent my last spare shekels on my F25. Selling it was hard going as everyone in the Ovation market seems to want an electro. It's a stunning sounding guitar despite barely being played since new...with some miles on it I bet it would sound absolutely stellar. It is ironic as the bowl was designed to give more volume for the guitar played acoustically. According to the legend Ovation was called like that because acoustically the first ones were powerful and Josh White stated the new guitar deserved an "ovation", then they became famous because they invented the piezo (again, piezo sensors were and are estensively used in aerospace so it was natural that somebody at Kaman had that idea) so right now everybody thinks "Ovation= piezo guitar". However, the K1111 is a seriously underrated guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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