Jump to content
Gibson Brands Forums

Shoot me now, just shoot me.....


ksdaddy

Recommended Posts

I have eight Gibsons but as of an hour ago I have SIX Ovations.

 

Just frickin' shoot me, okay? In the face. Single action, so I know what's going on.

 

It's a castoff abuse victim though, and I do have the compulsion to rescue. And I am a member of the BFLG (Bottom Feeder Luthier Guild).

 

$27 salad bowl

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well you've done some good work there.

 

I saw an old Ovation Viper electric guitar today and one of those old Ovation bases with a big pickup that you can slide backwards and forwards. The Ovation Deacon and Preacher were quite cool looking electrics, but I've never owned one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One of the best players I've had the privilege of jamming with played an ovation when he was not playing electric. He also had a nice Martin except that the action was high on it. He chose the Ovation, strung with nylon strings, and could make it sound sweet as any guitar. Sometimes it's surprising what sounds a really good player can get from a cheap guitar.

 

I've never owned an Ovation, but give them credit for being creative.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ksdaddy,

I opened the link you posted and if I was in your place and if I had your skills I's buy that guitar at once.

There is something "happy" pictured there in this instrument and I am sure that you will make a very good guitar out of it!!!

Please, Ksdaddy - when you finish to work on that project to post some pictures.

Personally me - I like that Ovation on the picture and would play with pleasure on it!

Krasi

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I haven't followed it all that closely. I believe (all caveats apply) that Connecticut is now making Ovations again and they are also making the US made Guilds.

 

Where it gets blurry (to me) is that since 1982, all Applauses and Celebrities were imported; somehow I'm getting the idea that some Ovation brand models like the Balladeer are imported now too. Could be my imagination.

 

BTW, I had a trashed O I bought just for the neck a couple years ago. It came with a topless bowl. Too flimsy by itself to be a good chip bowl. O's rely a lot on synergy. Like house trailers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have eight Gibsons but as of an hour ago I have SIX Ovations.

 

Just frickin' shoot me' date=' okay? In the face. Single action, so I know what's going on.

 

It's a castoff abuse victim though, and I do have the compulsion to rescue. And I am a member of the BFLG (Bottom Feeder Luthier Guild).

 

$27 salad bowl

 

Eight Gibsons does not sound unreasonable...but six Ovations is just plain weird!

 

As I got older, I've found that the round fiberglass bodies don't match up well with my round body....almost to the point where when I play my Ovation, it looks much like John Lee Hooker playing!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Eight Gibsons does not sound unreasonable...but six Ovations is just plain weird!

 

I think a lot of my motivation to buy is that when they get ratty they sell cheap. I mean ungodly cheap. The $27 one is an extreme example; so is the blueburst Applause I bought a few weeks back for ten bucks (needed a small section of the top/bowl reglued' date=' otherwise beautiful).

 

I'm not a huge Ovation fan despite my recent actions. I find them weird to hold and they have a little bit of unnatural sound to them. But as long as people are practically giving them away I'll pick up more. It's quite easy to pick up one in fairly good shape with hsc for a couple hundred or less.

 

I see a little bit of a spike in '76-'82 US made Applauses lately but that may just be because of a small recent article about them in Vintage Guitar magazine.

 

As to tone, I have one plywood topped Applause that I wish, oh lord, I wish you guys could try. If I didn't suck I would post something on youtube. The Gibsoneque tone that comes out of that thing is frightening. And it was all by accident. The fan bracing had popped loose and was missing, plus the bridge had pulled a big chunk of plywood out of the top. I made a bridge plate and two large braces, something like found in an archtop, and just glued it all together. My goal was to make it function, that's all. I am not claiming my bracing improved the sound, as it was a basket case when I started, but I have never heard a plywood Applause sound like that before or since.

 

[img']http://www.angelfire.com/me4/ksdaddy/applausebracing.jpg[/img]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think a lot of my motivation to buy is that when they get ratty they sell cheap. I mean ungodly cheap. The $27 one is an extreme example; so is the blueburst Applause I bought a few weeks back for ten bucks (needed a small section of the top/bowl reglued' date=' otherwise beautiful).

 

[/quote']

 

My 12-string Ovation is BEAUTIFUL, and in great shape. Too bad it plays like a 2" X 4" plank! I had the neck worked on maybe 20 years ago, but it never was right. I think the truss rod is not connected at the bottom. That and the round back thing is what keeps it put away in the closet.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, in the mid '70s I got a cupla their first piezo boxes, a steel string legend and a nylon string 14-fret nylon country artist. At the time I was playing a lot of acoustic stuff and had spent close to 10 years of games electrifying a flattop or classical box that never really worked. Mag pickup in a flattop sound hole was closest, but...

 

The Ovations, both of these, were a great answer to the problem.

 

The Legend sounded good and played well and I liked the neck. Yeah, it squishes around on your tummy. The nylon one plays well but doesn't quite have the sustain I'd like.

 

These both were pretty much top of the line for the day, and were not at all cheapies. I got 'em 'cuz they did what I wanted done and there was nothing available where I lived in those pre-Web days that even came close.

 

Frankly I think they still sound as good through an amp as anything else - assuming you do a bit of homework to see how the amp likes to run.

 

I still have 'em; they're still great little workhorses.

 

I dunno about dropped prices, etc.

 

Don't get me wrong, if I'm in a critical mode, I can be plenty critical. But I can be plenty critical about any guitar given that none, none, are perfect even for what they are.

 

Here's my bottom line. Yeah, they were pricey in the day. But they're still as good today as they were in the mid 1970s when I bought them. At a buck or two a year, that ain't bad.

 

m

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Somebody pleeeze load up. I did it again tonight.

 

Turd brown Applesauce

 

I think you quite accurately described the color.

 

As for the "Standing Ovation" comment, I think I heard KSMOMMY starts and ends KSDADDY's day with a standing O as well.... then again I think I heard it from KSDADDY.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...