Ovation

thomasross20 · June 2015

Who likes ovation with their round back and unconventional sound hole design in order to reduce feedback?

Lewy · June 2015

Of course the best anti-feedback feature they have is sounding so ghastly that nobody wants to turn them up loud enough to feed back in the first place.......

crunchman · June 2015

I hate the round back. Horrible things.

John_P · June 2015

I have an old one from the late 70's (I've owned it since 1991).

The top is splitting and the sound is platicky and I would want insane money to part with it.

It plays great and feels comfortable - if I was buying an electro acoustic now it would be my last choice but it's a still a great guitar in that it inspires me everytime I play it.

ICBM · June 2015

This thread has an odd feeling of déjà vu - just the other day I was watching Back To The Future Part 2 with my kids. It was made in 1989, and in it 2015 is 'the future'. Funny how things don't turn out how you expect.

thomasross20 · June 2015

I've only ever played a friends'. I hear the more expensive adamas range are OK but yeah, just fancied to hear your opinions

EricTheWeary · June 2015

I have borrowed one and couldn't keep the fecking thing on my lap.

not_the_dj · June 2015

Horrible to play sat down, and almost equally horrible to play on the strap.....oh and they sound horrible as well.

octatonic · June 2015

I had one and it was actually a great guitar.

I sold it when I stopped gigging acoustically in about 1994.

Sold it before the ass fell out of the market for them.

Sassafras · June 2015

I borrowed one for a few weeks and I thought it was quite good. It played well, sounded sweet and was quite loud and balanced. I don't get why people hate them now. They used to be the amplified acoustic of choice.

monofin · June 2015

I like 'em......... Does that make me odd?

xSkarloey · June 2015

I have played- ironically- an all acoustic one.

The neck on it was wonderful. Sounded alright too.

ICBM · June 2015

The purely acoustic ones do sound better acoustically. I think the integral pickup/saddle on the electric ones is a real tone-killer.

I had an original 70s acoustic one to fix up and sell on behalf of someone recently, and I was quite surprised how good it sounded. It still had a very annoying tendency to capsize when playing it though - even sitting and with it on a strap. The body is just the wrong shape for a guitar

.

thomasross20 · June 2015

@ICBM. I came back from holiday yesterday and played all my guitars. Electrics are sublime. Larrivee had that fight in it - I miss my little martin. Thinking about trying out some martin omcp models (played one months back in GG and it played like butter!) or maybe... a flamenco style guitar!

BigMonka · June 2015

One of the reasons I love playing acoustic is that interaction you get with a nice piece of wood and the craftsmanship that's gone into it. So personally I don't enjoy playing the plastic backed ones purely because it doesn't feel right - not so much because of the sound or awkward ergonomics.

Neil · June 2015

I thought I'd like them.

Turns out I am not an acoustic fan at all.

ICBM · June 2015

Neil said:
Turns out I am not an acoustic fan at all.

You don't know that yet if you've only played an Ovation

.

Neil · June 2015

ICBM said:

Neil said:
Turns out I am not an acoustic fan at all.

You don't know that yet if you've only played an Ovation .

ESBlonde · July 2015

One of their saving graces is that the necks tend to play a bit more like an electric, which makes switching between them on stage seem easier. I'm not sure that's enough to justify owning one though.

Neil · July 2015

ESBlonde said:

One of their saving graces is that the necks tend to play a bit more like an electric, which makes switching between them on stage seem easier. I'm not sure that's enough to justify owning one though.

That's a fact.

My one has a very slim V neck and the ease of changing from a standard electric was what attracted me to it in the first place.

The novelty wore off though.

songman · July 2015

I must say I find several responses and their negativity towards Ovations in this thread over the top. I own Larrivees, Martins and Taylors, dreadnoughts, OMs and 12 string, all high quality expensive guitars in the top series (10 series, Marquis series and 800 series), so I know what really good acoustic guitars sound like and yes they all sound better than my Ovation Custom Elite 788. But the tone and wording of responses (they are horrible, they sound horrible, they sound ghastly, etc) is absolutely over the top. Those responses should be taken as (bad) jokes because they are worthless and defeat themselves. As someone said, picking up a different guitar with a different sound (even though, and I agree, not as good as a "real" acoustic) can be inspiring. Jeez, even my Taylor GS mini-e rosewood travel guitar can inspire me because it sounds and feels very different.

thomasross20 · July 2015

Good post, songman!

CHRISB50 · July 2015

I haven't heard one so can't comment. But I like your passion @songman so I'll give you a wow and take your fret cherry

ICBM · July 2015

I don't think they sound bad - certainly not the early full-depth fully-acoustic ones, the further they got away from that the less good they sounded, I think. But they do sound and feel quite different from wooden guitars - so different that I was only partly joking about not judging whether you like acoustic guitars from playing one.

That old one I restored recently sounded genuinely good, in its own way - obviously not like an old Martin or something, but still a good tone. Of the electric ones, I also like the original single-volume-control models the best - again, I felt that as they got more complex they started to sound less good - amplified as well as acoustically.

It's the shape of the body I really can't get past - I just find them immensely awkward to play. I'm not keen on the skinny V necks of the early ones either, that's one of the things they did improve as time went on.

crunchman · July 2015

ICBM said:

It's the shape of the body I really can't get past - I just find them immensely awkward to play. I'm not keen on the skinny V necks of the early ones either, that's one of the things they did improve as time went on.

This. They just don't sit right.

I shared a house with a guy who had one and it sounded fine, but I just couldn't get on with the shape.

usedtobe · July 2015

Played one many years ago. I'll never play another.

honkytonk · July 2015

I've always been quite into them ever since I got my first USA one over 20 years. I own four so I'm biased (I also own a Japanese Takamine, a Breedlove and a Yamaha LL so not completely an Ovation fanboy)
They're maybe a bit uncool now but possibly all it will take is for some hip young things at the top of the charts to be seen with one round his or her neck and prices and desireability will go up again.
If that happens,or as is the way of things and fashions, fads and tastes change, and with there being no USA Ovations being made anymore, could be worth a giggle if players start clamoring for 60 and 70 year old roundbacks.

In response to the OP,from experience I have found the Elite type multi soundholes do nothing for eliminating feedback. The only way of reducing that from the guitar is either using a notch filter control if the guitar has one or by plugging he holes with those feedback buster rubber thingies.

GuyBoden · July 2015

I had an Ovation Electric Legend in the 1980's, good neck and sounded reasonable acoustically. It needed to be supported by a strap at all times because of the round back, especially while playing seated.

Neil · July 2015

GuyBoden said:

I had an Ovation Electric Legend in the 1980's, good neck and sounded reasonable acoustically. It needed to be supported by a strap at all times because of the round back, especially while playing seated.

Yep, otherwise they just slide off your lap.

songman · July 2015

Yes the sliding off the lap is really annoying. I use one of those fake chamois which you can find in most supermarkets to aid in twisting off lids from jampots and the like. Looks a bit funny but it works. Cheers, Bob.

xmrchi · July 2015

I had a bit of a thing for them in 2012 had a celebrity which I thought sounded great, then a Mick Thompson sig model which again played well and sounded good, not in a standard acoustic way but in their own way, they all have a usable tone,

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