# Ovation Guitars ??



## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

I've never owned an acoustic, but I've always like the Ovation. It seems to be that you love it or you hate the abomination. I can't afford a USA model, but this one rather appeals to me. Model: Celebrity Deluxe - CDX24. It has the US made OP-PRO pre-amp

I've read that some electric players have found the Ovation better for the transition to acoustic playing. Opinions?


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## Jeff Flowerday (Jan 23, 2006)

They sound decent plugged in but sound like a tire with strings unplugged.

But I guess you were expecting this kind of response. :zzz:


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

Jeff Flowerday said:


> ... but sound like a tire with strings unplugged.


Ow. That's harsh.

Any other suggestions for a acoustic electric $500-800 Cdn, that would suite an electric player ?? Must be comfortable and easy to pick and play anywhere in the house.


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## BHarris (Feb 11, 2006)

I bought one for my wife to learn to play guitar. (it's actually the Applause model, which was less $$ yet), It sounds fantastic plugged in, the preamp is quite good. It's true, unplugged, they tend to sound thin,, the bottom drops out real fast, but I really like the neck and almost electric like action you can get on em.

From my experience (which isn't a whole lot with accoustics) most narrow body hollowbodies tend to be thin sounding. I had the same problem with my epi, and the action wasn't near as low as the applause.


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## Jeff Flowerday (Jan 23, 2006)

Robert1950 said:


> Ow. That's harsh.
> 
> Any other suggestions for a acoustic electric $500-800 Cdn, that would suite an electric player ?? Must be comfortable and easy to pick and play anywhere in the house.


The best neck on an acoustic for electric players is a Taylor. You might be able find a lower end 3 series used for $800.


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## PaulS (Feb 27, 2006)

I picked up one of those celebrities deluxe a while ago for $480 with ovation hardshell case, the deal was to good to refuse. yes they are thin unplugged but plugged in well... there awesome. The neck and action is very easy for an electric player to get use to. They are a thinline which actually is easier to hold on to... They are made in Korea but it's hard to tell, the build and looks are great.


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## shad (May 4, 2006)

The ovation is a nice guitar, but I find that the rounded back makes them uncomfortable to hold, I guess the thousands of Ovation owners out there aren't bothered by it, but I would never buy one for that reason.


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## Antz_Marchin (Mar 31, 2006)

Acoustic Guitar + Plastic = Crap

With $600 - 800 you can get a nice used 2xx - 3xx Taylor or a D-03/Om-03 Larrivee both of which are all solid wood. Of you can go after an Atlas series Breedlove which has solid top and back and laminate sides. I believe there was a nice maple one for sale here a little while back, never heard that it was sold. Or a seagull would be great for about $400-$600, look at the S6. Acoustic guitars are meant to be unplugged and plugged in for volume purposes in large venues. Don't buy a plastic acoustic, it's not right.


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## mandocaster (Jan 11, 2007)

shad said:


> The ovation is a nice guitar, but I find that the rounded back makes them uncomfortable to hold, I guess the thousands of Ovation owners out there aren't bothered by it, but I would never buy one for that reason.


Ditto for me too. Like holding on to an unwilling cat. All squirm and claw, and, well, a bit of an odd tone as well.


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## Robboman (Oct 14, 2006)

My first half-decent acoustic electric was an Ovation from the 80's and I still play it at home now, most every day. It's the kind with the extra-deep bowl back, and yeah it's uncomfortable to play, especially standing up with a strap. It does have a fairly slim electric-style neck with a bit of V profile. I tried a shallow-bowl kind once, couldn't believe the difference in tone compared to mine.. kind of like comparing a full-range stereo speaker to a tweeter on it's own. I'm more of an electric guy, but I think mine sounds pretty good in general. 


Here's a pic of mine.


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## Yggdrasil (Oct 8, 2006)

Jorma played Ovations in the late 70s - he made 'em sound damn good at the El Macombo! Now he's almost pure Gibson, of course.


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## Guest (Mar 16, 2007)

never really been much of a fan of these, but plyed a $150 used one redcently and was plesantly suprised at how much it sounded like an acoustic guitar when plugged in. not bad for cheep, still couldn't get it to si on my knee for any lenght of time though! hehe


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## Big White Tele (Feb 10, 2007)

Jeff Flowerday said:


> They sound decent plugged in but sound like a tire with strings unplugged.
> 
> But I guess you were expecting this kind of response. :zzz:


Id agree totaly, But would add that its a great guitar if you take it camping, boating, rafting, its good for a lot of safty reasons. They float, you can use it for a paddle, personal floatation device, (mandatory on Alberta lakes), emergency firewood etc.....


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## Guest (Mar 20, 2007)

In my experience, I've not come across an acoustic guitar yet that didn't float!! haha, I've dumped my share of canoes, learned early on the value of loads of glad bags for packing everything in on a canoe trip!


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## Luke98 (Mar 4, 2007)

A friend of mine owns one, and personally I hate it. The rounded back and sound (he never plays with amp) make me dislike it immensely. Plus the strings he uses feel like steel cables dipped in KY jelly.


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## nataliejwong (May 4, 2007)

Hm.. wow, it seems like everyone hates Ovation guitars! :frown:

I own CS-257, and it's a nice, decent and affordable guitar. I have 5 friends who purchased Ovations too.. and they love them too. 

I guess one of the big disadvantages of an Ovation would be tone/sound, but it also depends which kind of Ovation body–super shallow (I have this one), mid, deep etc. But an Ovation does sounds quite nice when you plug it into an amp. It's really durable, and comfortable to play (I'm a small Chinese girl, heh). Although, at times, the guitar does tend to slip off because of the round-back, but if you put on a strap, it won't slip away  

But yepppp, I love my Ovation, and I plan to keep it for a long time. I use Elixirs (Custom Light) strings on my Ovation. Oh, I'm also thinking about purchasing a regular acoustic, perhaps a Taylor Big Baby.


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## katmandoo (May 12, 2007)

*best bang for your buck IMO...*

This is my very first post here...new member.. Guitarist for over 35 years...salesman/manager at several music stores in BC...

My humble opinion..In that $500-800 range Canadian...I find the best bang for your buck are either of these Yamaha DW7, $720.00 (Engleman spruce solid top, Nato back+sides) very easy to play...no pick-up...great sound 

or...Yamaha APX700 $770.00 (w/pick up, solid Sitka spruce top...Nato b&Sides (smaller body size for comfort or smaller person)..

another choice might be a Martin DX series, solid sitka spruce top, but arborite b&sides  ...but they sure sound like a real Martin and are very easy to play.
just my opinion...

but in all honestly, if you spend an extra $200...I have to go with the Larrivee LV03, no pick up...solid sitka spruce top, solid mahogany b&sides...
by far best choice, best sound, best playability for $1000 w/case too lol
 thanks for reading


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## esp_dsp (Feb 27, 2007)

if you want an acoustic electric that still feels like an electric id say look at rather a fender stratacoustic or the teleacoustic... they are around 500 i think.... well thats how much my buddys was and i love his guitar he has the stratacouctic and man id buy it off him if i could.....


a small footnote...
i think i remember seeing something about how fender stopped making these guitars.. and they moved the teleacoucstic down to squire or something but if you could pick one up used they are a dream for the price


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## Fajah (Jun 28, 2006)

nataliejwong said:


> Hm.. wow, it seems like everyone hates Ovation guitars! :frown:


Not me. I still have and enjoy playing my plain jane vanilla 6 string Balladeer I bought new in 1971. It's in near perfect condition. 

Lawrie


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