thesilee ([info]thesilee) wrote,
@ 2006-10-04 19:48:00
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Current mood: chipper

Regarding Ovation Guitars
I've already posted this on the British filk mailing list, but maybe I can also find some help via livejournal...

I'm in need of some advise: During the filkcontinental I admired some of the most beautiful guitars I had ever seen, and The Magician told me they are Ovation guitars. Now I'm longing to have one, so I did some research.

Being left-handed and used to playing a stripped Yamaha acoustic guitar, I want to have a real lefthand guitar. On the Ovation website I learned that all Ovation USA guitars can be purchased as custom made lefthand models, while for the world series, there are only two lefthand guitars available in Germany - http://www.guitar24.de/de/pro.php?id=3200 and http://www.guitar24.de/de/pro.php?id=3209 (of which I favour the first because I'd rather not have a black guitar). The Ovation USA guitars are far more expensive, starting with 1.500 Euros.

I do not have that amount of money right now. I *might* have it in two or three years, maybe, if I am lucky. Now my question is: Should I get myself an Ovation Celebrity now (with some help by Peredar and my father) or spend years on saving for a custom made Ovation Elite? I'm no professional musician and will never be, but we plan on doing more than only Filkcontinental-gigs with Lord Landless soon enough, and we'd like to make a second CD. I'd love to have a new guitar now on the very spot, but on the other hand I don't want to be disappointed and replace the Ovation in a few years.

I hope some of you are experienced with these guitars and willing to let me partake in this knowledge...


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[info]vaurien
2006-10-04 07:04 pm UTC (link)
For what it's worth, [info]tattercoats's Ovation guitar, which I borrow, is a 'Celebrity'.

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[info]thesilee
2006-10-04 08:17 pm UTC (link)
Thank you! The Magician gave me that hint, too - I think I'll just get me a Celebrity (most likely that lovely blue lady) soon enough. I'll just have to make Peredar and my father help me out with some money...

BTW, when I told my father about my dreams of an Ovation guitar, he looked at me and said "What? You want a rubber guitar???" And then, when I couldn't stop telling him how beautiful they are and what a lovely crystal-clear sound they do have (other than my brave old Yamaha, which sounds rather muddy after 17 years of use), he smiled and said "Why do you want to wait for years to get one?" As a musician, he considers instruments as viands...

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[info]vaurien
2006-10-04 08:31 pm UTC (link)
Blue to match the dress! {;c)

Seriously, Talis is more than happy with hers. It's the instrument we used on Archetype Cafe. It needs new strings every so often, but then most guitars do. It's quite loud, despite its size. You'll have your Grandmother complaining about the noise levels.

I didn't realise your father was a musician too. That sounds a positive thing he's saying. Then again, I have rather gorged myself on instruments here.

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[info]thesilee
2006-10-04 09:35 pm UTC (link)
Yes, he's a fine musician, my father. Can't understand why we call filk what he calls folk (and has written a couple of very filky songs, though). Plays jazz-blues-folk-skiffle-jugband music. And he gave me the mandola, and dobro (which has an impure sound, sadly) and a banjo (which needs to be tuned, because I've never played it).

What strings do you recommend for the Ovation?

BTW, did I mention how much I enjoyed having you sing "The Fairy King" with us? Everyone's your fan now (all female filkers groaning because they couldn't get any Simon-badges, save Crystal, who got the last one), and I can go on boasting like "Hah! *I* already discovered him in 2000!" :) It was simply great having you with us. We really hope we'll have the two of you back with us soon (I'd have bought a talis badge, too, but since she's not with the NMC, there wasn't a badge either...)

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[info]vaurien
2006-10-05 12:26 pm UTC (link)
Talis uses D'Addario, which seem to be recommended generally and are widely available. [info]fleetfootmike has all sorts of guitar string contacts if you want to experiment more.

I loved doing "The Fairy King" too. It was a great way to get a song under my belt too. And I loved watching [info]aryana_filker react as I put horror and then regret on my face in the last two verses.

I was hoping for a Simon badge for myself. I imagine I'll be able to get one once in Canada. You're great for my ego. Thank you. Come to think of it, it feels like the whole German nation is good for my ego too. I don't know if I'll be able to make it next year. We had to ask some very big favours of friends for me to make it this year.

I'm glad we found each other in 2000. You're rather special yourself, you know.

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[info]fleetfootmike
2006-10-06 10:48 am UTC (link)
D'Addario are good, and not expensive.
If you can get them in Germany, Newtone's are absolutely wonderful.

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[info]demoneyes
2006-10-06 10:12 am UTC (link)
It's quite loud, despite its size.

Oh yes. My Ovation is on the loud side too (I've been told!), especially when strummed with any vigour e.g. Ferryman.

Only having little holes in the front doesn't seem to stop the sound getting out!

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[info]fleetfootmike
2006-10-06 10:49 am UTC (link)
They also sound very quiet from the playing position.

I never realised how loud mine (now sold to Rachel The Fiddler) was, until SMac borrowed it and played it, sat above and behind me, at Conthirteena....

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[info]demoneyes
2006-10-04 09:36 pm UTC (link)
Mine is an Ovation Celebrity. Bought it in Toronto (Steve's Music on Queen Street) a few years back (2002?) for something ridiculous like 450 Canadian dollars which at the time was about 300 Euros... I reckoned the same guitar in UK shops would have cost 900 Euros... Even with 75 Euro of import duty, I still saved a fortune buying in Canada!

I was told it was Korean made but with US electronics. Certainly it sounds gorgeous both acoustically and 'plugged'.

But truthfully, the only way you'll really know would be to sit down in the shop and play them one ofter the other to compare. And even then, there are minor differences in feel and sound between different guitars of identical make and model. My Ovation felt noticeably 'nicer' than either of the other two they had - fortunately it was also the cheapest and the prettiest of the three!

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[info]vaurien
2006-10-05 12:11 pm UTC (link)
Can't argue with any of that. Indeed, I'd also add that I thought [info]demoneyes's guitar would feel the same as [info]tattercoats's when I did an unexpected set at last year's WorldCon. It didn't which rather threw me off balance.

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[info]bardling
2006-10-06 08:58 am UTC (link)
Hi! Found you! :)
Wot [info]demoneyes said - if at all possible, visit (a) guitarshop(s) and play a few instruments. Even identical make ones do have subtle differences, and what's important is that it feels good and comfortable to you when you play it and that you like the sound. Any decent guitar shop will happily let you playtest. If there's a chance (most shops will give you the opportunity, too), play it both acoustically & plugged into an amp. As what amp it is also influences the "plugged" sound of an instrument, again, compare different guitars, but also compare the one you like best acoustically on two or three different amps, if they'll indulge you.

If you find a 'Celebrity' you're happy with now, you can always still save up for an upgrade later, if you find you want even better. But while it'd then perhaps take another year or two more, you'd have something bringing you joy *now* in the meantime. And who knows, you might decide you like the cheaper one so much you don't want to change... ;)

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[info]thesilee
2006-10-06 09:16 am UTC (link)
I got a mail from Ovation Germany yesterday and the catalogue was in the snail mail today - there'll be a very new lefthand Ovation Celebrity very soon, thr CSE24L-8T: looks just like this one, only vice versa... Just what I'd love to have. So I called my father and told him that it will be available from October 15th, and he's going to take me to Musik Produktiv in Ibbenbüren where he gets all of his instruments (we'll call them firsthand, of course, to make sure they'll stock it), and then I can try it out, and if I like it, it *will* be mine...
Can't wait for the 15th! (and for Christmas, of course)

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[info]bardling
2006-10-08 09:07 am UTC (link)
Good luck! :)

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[info]demoneyes
2006-10-06 10:18 am UTC (link)
Very good advice from Rika there! My first steelstring was an Aria (it actually cost almost as much bought in the UK as my Ovation later cost me in Canada - grrrr) and whilst its acoustic sound was quite sweet, I found after I'd bought it that 'plugged' it sounded horribly harsh and metallic. So I made very sure to check the Ovation through an amp as well as unplugged!

(The other thing I did was actually take my old guitar into the shop with me so I could compare with that - and help persuade Lissa that a new guitar was a necessity! And was frankly amazed how what I'd thought was a sweet sounding guitar suddenly sounded thin and weak in comparison to the acoustic sound of the Ovation - both of us could really hear the difference.)

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[info]bardling
2006-10-08 09:08 am UTC (link)
Oh, that's a good thought, taking the old, familiar guitar for comparison!

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