Ovation electro-acoustic. Any good?

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My favourite local guitar shop has a used Ovation in, in very good condition. I don't know what model it is - it's one of the ones with a natural wood coloured top, a six-string, nice wood finish, It has the more common sets of little multi-soundholes up by the neck, not a trad central soundhole. It felt very nice, I thought, had the "solid" feel of a well-made instrument (similar to my Kawai & my Rickenbacker). It sounded (acoustically) pretty good as well. I could trade in my epi twin neck for this, along with the 2 Seymour Duncan p-ups he ordered in for my daisy 12-string. I'm pretty tempted.

Any opinions on these instruments? I believe they're a kind of love/hate divider thing among guitarists at large?

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Saturday, 10 June 2006 13:44 (nineteen years ago)

They don't actually sound much like acoustic guitars either plugged in or otherwise, but they play well and don't feed back. If you like the plugged-in tone, no reason not to go for it.

― Colin Meeder (Mert), Saturday, 10 June 2006 15:09 (nineteen years ago)

they are pretty well designed instruments- the plastic bowl-back takes after satellite dish design, a new tech when they first came out, the dish projects the tone way more efficiently than a dreadnought. the ones i've tried have slim necks, more playable if you're used to (most) electrics.

but yeah, it is a love/hate thing. they have a cold/glassy tone, the melissa ethridge/ani difranco piezo sound is THE sound of these guitars. they look fairly ugly, in my opinion.

― b mulvey, Saturday, 10 June 2006 20:38 (nineteen years ago)

A guy walks into a music store and asks one of the clerks behind the counter, "Could I get some strings for my Ovation?"

And the clerk replies, "Hmm. OK. That sounds like a fair trade."

― Brooker Buckingham (Brooker B), Tuesday, 13 June 2006 21:04 (nineteen years ago)

three weeks pass...

The few I have played really sound bad. You should play a few before you decide to buy. try "Cole Clark" if they have them where you are.

― Anthony Snape (epans), Friday, 7 July 2006 00:04 (nineteen years ago)

YUCKY.

― John Justen, Bataan death march of dimes. (johnjusten), Friday, 7 July 2006 00:07 (nineteen years ago)

The rounded back slides away from me like a boat capsizing. Mine is very awkward to hold.

― dewey2, Friday, 7 July 2006 17:25 (nineteen years ago)

I hate these things to death.

― Abbadavid Berman (Hurting), Friday, 7 July 2006 20:26 (nineteen years ago)

Actually, I've never heard an electro-acoustic I really liked. Better to use one of those removable soundhole pickups.

― Abbadavid Berman (Hurting), Friday, 7 July 2006 20:26 (nineteen years ago)

I kinda like mine! I don't really play it much anymore, but I recently had to bust it out when my other guitar was temporarily indisposed, and I was surprised that the tone was better than I remembered it being. I never liked how it sounded plugged in, though.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Friday, 7 July 2006 23:35 (nineteen years ago)

hurting otm.

― AaronK (AaronK), Saturday, 8 July 2006 02:09 (nineteen years ago)

that is, ditto.

― AaronK (AaronK), Saturday, 8 July 2006 02:09 (nineteen years ago)

I have an Ovation Tangent, and I really like it. The plastic back gives it that glassy sound, but adjusting the eq, it still gets a warm sound. you really jus gotta decide for urself. just spend plenty of time playin a bunch of different kind of things on it, adjustin the eq settings and stuff

― Kevin Itwaru (mysuitanotrumpsall), Thursday, 20 July 2006 16:40 (nineteen years ago)

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