Ovation Guitars History: The Story of Ovation Acoustic Guitars Last updated: June 14, 2019 by Adam Beaumont 34 Comments In the year of 1966, the guitar world had no idea who Charlie Kaman, the successful helicopter manufacturer, was. The Ovation Guitar Company is a manufacturer of guitars. Ovation primarily manufactures steel-string acoustic guitars (both 6 and 12-string versions) and nylon-string acoustic guitars, often with pickups for electric amplification.
Industry Predecessor Ovation Instruments, a division of ( c. 1964) Founded c. 1965Founder Headquarters Products Website The Ovation Guitar Company is a manufacturer of. Ovation primarily manufactures (both 6 and 12-string versions) and nylon-string acoustic guitars, often with pickups for electric amplification. In 2015, it became a subsidiary of after being acquired from.
The company's Ovation and Adamas guitars are known for their round backs, which gives them a recognizable shape. The latter are also well known for the use of tops (instead of the typically wood tops for ). Among musicians the relatively thin neck stands out as well, compared to other acoustic guitars. A mid-1970s Kaman Ovation Custom Balladeer 1612-4, next to a.
Founder (1919–2011) developed the first Ovation guitar in 1965–1966. Kaman, an amateur guitarist from an early age, worked on helicopter design as an aerodynamacist at United. Eventually, he founded a helicopter design company, in 1945. The Kaman Corporation soon diversified, branching into nuclear weapons testing, commercial helicopter flight, development and testing of chemicals, and helicopter bearings production. In the early 1960s, however, financial problems from the failure of their commercial flight division forced them to expand into new markets, such as entertainment and leisure. Charles Kaman, still an avid guitar player, became interested in making guitars.
From 1966 to 2007 Ovation guitars, and later on Adamas guitars, were a brand of, which itself was a subsidiary of. In 2008 KMCMusicorp (and with that the Ovation brand) was sold to the.
In 2014, Fender announced that they were closing the iconic Ovation guitar factory in New Hartford, Connecticut, leaving all production of Ovation guitars overseas. Before that announcement Fender established a U.S.
Production of various acoustic guitars in the New Hartford factory. Alongside Ovation and Adamas guitars, which were produced there for decades, Fender started a U.S. Production of other Fender-owned brands in that factory, as is known, Guild and Fender.
Shortly after closing the New Hartford factory it was announced that the Ovation brand had been sold to the company, alongside a few other previously Fender-owned brands. The announcement was made on January 7, 2015. In addition to the Ovation brand, Drum Workshop also bought the New Hartford factory and reinstated the previously ceased U.S. Production of Ovation and Adamas guitars, basses, ukuleles and mandolins. Research and development of first models.
Fiberglass round-back body (medium-depth) of Ovation Balladeer (1968) Charles Kaman put a team of employees to work to invent a new guitar in 1964. For the project, Kaman chose a small team of aerospace engineers and technicians, several of whom were woodworking hobbyists as well. One of these was Charles McDonough, who created the Ovation Adamas model. Kaman founded Ovation Instruments, and in 1965 its engineers and (guitar makers) worked to improve acoustic guitars by changing their conventional materials. The R&D team spent months building and testing prototype instruments. Their first prototype had a conventional, with parallel front and back perpendicular to the sides.
The innovation was the use of a thinner, synthetic back, because of its foreseen acoustic properties. Unfortunately, the seam joining the sides to the thin back was prone to breakage.
To avoid the problem of a structurally unstable seam, the engineers proposed a synthetic back with a shape. By mid-1966, according to Ovation, they realized that the parabolic shape produced a desirable tone with greater volume than the conventional dreadnought. Once the engineers had settled on a parabolic shape, they turned their attention to developing a substance that could be molded into this bowl-like shape.
Using their knowledge of high-tech aerospace composites, they developed Lyrachord, a patented material comprising interwoven layers of glass filament and bonding resin. The first successful design, built by luthier Gerry Gardner, went into production soon after the company was established. The first Ovation guitar made its debut in November 1966.
Its Lyrachord body gave the instrument, according to the company, unprecedented projection and ringing sustain. Compared to modern Ovation Guitars, the initial instruments had a shiny bowl that was used again, for example, in the Balladeer 40th anniversary re-issue. Initial marketing.
(pictured) gave national publicity to Ovation's round-back guitars. The introduction and promotion of the first Ovation was closely associated with two performing artists, the -performer and the country-music singer.
Josh White In 1965-1967, the Ovation Guitar Company produced a signature guitar for Josh White, which was the first signature guitar made for an African American. White was the first official Ovation endorser. Upon completion, the first was called the 'Josh White Model,' which White played at the Hotel America (Hartford, Connecticut), 14 November 1966; at the same show, the Balladeers played Balladeer models. The show was witnessed by '300 representatives of the press and the music industry' Glen Campbell, 1968 The Ovation Roundback Balladeer first caught national attention in 1968 when hosted a variety show he called on CBS, and in the following year, 1969, he became one of Ovation's first endorsers. Design innovations.
Ovation guitar design reflects its founder's engineering training and development of. Ovation guitars replace the instrument's conventional back and sides with synthetic bowls. Kaman felt there were structural weaknesses in the orthogonal joining of the sides, and that a composite material could provide a smooth body. Ovation claims the parabolic bowls dramatically reduce feedback, allowing greater amplification. Improved synthetics techniques from helicopter engineering control vibrations in the bowl. Ovation developed a thin neck, striving for the feel of an electric guitar's neck, but with additional strength from layers of mahogany and maple reinforced by a steel rod in an aluminum channel.
The composite materials and thin necks reduced weight. Sound holes on Ovation Applause For its soundboards, Ovation uses, a wood that Kaman engineers used in helicopter blades. In the 1970s, Ovation developed thinner soundboards with carbon-based composites laminating a thin layer of birch in its Adamas model. The Adamas model dissipated the sound-hole of the traditional soundboard among 22 small in the upper chamber of the guitar, which Ovation says yields greater volume and further reduces feedback during amplification (pioneered in the Adamas model in 1977). Although the area of the multiple sound holes is equal to the area of a single-soundhole, the altered position allows a new style of (e.g. Adamas Bracing).
The design strengthens the soundboard, reducing the traditional design's bracing and hence weight. In the 1980s, Ovation introduced shallow-bowl guitars to appeal to electric guitarists. Later, on-board electronics let guitarists move about the stage rather than stay in front of a microphone. On-board electronic tuning, availability, uniformity, and frugal costs facilitated performances by guitar ensembles like 's students. Ovation has also produced solid-body and active. Ovations reached the height of their popularity in the 1980s, where they were often seen during live performances by touring artists, such as 's or in. Ovation guitars' synthetic bowl-shaped back and early use (1971) of, onboard equalization and were particularly attractive to live acoustic musicians who constantly battled problems from the high volumes needed in live venues.
Ergonomics When he became one of Ovation Guitars's first endorsers, Glen Campbell suggested reducing the weight of the guitar, which he had discovered caused back strain. After that, Ovation reduced the weight of several models and pioneered 'super-shallow' guitar bodies. While it was produced, Ovation's super-shallow 1867 Legend was the recommended guitar in 's. Wrote that the acoustic 1867 Legend has 'a gently rounded super-shallow body design that may be about as close to the shape and depth of an electric guitar as is possible without an intolerable loss of tone quality. Fripp liked the way the Ovation 1867 fitted against his body, which made it possible for him to assume the right-arm picking position he had developed using electric guitars over the years; on deeper-bodied guitars, the Frippian arm position is impossible without uncomfortable contortions.'
Ovation has produced the Custom Legend 1769 ADII for (pictured). Ovation guitars have been also produced in China, South Korea and Indonesia.
Import models generally have a wooden top. Recently, Ovation significantly reduced U.S production. From 2010 on, better models—Legend, Elite, Custom Legend, Custom Elite—were made both in the U.S. And in Korea. Before that, these models were U.S. In recent years, many U.S. Made are identifiable by 'LX' in the product name (e.g., Legend 2077LX), whereas Korean versions have 'AX' in the model name (e.g., Legend 2077AX).
Ovation does not use this convention on all models (e.g., Ovation 1617ALE). Currently, Ovation produces only a few U.S. Made models, mostly signature and limited edition models (e.g., Custom Legend 1769-ADII Al DiMeola). Production of the standard model range of Ovation guitars in the U.S.
Has been ceased under the ownership of, but is about to be reinstated by the new owner. Ovation developed another, an Adamas-model for (pictured). The Adamas name mainly stands for guitars with a carbon fiber top, although there are exceptions (one is the Adamas 2081WT - WT stands for woodtop).
Until the closure of the factory in June 2014, all Adamas models were produced in the U.S. LX does not only stand for U.S. Originally LX indicated an Ovation guitar that included new features not available on previous models.
Back in 2007 Ovation explained on its website that new features included the new OP-Preamp, an advanced neck system (lightweight dual-action truss rod, carbon fiber stabilizers), a patented pickup (made of 6 elements), inlaid epaulets, scalloped bracing, and a new hard composite Lyrachord GS body. Back then, there was no AX model line. The first AX models appeared on the Ovation-website in 2010.
Based on the website's history, the LX features were introduced in 2004. Upper-level guitars: Balladeer, Legend and Elite There are mainly two lines:. Legend and Standard Balladeer models have one large sound hole as on most acoustic guitars (Standard Balladeer, Legend, Custom Legend - produced in Korea). Elites have several smaller sound holes (Standard Elite, Elite, Custom Elite - produced in Korea). The first Ovation guitar model was a Balladeer (later known as Standard Balladeer).
Celebrity Deluxe CC257 Electric guitars: Semi-hollow and solid bodies In 1967–1968, Ovation introduced and produced its Electric Storm Series of archtop guitars and basses with semi-hollow bodies. The pickups for these instruments were manufactured by Rowe Industries, who produced DeArmond music products in Toledo, Ohio. Production stopped in 1969. In 1972, Ovation introduced one of the first production solid-body electric-guitars with, the. The model did not become popular, however, and production of the Breadwinner and the ceased in 1980.
Ovation made several other solid-body models up until the mid 1980s. Since that time, the company has focused mainly on acoustic and acoustic-electric guitars. December 1966. Demonstration dinner show program. Ovation Instruments.
November 14, 1966. January 6, 2015. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC) announced today that its subsidiary, KMC Music, has sold its owned and licensed percussion brands, including Gretsch Drums, Latin Percussion, Toca Percussion, KAT Percussion and Gibraltar Hardware — as well as the Ovation guitar brand and the exclusive U.S. Distribution rights for Sabian Cymbals — to Drum Workshop, Inc., the manufacturer of DW drums, hardware and accessories. ^., pp. 24–36). Press release.
January 31, 2011. Retrieved February 1, 2011., pp. 12–16)., pp. 17–18).
Press release. October 29, 2007. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
The factory was reopened in October 2015 by current owner Drum Workshop, Inc. Press release. April 23, 2014. Retrieved August 22, 2015. Press release. June 18, 2013.
Retrieved August 22, 2015. ^ Press release. July 22, 2015. Retrieved August 22, 2015., Chapter 2 'A better guitar', p. 23)., Chapter 2 'A better guitar': 'The roundback', p. 24). ^, p. 48., Chapter 3 'Into production': 'Glen Campbell', p. 46).
^, Chapter 10 'Guitar Craft'). 'English rocker Robert Fripp with a favorite instrument of his, a super-shallow bowl Legend' is the caption for a picture of in, Chapter 7 'Bill Kaman and the KMC Kaman Music Corporation': 'Changes', p. 93). Ovation Reference Shop (in German). Musikhaus Andresen GmbH. September 20, 2012. Archived from on March 18, 2013.
Retrieved September 20, 2012. Dowling, Brian (April 23, 2014). The Hartford Courant. Retrieved April 30, 2014., Chapter 4 Electrification: A brief Electric Storm, p. 58).
40 years of innovation - Ovation Timeline, OvationGuitars.com. Kaman Music Corp. Archived from on August 18, 2007. Archived from on January 12, 2014.
Music UK (Guitar Special 1985): 84–85. Inc., Equipboard. Retrieved June 27, 2017. 127 (index), apart from Seal with bass guitar on p.100)., pp. 416–430, 441–445): Fitch, Vernon (2005). London: Collector's Guide Publishing, Inc. Fitch, Vernon; Mahon, Richard (2006). Comfortably Numb.
A history of The Wall. Pink Floyd 1978–1981. PFA Publishing, Incorporated. Comprehensive history.
Ovation Instruments. Check date values in: date=.
Oregon Public Broadcasting / Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). (transcription). Oregon Public Broadcasting / Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). — Josh White was Ovations very first endorsee. Dream Guitars. OFC Members Serial Number List, OvationGallery.com.
— Ovation early serial numbers, Josh White and Balladeer models. Archived from on January 8, 2014. Retrieved February 8, 2012. October 30, 2007. Archived from on October 30, 2007. Retrieved September 20, 2012.
Retrieved September 25, 2012. Archived from on January 4, 2010., Chapter 4 'Electrification': 'Ovation solidbodies', pp. 59–64, and 'Toward solidbody success', p. 65). Archived from on September 13, 2013.
Archived from on September 13, 2013. Archived from on September 13, 2013. Bibliography. Anonymous, Music Trades (October 1, 2004). The Guitar Market. (subscription required).
Retrieved May 1, 2012. Carter, Walter (1996). Eiche, Jon, ed. The history of the Ovation guitar. Musical Instruments Series (first ed.). Milwaukee, Wisconsin:.
Ovation Guitar Identification
HL00330187, (softcover), (hardcover). Cruice, Valerie (December 8, 1996). Denyer, Ralph (1992). 'Ovation guitars (Acoustic guitars)'. The guitar handbook.
Special contributors and Alastair M. Crawford; (foreword) (Fully revised and updated ed.). London and Sydney: Pan Books. Marks, Brenda (May 30–31, 1999). New Hartford, Conn.: Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. (subscription required). Retrieved April 24, 2012.
Tamm, Eric (1990). 'Ten Guitar Craft'. (Progressive Ears ed.). Faber & Faber (1990).
Archived from on October 26, 2011. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to. Ovation. DW Drums.
Ovation serial numbers vary depending on the series. American made Ovation series are easy to date by year made but not usually much additional information.
Cheaper foreign made guitars are frequently hard to find information for. Proshow producer 4 patch italiano inglese. Much of the information, make, model no. Are on the label.
Label's change color depending on the years made and some (foil) are usually better than say the blue labels. So you will have the model on the label and the serial number will generally give you the year. There are specific years of specific models that are sought after and perceived as better than other years. You can glean much, as mentioned above, from the ovation fan web site. They are very friendly. Ovation serial numbers vary depending on the series.
American made Ovation series are easy to date by year made but not usually much additional information. Cheaper foreign made guitars are frequently hard to find information for. Much of the information, make, model no. Are on the label. Label's change color depending on the years made and some (foil) are usually better than say the blue labels. So you will have the model on the label and the serial number will generally give you the year.
There are specific years of specific models that are sought after and perceived as better than other years. You can glean much, as mentioned above, from the ovation fan web site. They are very friendly. Thanks guys - ye it seems that it is a 1974 American made Ovation with no electronics.
Not sure of the model though - as the owner mailed me just what she saw on the label (just serial no). I wonder how 74' was? Maybe I'll go hang out at the Ovation forum and see what they say. I agree with Steve. Ovation made some great guitars in the '70s.
That might be a real jewel. I have an old Ovation, almost as old as that one and it's still my favorite. It has always been the easiest guitar I've ever played.
The action is wonderful. Everybody who plays it loves it. It doesn't have the booming bass of a D-28, but it makes up for it in other ways.
I don't care as much for the new ones made overseas, but the old Ovations were wonderful guitars. Good luck and let us know how it goes.