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Ovation Acoustic Electric Guitar

T

TubStain

Senior member
I'm looking to buy an Ovation Acoustic Electric Guitar and so far the CC057 looks pretty sweet. Does anyone have any input on Ovation guitars, or that in in particular? It's about $300, which is the max I want to spend. This is the first Acoustic Electric I'm buying, anything in particular I should look out for?

 
ovation's are okay... they are defintely designed to be a stage guitar - don't expect them to sound that great unplugged, but as long as you're not buying it to be a played a lot unplugged... you probably can't do much better in that price range... i think epiphone makes some decent acoustic/electrics in that price range too... maybe tacoma too, not sure... or you could spend $1200 and get a low end Taylor.. 🙂

 
I am looking to play it unplugged quite often, and the electric part is more the accessory than the necessity. I playedit at Guitar center and it sounded pretty nice. Just wondering if any pro's out there had an opinion either way.
 
if it sounds good get it....but in my opinion ovations are on the same ugly level as bc rich....which is pretty high
 
I love the Ovation sound, but make sure you get a shallow or super shallow. Otherwise the thing'll slide right off your lap. Seriously, the deep ones are hard to hold on to while you're playing. Also, after a bunch of years of heavy usage, the plastic back may start to seperate from the wood. Just something to watch out for. Overall, I like them.
 
I guess it all depends on what kind of sound you want out of a guitar? This is just me, but I don't like Ovations unplugged. They have a small amount of air volume compared to a traditional dreadnaught (sp?). It leaves much to be desired. Plugged in, they are okay. IMO, I think there are better buys out there. To be realistic with you, $300 isn't much for an acoustic-electric. If that was my max budget, I'd look for a used Seagull S6+ a/e or maybe a lower-end Tacamine a/e. I think these two guitars would produce superior unplugged sound in comp. to the Ovations. I own a Seagull S6+ a/e and I speak very highly of it. I bought it new for $450 but I bet you could find it used around your price point. Check out Harmony Central for some good guitar reviews. I have reviews there for my Seagull S6+, Crate CA-125 acoustic amp, and my Larrivee D-09E.
 
Bleah..ovations suck. Get a nice Taylor, Martin or even a Takamini. Seagull's are nice low end.
 
As a former ovation owner, they're decent. but totally not worth the retail price. it's plastic for crying out loud!! for that price, the only thing they're good for is using it as a flotation device.

i'd go with a seagull. good low-end guitars indeed. if you can find larrivee models for that price, even better! something like D-01 or D-02.
 
A friend of mine has an Ovation with the smaller holes near the bottom of the fretboard instead of the one big hole. It has a plastic bottom. He said it was around $1200 retail though. I've never heard it plugged in, but it does sound nice unplugged.

For $300, I would definitely look at a used guitar. I bought a used Sigma in great condition for $400 (including case and electric pickup) and I think it sounds nice. I think Takamine Jasmine's are the best value new, they cost $200.
 
Originally posted by: KingNothing
A friend of mine has an Ovation with the smaller holes near the bottom of the fretboard instead of the one big hole. It has a plastic bottom. He said it was around $1200 retail though. I've never heard it plugged in, but it does sound nice unplugged.

For $300, I would definitely look at a used guitar. I bought a used Sigma in great condition for $400 (including case and electric pickup) and I think it sounds nice. I think Takamine Jasmine's are the best value new, they cost $200.
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I'd stay away from the Jasmine. While the price is right, what you get is not. It sounds okay plugged in, but unplugged....NO sound. A buddy of mine has one and unplugged it is not even worth playing. Low volume, unblanced tone, all-in-all not good.

I agree with you though, used is your best bet for a $300 budget. You won't get much worth buying new for that money.
 
Originally posted by: fonzinator
Originally posted by: KingNothing
A friend of mine has an Ovation with the smaller holes near the bottom of the fretboard instead of the one big hole. It has a plastic bottom. He said it was around $1200 retail though. I've never heard it plugged in, but it does sound nice unplugged.

For $300, I would definitely look at a used guitar. I bought a used Sigma in great condition for $400 (including case and electric pickup) and I think it sounds nice. I think Takamine Jasmine's are the best value new, they cost $200.
Click to expand...
I'd stay away from the Jasmine. While the price is right, what you get is not. It sounds okay plugged in, but unplugged....NO sound. A buddy of mine has one and unplugged it is not even worth playing. Low volume, unblanced tone, all-in-all not good.

I agree with you though, used is your best bet for a $300 budget. You won't get much worth buying new for that money.
Click to expand...

Perhaps. Remember, we're talking about a $200 NEW guitar here. For that price I think it's fine. You should always play a guitar before you buy it to see if you like the sound.
 
I have a '92 super shallow collector's edition. It's ok for playing plugged in, but not much more than that. The action on it is decent, but it's also very overpriced. Mine was $1600 retail, got it for $1100 or so. I also have a Taylor 414ce that I got for about $1300 out the door with a case, and it pretty much blows the ovation out of the water in just about every category. It really depends on how much you want to spend. For low end ($500 and under), check out Seagull, for mid-range ($1000 and under) go for Takamine (I also own one of these) or low end Martin's.
 
I saw a GORGEOUS figure top fender acoustic/electric at my local guitar shop. It sounded more "real" than the Ovations, but it still wasn't quite like a full out acoustic. I'd love to have one of those if I was going to do a lot of amplified stuff.
 
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