Ovation (company)
Ovation is a manufacturer of acoustic acoustic guitars and bass guitars (originally based in New Hartford , Connecticut , USA ). Ovation was part of KMC Music Inc. until the beginning of 2015 , which in turn has belonged to Fender since 2007 . In January 2015 Fender sold large parts of KMC Music, including Ovation as well as Gretsch Drums, Gibraltar Hardware, Toca Drums and Latin Percussion to the drum manufacturer DW (Drum Workshop) .
history
The manufacturer is very popular with musicians such as Melissa Etheridge , Neil Diamond , Steve Lukather , Al Di Meola or, in Germany, Mike Krüger and Raymond Voss ( peat rock ). Ovation was the first manufacturer of electrically amplifiable acoustic guitars with piezoelectric pickups ("transducers") and a pioneer of other electro-acoustic guitars.
The so-called roundback , a curved back made of a special fiber-plastic composite material, is characteristic of an ovation .
The founder Charles Kaman originally built helicopters. He was a hobby musician and in 1964, together with some of his engineers, he developed a guitar in which he combined high-tech materials with a wooden top, thereby pairing the instrument's high stability with a balanced sound. In 1965 he founded the guitar company. In addition to the special body, a composite material was also used for the top of the guitars in the higher price segment “Adamas” . This blanket consists of carbon fiber reinforced plastic ( CFRP ) and a birch veneer in a sandwich construction . This construction enabled the thickness of the ceiling to be reduced from approx. 3 mm (conventional wooden ceiling) to less than 1 mm. This means that Adamas guitars respond faster than conventional guitars.
Product lines
- Under the brand name Applause , guitars made in China with a single laminated top are offered, which are manufactured under license from Ovation.
- The Ovation Celebrity range comes from Korean manufacture. It is branded Ovation and has a triple laminated top.
- The Ovation Standard Elite , Elite , Elite Custom , Standard Balladeer , Legend and Custom Legend have a higher quality preamp than the Celebrity and a solid top. They are made in Korea.
- The Ovation Adamas has a top made of CFRP . Models with wooden ceilings are also produced, but this is the exception. They have a higher quality pickup and preamp than the aforementioned models. The Adamas range is made in the USA.
Soundhole design
The Ovation guitars became famous not least because of the development of the multihole soundhole technology. In contrast to the simple large sound hole in the middle of the guitar's top, several sound holes are made in the top and usually also below the strings. This reduces the guitar's susceptibility to feedback. The well-known multihole design can be seen in the picture on the right, there are also guitars with their own sound holes, such as the Yngwie Malmsteen Signature, which has F-holes or the newer guitars with elliptical iDea sound holes.
Body shapes
The original shape of the body was the so-called Shallow Bowl . This had no frames , but was made round. Therefore Ovation guitars are also known as roundback guitars. This original shape is now only produced in vintage models . The most common shape produced today is the mid-depth bowl body, which, in contrast to the shallow bowl, has suggested sides. The Shallow Bowl can still be found today in the Deep Bowl body, which is larger. The Super Shallow Bowl is derived from the Mid-Deep Bowl , which is thinner and therefore more suitable for use with an amplifier. The deep bowl and mid-depth bowl also have the contour model, in which the back of the body is curved inwards to prevent the round body from sliding away due to the design.
Playability
The neck design of the Ovation guitars is strongly based on that of the electric guitar . The necks are therefore rather narrow and relatively thin and also have a curved fingerboard . In addition, the string action is set quite flat at the factory, which makes switching from the electric guitar to an Ovation much easier. Since almost all models are also or only available with a cutaway , the higher frets can be played with and comparatively comfortable.
Due to the curved back of the body, Ovation guitars without a contour body tend to slip off the lap of a seated guitar player, which is somewhat mitigated by the rough surface. However, when playing the guitar for a long time, this can become a problem, which is why many guitarists use a guitar strap in the sitting position to prevent the body from slipping.
Areas of application and sound
Due to the low sensitivity to feedback and the high quality pickups and preamps used in almost all models, Ovation guitars are very suitable for stage use and can also be used at high volumes. Many guitarists from the rock music genre (such as Richie Sambora from Bon Jovi ) therefore use the Ovation on stage, not least because it is very similar in playability to an electric guitar. The sound of Ovations blends harmoniously into the rock sound and is very assertive compared to other acoustic guitars. The sound also has a high recognition value , as it differs from that of a conventional western guitar.
Instruments
- Western guitars (6 and 12 strings) or with two necks (12 and 6 strings)
- Concert guitars
- Acoustic basses (4 or 5 strings)
- Mandolins
- Ukuleles
Web links
- 1965 (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Fender sells Ovation and other brands to Drum Workshop. Retrieved August 3, 2015 .
- ^ Tony Bacon, Paul Day: The Ultimate Guitar Book. Edited by Nigel Osborne, Dorling Kindersley, London / New York / Stuttgart 1991; Reprint 1993, ISBN 0-86318-640-8 , pp. 44-47.