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For any Ovation historians


acombmusicman

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A customer of mine came in with an Ovation 1132-4 today. It is a deep bowl, USA made model. The label states it is a Kaman Music Product and it is a Matrix model. It has aluminium edge binding to the fretboard, a raised decorative ring around the soundhole, and raised decoration to the edge of the spruce top.

 

Any further info you good people can provide?

 

ovationusa.jpg

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A buddy of mine has one of that model, so I called him up and he shared this small amount of info:

 

It has a laminated top, Lyracord (sp?) back/sides, passive UST in the saddle, he enjoyed playing it for the 1st 10-12 years he had it, but now it needs a fret job badly and nobody local will touch it, so he's thinking about seeing what Ovation would charge to put a rosewood fingerboard on it (he's not sure if the fingerboard, itself, is aluminum or some other man-made substance). Bought it used so he's not sure what year it was built, but guesses mid 80s. It's been in the closet for a while, as he replaced it w/ a Taylor 614ce when the fret problems got too bad to bear.

 

Hope this helps a little.

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Here's some more history for you. Ovations were originally designed by helicopter engineers and the original bowl-back was constructed from the same alloys that are used to suppress excessive sound/vibrations caused by the rotors, i.e. the "whump whump whump."

 

While that may be good for eliminating feedback issues on an acoustic-electric, I don't see how that can a boon for an instrument's natural acoustic properties. :confused:

 

http://ovationguitars.com/?fa=history

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So it is not a particularly rare guitar, or likely to be worth loads of money. I think that is what he wants to know. Because it is old (ish), it is not always valuable.

 

 

It was one of Ovation's more "modest-priced" instruments...My best guess of it's value would be about $150-200 (American), in excellent condition.

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Was this model at the cheaper end of the US Ovations?


Any idea of retail value? In pounds sterling if possible.

 

The Matrix line was Ovation's first attempt at a low-end product. It was not very successful, and has not become a collector's item, by any means. If the frets are in good shape, they tend to sell for $100 - $150 (sorry, I am not a good money converter). If the frets are worn, they have little to no value, because the cost of repair is more than the value of the guitar.

 

You may be able to get more details by inquiring at the Ovation Fan Club Forum, www.ovationfanclub.com.

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