Members Felix959 Posted February 4, 2011 Members Share Posted February 4, 2011 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/03/business/03kaman.html?_r=1&hpw Maybe not the biggest name in electric guitars, but there goes the man who founded Ovation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mav64 Posted February 4, 2011 Members Share Posted February 4, 2011 Well since I have a 1988? Ovation Custom Balladeer Model # 1862 I guess I better chime in with a RIP Mr. Kaman... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JoeBoy Posted February 4, 2011 Members Share Posted February 4, 2011 Ovation 2178 Ultra owner here. He did a bunch of great stuff in his life. Rest in Peace Mr. Kaman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kap'n Posted February 4, 2011 Members Share Posted February 4, 2011 Charlie was a big fan of the guitar. He had a lot of ideas, some of which I didn't necessarily agree with, some of which I did. There's no doubting the man's enthusiasm. RIP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members seven58 Posted February 4, 2011 Members Share Posted February 4, 2011 RIP... and condolences to his family. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Spudro Posted February 4, 2011 Members Share Posted February 4, 2011 Ovation Custom Legend owner... the same guitar that was later dubbed the Al DiMeola Signature model. I don't consider myself an acoustic guitar player, but there is something special about that Ovation that tells me that I will regret it if I ever let that one out of my grasp. i have since owned a Guild JF30 and a knockout Alvarez-Yairi (don't recall the model, but KILLER). I still have that Custom Legend, and will keep on having it. I call it my "salad bowl" acoustic, but it works and it sounds really good. RIP Charles Kaman. Thank you for your contributions! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Brian Krashpad Posted February 4, 2011 Members Share Posted February 4, 2011 RIP! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kap'n Posted February 4, 2011 Members Share Posted February 4, 2011 Way more important than any guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Fusion1 Posted February 4, 2011 Members Share Posted February 4, 2011 I always thought they were some imaginary company making Marshall wannabe clones or something. Saw ads like this in guitar magazines back in the 80s and have never saw an actual KMD amp or even read a thread on one throughout all these years or even seen on on eBay. Were these complete vaporware? Has anyone ever heard or seen a KMD amp? Has anyone ever seen Jon Bon Jovi with a reversed headstock strat with a single humbucker? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cyprusg Posted February 4, 2011 Members Share Posted February 4, 2011 It's pretty amazing all the stuff he had his hands in. You don't see many people going from making helicopters to guitars to guide dogs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members docjeffrey Posted February 4, 2011 Members Share Posted February 4, 2011 Mr. Kaman (pronounced ka-MAN) Holy {censored}, really? Been pronouncing that wrong for thirty years. My wife has been playing the same Ovation Custom Balladeer since 1986. Week in, week out, she hammers out rhythms on her well worn Ovation. I adjusted the bridge once about 15 years ago (added a shim) and that's all the maintenance we've ever had to do on that guitar. Amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ashasha Posted February 4, 2011 Members Share Posted February 4, 2011 That sucks. I've told the story about the mysterious guitar that I found in the middle of the woods, played for years and it just vanished one day...it was an Ovation. I have no idea how long it was outside in the elements, but I cleaned it up a bit, threw some strings on it and it never let me down while it was in my possession. I had a friend who had one of those Balladeers, it had been abused all to hell and he wanted to give it to a friend of ours as a Christmas present. I took it, cleaned his filth from it and did one of my first real setups on it and it came out great....asshole decided to keep it. Unconventional ideas aren't always effective, but even if you didn't care for the guitars you couldn't argue that he didn't succeed. RIP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members HeatherAnnePeel Posted February 4, 2011 Members Share Posted February 4, 2011 R.I.P., indeed. Like Dan Armstrong, he successfully pioneered the use of unconventional materials with respect to guitar design. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members smorgdonkey Posted February 4, 2011 Members Share Posted February 4, 2011 Has anyone ever heard or seen a KMD amp? I have had one since about 1990 or 1991: and for 'scale' 100 watts R.M.S. and Made in England. Incredible power in a smallish and very sturdy package. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Special J Posted February 4, 2011 Members Share Posted February 4, 2011 RIP Charlie!He was a great innovator and music lover. Hard to live in this state and not know somebody employed by some Kaman company. He put a lot of people to work here. If I go through my musical stuff, a pretty good chunk of it is Kaman product. Several Hamer guitars (many over the years, though some pre-Kaman), Ovation Balladeer, Celebrity acoustic, Ovation Preacher electric, a Santana-stage worth of LP and Toca (both Kaman companies) percussion. That doesn't even get into the stuff that's distributed by them. Alas, all owned/distributed by Fender now. I always wondered what the old man thought of that sale. I used to have a KMD half stack too. It was a 100 watt (maybe more?) tube head with a chunky 4x12 box. It sounded OK. IIRC, it was a little on the sterile side for me, for a tube amp, and entirely too big and heavy for my needs at the time. I paid next to nothing for the whole rig. I think my friend probably still has the cab. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mel Cooley Posted February 4, 2011 Members Share Posted February 4, 2011 He had his hand in many things. He started the import Hamer line and changed USA made Hamers from great guitars to absurdly nice custom shop type guitars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members C-4 Posted February 4, 2011 Members Share Posted February 4, 2011 I am very sorry to hear about Charles Kaman. I have a signed prototype Super Adamas cutaway model which he and Bill Kaman signed when it was finished back in the early 1970's.God bless him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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