Darth Vader's Guitar

By Robert Holden from Springfield, VA on 2/15/2011 10:11:05 PM

I play rhythm guitar in a band that does rock, blues and country and all combinations of the three. I was looking for a good all-around axe to play it all, essentially an acoustic guitar that could pose as an electric on occasion. Currently, I use a Fender Mustang amp or play it through a Gigrac PA system. The guitar feeds back nastily on some of the metal settings on the Fender amp. Otherwise, it's pretty clean and quiet. Tone is the reason I bought this guitar. Some Ovations tend to be very bright, verging on "tinny," especially the super shallow ones. As someone who usually plays a Martin, I didn't much care for it. I picked this one up because of its strange looks and was completely surprised by its rich, full sound. The engineers at Ovation got it right with this one. Strangely enough, I had planned to look more seriously at the 1778 model because I thought its mid-depth body would have a better sound. I found the super shallow model to be much cleaner. We live in an electronic age. With the right effects box, amp or PA, it can make any sound you want from mellow acoustic to screamin' electric. It also sounds great unplugged. I play at a lunchtime jam session at work and it holds its own among the dreadnoughts. I like just about everything about this guitar (so much so that I risked incurring some domestic ire to buy it without trading in one of my other guitars). Its major drawback is one I've found on all Ovations. The round back is a great feat of engineering, but it won't stay put on your lap. This is definitely a stand-up-and-play guitar -- but that's why I bought it. The strap buttons are well-placed and the super shallow body fits mine (which isn't). The onboard tuner is a nice feature. When plugged in to an amp, it mutes the amp and lets you tune quietly. You have to wait for the tuner to finish its cycle (30-40 seconds) before your amp will come back on again. I bought the guitar for gigs. I've admired Ovations since the mid-70s when one that belonged to a friend survived being hit by a falling PA column. And this one has a much better sound. It seems like a very solid machine. I expect it to last a long time. The finish is strange enough that I thought it might scratch off, like a textured ceiling. It has no pickguard. But I've been playing it pretty enthusiastically, and there's no sign of wear. I would use it at a gig without a backup. That's why I bought it. My second favorite feature on this guitar is how it looks. It's very dramatic. It could be Darth Vader's guitar. Or something you could play wearing a tuxedo. It also looks cool with a t-shirt and jeans. Johnny Cash probably wouldn't have played one of these because his Martin was such a big part of his image, but he would have liked it. It has a very high head-turning factor.