So I'm sat here in my room at my halls of residence playing on my acoustic electric guitar, when it hit me..."could I review this on Ciao?"...yes, I could!!
Applause Guitars are the younger brother of guitar manufacturers Ovation, who have been making trustworthy guitars for over 30 years now, and here have used this experience to make a guitar that doesn't sound like a guitar that is as cheap as this, but is a high-quality product.
My model number is actually the AE 28, rather than the 64, but trust me, from what I know about Ovations and what else I can work out, there are no differences here except the numbers!
I brought it in November last year from a local music retailers, who I purchased my two other guitars (both electric), so trusted them fully when they recommended me this offering, and they've not let me down.
The body of the guitar is shallow, with a lovely grooved cutaway below the neck, somewhat familiar to Fender-style guitars in a sense. It's subtlety in design, which makes it very light, may suggest it's slightly frail, but it certainly seems to be able to cope with any thrashing I give it!
The fingerboard and bridge are both rosewood, leaving a gorgeous finish. The strings sit fairly low, and are therefore excellent, or so I feel, for rythymists out there, rather than lead guitars. This gives a lovely crisp sound, especially when a new set of strings are on it.
I use D'AddarioEXP strings, which deliver longer life and increased durability. Although not cheap, their longevity ensure you won't need to buy too many in a rush! I use light ones, gauges .012 - .053, as the music I mainly play when the guitar is wired into an amp is light and melodic, rather than anything intentionally heavy.
I think I paid around the £200 mark for it, brand new, although it could have been about £20 higher or lower, I can't specifically remember. That in mind, I wouldn't fully recommend this for your first acoustic/electro-acoustic guitar, simply because you can find cheaper ones out there to help you get started. But believe me, once you out grow that and need to advance, keep this model in mind. It's fairly cheap price for a guitar of such quality is a credit to the manufacturer, so for anyone who knows their way around a fretboard, do yourself a favour and buy this guitar!
Also, should you need to buy any accessories to it, or even need to replace it due to a severe breakage, it shall be easy to fix, with Ovation guitar's being available from all over the Internet and all good music shops, and quite probably, some rubbish ones as well!
So, for all you bookworms, here's a few technical details I've discovered....
• Scale Length: 25-1/4 in. • Nut Width: 1-11/16 in. • Chrome geared tuners • CP-100 pickups with tone and volume controls • Frets: 20 • Preamp: DJ-2
Anyone who plays guitar, and maybe if there's anyone out there who's played an Ovation, will fully appreciate a guitar of this quality. A good buy?? You bet!
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