Ovation

Ovation guitars were developed and first produced by the Kaman Music Corporation in 1966. An original design, the back of the guitar was a bowl shape made completely out of composite materials. Their excellent tone control through on-board pre-amps and equalization made them the favored guitar of live touring acoustic guitarists.

Kaman used various types of wood for the guitars tops, but did mix in some composite tops like the Ovation Celebrity of today.

Celebrity

Another innovation of Kamans was his use of sound hole size and location to influence tone. By placing the sound holes closer to the neck and above the strings the interior braces could be fitted towards the center of the guitar. Because this was a better place to provide support for the guitar, lighter/thinner wood braces were used to decrease the braces damping effect on the guitar. With this extra sound flow, on board pre-amps, built in EQ, and Piezo or other high-output pick-ups, the Ovation gained fans and market share throughout the 1980's.

Fender Music Corporation bought Kamen Music and the Ovation line in 2007 for a reported $117 million. Despite this sale Ovation continues to grow its brand by turning out new advancements in their guitars. Their latest is a built in MP3 player/recorder built into the pre-amp. Recording and playing back entire songs or phrases as well as built in audio lessons creates worlds of possibilities for pro's and amateurs alike.

Ovation models to consider:

Balladeer - the original Ovation design, featured a standard, special and custom lines.
Hurricane - the early 12 string, double cutaway with f holes.
Celebrity - available in standard, deluxe, pinnacle deluxe and viper lines, mostly acoustic electrics with various center and f hole combinations.
Applause - entry level acoustic or acoustic/electric with a center hole.
Artist - early 1970's 6 string featured the artist bowl design and a center hole, included the Folklore line
Adamas
Thunderhead - early f holed 6 string electric.
Eclipse - early 1970's f holed 6 string electric.
Matrix - Early 1970's model in 6 or 12 string with a deep bowl design.
Typhoon
Pinnacle
Collectors - 1980 and beyond, all acoustic/electric with a multitude of bowl size and f and center hole combinations
Legend
and many more...