by Steve Smithion

Created on: August 12, 2008

The following article looks at how Ovation guitars has revolutionised acoustic guitar manufacture over the years and has produced its unique tone and appearance using innovative technology.

Ovation guitars took the sound, construction and aesthetics of acoustic guitars to a whole new and innovative level. Introduced in the 1960's Ovation guitars were bringing new ideas to the table to say the least; they were the first to use the bowl-back' design along with synthetic material to produce a unique, unprecedented and unusual tone from their acoustic guitars. None would argue that Ovation guitars revolutionised the world of acoustic guitars.

Charlie Kaman, the founder of Ovation, using his background in aerospace found that the traditional flat-back' of a dreadnaught acoustic guitar, drastically affected sound projection and set about altering the construction of the acoustic guitar to produce what we recognise as an Ovation guitar today. Guitar players worldwide were fascinated by the bowl-back' design and the quality of tone it produced together with its playability and comfort, putting Ovation on the map.

Ovation was the first to successfully experiment with synthetic materials (such as fibreglass) in the manufacturing of acoustic guitars; the synthetic materials used in Ovation guitars improve sound quality to produce a distinctive sound. The use of these materials together with the bowl-back' construction has created that extraordinary Ovation tone'.

Sound holes are possibly the most eye catching part of an Ovation guitar, although they serve as an aesthetic feature they also maximise the overall tonal quality and range of the guitar playing a vital role in the signature Ovation tone.

So what else has influenced the Ovation's tonal properties? Ovation guitars use piezoelectric pickups which provide a unique sound and eliminate feedback even at high volumes. Once again Ovation was one the first to use piezoelectric pickups in an acoustic guitar thus creating the electric/acoustic' guitar and as a consequence, influenced the entire guitar manufacturing industry by demonstrating its capability in the world of guitar playing. Ovation took the world by storm with their new design providing guitarists with an acoustic guitar with better projection and volume on stage.

Synthetic materials, piezoelectric pickups, the bowl-back' design and the unique sound holes have made Ovation guitars one of the most influential and respected names in the music industry. More importantly its design has lead to the Ovation tone' which we can all safely say is a benchmark for all acoustic guitars.

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