battleminnow
What's this button do?
I have heard it said that Samick makes as many as 60%-70% of the worlds guitars, with Cort second at around 20%. Don't know how accurate that is, but that's what I've always heard.
Pete
Pete
0
0018G
New member
"Zager"? Is that Denny Zager?
bongolation
New member
That's what they used to say three or four years ago, but I don't know if it's true or not in 2006. There was a big scandal of some sort with Samick and they did a massive reorganization of the company, got new people, shut down all the Korean plants and moved manufacturing operations abroad. As I said earlier, I don't know how this affected their market share. More? Less? I dunno.battleminnow said:
I imagine Cor-Tec (not "Cort") got at least a short-term bump out of it, though.
R
Richard Monroe
Well-known member
0018G- Yes, that Zager- Zager and Zager- "In the year 2525". He has become a pretty damn good luthier who builds one of the best acoustics $800 can buy. He isn'r making any money, though, maybe he should hire Esteban-Richie
S
soundchaser59
Reluctant Commander
THAT Zager? Well, if he still lives in the same town I'm in, then I should look them up and ask for a test drive. I didn't know anybody in this town was still making guitars...... I thought they just sold antennas....
M
metalj
New member
pohaku said:
Yeah, i agree. But you forgot the most important reason to play Ovations. Jon and Richie played them at all the award shows and in their live concerts back in the 80's.
Then everybody "wanted.......", "WANNNNNEEEEEEEEEDDDDD" to have one. Dead or alive ??
R
Richard Monroe
Well-known member
Yeah, it looks like the basic guitars are being built under contract by Martin/Sigma, and then modified quite a bit. I don't know how much of his "EZ Play" thing is just hype, but I recently got to play one of his higher end models, and it was one of the best acoustics I've ever played in that $800-$1000 price range. It reminded me of the Breedloves. Here's his homepage:
http://www.zagerguitar.com/index.cfm?event=public.store.guitars.list
Richie
http://www.zagerguitar.com/index.cfm?event=public.store.guitars.list
Richie
gbondo9
p3n
Godin is a huge parent company to some really nice accoustic brands (all which operate independantly...from what I know)
Godin: (parent)
- Seagull
- Art & Luthrie
- Simon & Patrick
- Norman
- LaPatrie
Godin: (parent)
- Seagull
- Art & Luthrie
- Simon & Patrick
- Norman
- LaPatrie
S
soundchaser59
Reluctant Commander
Well, I dont feel quite so bad now. I just did some research after I saw an ad in the local paper for a Tacoma guitar. I started googling to find out what my Ovation is worth, and I was pleasantly surprised to find out it aint really that bad of a "POS" as everybody thinks. Yeah, I know, the purists in the group will look at me sideways, but I'm en electric player first, so I'm more into amps and Strat tone, but I have the Ovation sitting around for recording emergencies.
Charles Kaman started out with a team of aerospace engineers working as contractors for McDonnell Douglas and Grumman Corp designing helicopters. One of his designs flew more rescue missions and had a better safety record than all other aircraft combined in Vietnam. Another design is used extensively by the Navy and Coast Guard for open sea rescue. His team was expert with polymer composites, and they just happened to have a few skilled woodworkers in the bunch, so in the late 60's Kaman and team diversified away from wood and composite rotary chopper blades and started moonlighting with guitars.
They came up with the round back design because their familairty with vibration testing (a huge concern in chopper design) led them to conclude that the flat back guitars did not focus the sound to the sound hole as well as the rounded back did. After a few 60's celebrities started endorsing their guitars (most notable at the time was Glen Campbell) and asking for an acoustic-electric design, they started the Kaman Music Company in New Hartford Connecticut circa 1967 based on early demands for guitars with built in pickups. One of the first to come out was the Ovation Balladeer series. The Kaman Music Co. also makes Adamas, Takamine, Hamer, Applause, Gretsch Drums, Lee Oskar Harmonicas, and Seiko metronomes and tuners.
I found out my guitar is a 1982 Legend Cutaway that sold for $900 new. The serial number reveals the year of manufacture, and the model number reveals that it is acoustic electric roundback, cutaway electric deep bowl, Glen Campbell Artist line. Construction is not dazzling but is well done, with solid sitka spruce top, 2 layer opposing grain (to resist warping) mahoganey neck, ebony fingerboard with ivory binding, oak leaf rosette, walnut bridge, gold plated heads, and pearl fret inlays, probably with an earlier style piezo pickup, which I've modded by removing the battery holder and replacing with a precision regulated 9v ac adapter. The Ovation web site admits that the composite round back does detract from the guitar having a "full bodied sound with deeper low end" but it also allows it to cut thru the mix better in a stage setting, which is what it was originally designed to do.
Yeah, it's nothing dazzling, it aint a Guild or a Martin, but for a guy who had nothing but an old Iabanez Strat copy back in 1990, it was not a bad first time acoustic purchase. I could have done a lot worse, considering I knew nothing at all about acoustic guitars at the time. I just walked in the store and asked to play some acoustics, and he brought this one out of the back room on consignment. Compared to having none at all, it's been a decent guitar for me. I had it dressed out and setup for Earthwood Lights, but now I'm tempted to try different strings. If I mic it a certain way, it doesn't sound that bad recorded.
My research also led me to abandon my short term hopes of buying a Martin, abandon any interest in the Tacoma that I saw in the want ads, and keep my attention focused on getting new monitors!! I know it aint the best guitar out there, but I can live with it for now.......
Charles Kaman started out with a team of aerospace engineers working as contractors for McDonnell Douglas and Grumman Corp designing helicopters. One of his designs flew more rescue missions and had a better safety record than all other aircraft combined in Vietnam. Another design is used extensively by the Navy and Coast Guard for open sea rescue. His team was expert with polymer composites, and they just happened to have a few skilled woodworkers in the bunch, so in the late 60's Kaman and team diversified away from wood and composite rotary chopper blades and started moonlighting with guitars.
They came up with the round back design because their familairty with vibration testing (a huge concern in chopper design) led them to conclude that the flat back guitars did not focus the sound to the sound hole as well as the rounded back did. After a few 60's celebrities started endorsing their guitars (most notable at the time was Glen Campbell) and asking for an acoustic-electric design, they started the Kaman Music Company in New Hartford Connecticut circa 1967 based on early demands for guitars with built in pickups. One of the first to come out was the Ovation Balladeer series. The Kaman Music Co. also makes Adamas, Takamine, Hamer, Applause, Gretsch Drums, Lee Oskar Harmonicas, and Seiko metronomes and tuners.
I found out my guitar is a 1982 Legend Cutaway that sold for $900 new. The serial number reveals the year of manufacture, and the model number reveals that it is acoustic electric roundback, cutaway electric deep bowl, Glen Campbell Artist line. Construction is not dazzling but is well done, with solid sitka spruce top, 2 layer opposing grain (to resist warping) mahoganey neck, ebony fingerboard with ivory binding, oak leaf rosette, walnut bridge, gold plated heads, and pearl fret inlays, probably with an earlier style piezo pickup, which I've modded by removing the battery holder and replacing with a precision regulated 9v ac adapter. The Ovation web site admits that the composite round back does detract from the guitar having a "full bodied sound with deeper low end" but it also allows it to cut thru the mix better in a stage setting, which is what it was originally designed to do.
Yeah, it's nothing dazzling, it aint a Guild or a Martin, but for a guy who had nothing but an old Iabanez Strat copy back in 1990, it was not a bad first time acoustic purchase. I could have done a lot worse, considering I knew nothing at all about acoustic guitars at the time. I just walked in the store and asked to play some acoustics, and he brought this one out of the back room on consignment. Compared to having none at all, it's been a decent guitar for me. I had it dressed out and setup for Earthwood Lights, but now I'm tempted to try different strings. If I mic it a certain way, it doesn't sound that bad recorded.
My research also led me to abandon my short term hopes of buying a Martin, abandon any interest in the Tacoma that I saw in the want ads, and keep my attention focused on getting new monitors!! I know it aint the best guitar out there, but I can live with it for now.......