![]() ![]() Again, I had one of the aluminum-necked Applause models (AA-14) when they first came out in the late '70s (got it for Christmas in either '77 or '78), then a Celebrity, then went to Ovations for acoustics in the 80s, so I'm pretty familiar with the brand and models from the era. All AA-31s have laminated tops.Īll of this lines up with my recollections. They have 'real wood' necks and fingerboards as opposed to aluminum. There were no US made AA-31s to my knowledge. The AA-31s were made in Korea beginning about 1983. if you wanted to raise the action, Ovation and their dealers would give them to you at no charge. By removing a shim, you lowered the action at the 12th fret by 1/64. I can't recollect when Applause added "by Ovation" to their logo.Ĭhances are that if next time you change strings you remove the saddle, there will be at least one shim underneath. About that same time, they introduced the Celebrity series priced to be between the Applause and Ovation brands. ![]() The next step was to cover the aluminum frets with nickel plating, which helped a little, but they still seemed to wear quickly.Īround 1982 or 1983, they moved production of the Applause guitars to Korea, and at some point after that, they did away with the aluminum necks. That never became a popular selling point. The original plan had been that the necks would be easily interchangeable, and that you could have the entire neck replaced for less than it would cost to replace frets on a wooden fretboard. the aluminum frets tended to wear quickly, and could not be replaced. They were introduced in 1976 or 1977, and were built in Connecticut. Then they molded the back of the neck out of a plastic material, and finished it to feel "just like mahogany!" They used the same back as the Ovations, but had a laminated top (Ovations were solid), and as someone mentioned, the necks were aluminum, and the fretboard, support rod, headstock, and frets were one piece. I don't think they ever reached that goal, but I believe that they were able to build them in less than 2 1/2 hours of man-hours. The concept was to make cheaper copies of their own guitars before someone else did, and the goal was to build them with only one man-hour of labor involved. ![]() What on Earth is T.ġ0 string (7) 12-string (93) 12-string bass (3) 1900s guitar (2) 1920s guitar (2) 1930s guitar (2) 1940s guitar (1) 1950s guitar (2) 1960s guitar (18) 1970s guitar (16) 1980s guitar (23) 1990s guitar (5) 2000s guitar (13) 2010s guitar (3) 3rd bridge (1) 5-string (2) 500 Guitars (9) 50s guitars (1) 60s (5) 7-string (16) 70s guitars (14) 8-string (13) 80s guitars (173) 9-string guitar (1) 90s guitars (22) Abel Axe (2) AC Guitars (1) Accessories (15) accessory review (1) acoustic (261) Acoustic Corporation (3) acrylic (41) Adam Black (1) adrian belew (1) aerodyne (1) Agile (1) Airline (10) Alamo (2) Alejandro Vasquez Rubio (1) Alembic (4) (1) all-experts (1) Alray (1) aluminium body (10) Alvarez (5) American guitars (58) American Legacy (5) American Showster (1) Ampeg (13) Amps (55) Andreas Guitars (1) anjo (1) antique guitars (20) Antoniotsai (4) Antoria (3) Apex Guitars (1) Apollo (2) Applause (1) Arbiter (1) Arbor (1) archtop (55) Argent (1) Argentinian guitars (4) Aria (27) Aristides (1) Art (36) art and lutherie (1) article (3) Atlas (1) Atlas Musical Instruments (1) Audition (1) Auerswald (5) August Carlstedt (1) Augustino LoPrinzi (1) aurora (1) Aurora String Corp.The early Applause guitars did not say Ovation on them, because the plan was to sell them through a distributor rather than the Ovation sales force.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |