Back in the mid-1980's I bought a mid-range Ovation acoustic/electric 6-string (Customer Balladeer). I think it cost me $350. It has the original Ovation deep round back, round sound hole and didn't have a cutaway. It did have Ovation's built-in pick-up and pre-amp. At the time Ovation had just introduced a shallow body guitar (designed by Glen Campbell) with asymmetric sound holes and a cutaway that I really, really liked but it was a $1,200 guitar in 1980 dollars - completely out of reach especially for a bedroom guitarist. The print ad for the shallow bowl beauty had Al Dimeiola with his hand in the cutaway of the new guitar and said "Reach for it"...I really wanted that guitar.

Not long after that I grew up, got married, had kids and sold my 12-string, solid body electric and Peavey amp just to unclutter the house but I kept the Ovation for therapy.

2018: The old American-made Ovation is as nice as it was when it was made other than the frets being worn down a bit from the years of supporting me after a bad day. I hadn't plugged her in in 20 years so I bought a Fender acoustic amp, put on new strings and changed the battery in the preamp - everything still works. I bought a looper and a harmonizer/octave pedal so I could do some over dubbing. At the Guitar Center I saw a shallow body elite Ovation hanging at the highest spot on the wall to keep it out of reach of browsers and asked how much...$449...really?...yep, they're made in China now...how do they sound?...really good and play well too - if you wait a week we're going to have a $100 off sale on guitars that are more than $500 so you can get the upgraded version with a maple top for the same $449...

I waited a week...

Okay, it's made in China but it is as well crafted as my American made Ovation and actually plays better. The sound is different because of the slim body but it's not bad - just different - "brighter" I'd say. Plugged in, it sounds better than the old Ovation. I did tweak the truss rod adjustment (about 1/8 turn) and take out the smallest shim so the strings hover closely and evenly over the finger board. It is so easy to play.

I had a problem with the original pick-up. They sent two replacement pick-ups with bridges and extra shims. I had it installed in less than 20 minutes.

I think the Guitar Center sale is over for now but if you've been thinking about getting a guitar or buying one for a kid it's a good place to start looking.