Ovation Balladeer 1111 USA
I’ve always played acoustic guitars right from when I started playing. I find them a great way of developing your technique and would encourage people to begin on one. You’ll find an electric very easy to play if you do this.
My favourite acoustic guitar is Ovation Balladeer (1980), I love Ovations with their excellent sound projection and all round playability – not everyone’s cup of tea I know. The Tanglewood is a great guitar for kicking about with – nice sound and not too expensive.
Whilst looking for another Ovation electro acoustic I found it quite confusing figuring out what the model names referred to eg. Applause, Celebrity, Elite etc.
Here’s some notes to help you if you are looking for an Ovation guitar.
A ‘made in the USA’ sticker inside the body of an Ovation guitar probably means it was manufactured in New Hartford, Connecticut apart from some models featuring an ovation bowl manufactured in the United States but with electronic components assembled and fitted elsewhere. Ovation replicas with labels such as Celebrity or Applause are manufactured overseas. USA models include a nylon string classical guitar and various steel string acoustic-electric instruments.
- Legend and Standard Balladeer models have one large sound hole as on most acoustic guitars (Standard Balladeer, Legend, Custom Legend are produced in Korea).
- Elites have several smaller sound holes (Standard Elite, Elite, Custom Elite and are produced in Korea).
The first Ovation guitar model was a Balladeer (later known as Standard Balladeer)
The Hex Key, Allen Key or Truss Road Wrench size for Ovation is 3/16″
Loosening the truss rod (turning counter-clockwise) adds relief to (decreases tension on) the neck which results in increased (higher) string action height. Loosening the truss rod is done to correct backbow.
Tightening the truss rod (turning clockwise) increases compression, thereby pushing the center of the neck toward the strings.
