Product: Adamas SMT Woven Top
Price Paid: US $1049 used
Submitted
02/17/2005
at
01:28pm
by
Rob the guitarholic
Features
:
10
This guitar was made around 2000 in USA. It's got hte lyracord bowl like Ovation guitars, but the top is a thin sheet of birch sandwiched between two thin layers of woven carbon fibers. Mine has the natural gray finish. Ovation single cutaway style acoustic body. Adamas epaulette multiple sound holes instead of traditional single sound hole under strings.
It has a very high quality Ovation acoustic pickup/preamp. The preamp output is run out to a 1/4" jack and to aan XLR jack. The guitar is capable of being plugged right into an XLR mic cable and the preamp is capable of being powered by phantom power right off the mixing board! Very nice!
Mahogany neck with strips of maple and rosewood running up the center.
Preamp has volume, 4 band graphic EQ with EQ in/out button, notch frequency knob with in/out button, battery status LED and on board tuner. Really nice!
Strap Lok ready strap knobs. Schaller tuners.
It's got all the stuff to make it ideal for performing on stage. This is a pro's acoustic guitar.
Sound
:
10
From a guitar with a body made mostly of synthetic materials, you would not expect a tone like what this guitar produces. It's warm, deep, complex, and very WOODY! It's a bit compressed sounding, which I like. When you're recording an acoustic guitar, you compress it most of the time anyway. This guitar sits perfectly in a mix.
I don't use any effects with it. When playing it live, I run it direct through its XLR output to the board. For recording, I put a couple of mics in front of it. I know Ovations have a reputation among some for only sounding good when plugged into a PA, but not so with the ADamas SMT. The acoustic tone is rich and warm with a bright zingy top end that's not harsh, a defined midrange that's not boxy, and a rich bass that's not boomy. A very balanced, full spectrum tone. It's like a "perfect ideal" acoustic tone.
Sounds good going direct, but use a mic to pick up every drop of tone.
It sounds equally good strumming chords or fingerpicking.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
9
Set up was perfect when I got it. The only flaw I saw was that one of the epaulets (the wooden leaf pattern around the sound holes) was lifting from the top at one corner. May have been shop wear. This guitar was reported to have come from a Mars store that closed. There was many a new guitar hanging at my local Mars store with battle scars on it.
Fretwork is perfect. Action is perfect. No structural or workmanship problems other than the epaulet. I used super glue to fasten the corner of the wood leaf back to the top of the guitar.
Reliability/Durability
:
10
This guitar is MADE for live playing. The top will never arch up or become wavy. I've had no problems with the neck.
I baby it to keep it in as new condition. Mine will never get taken to smoky clubs, but it's built to be roadworthy.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Never called Ovation.
Overall Rating
:
10
This guitar isn't cheap, but it's one of those instruments that becomes your musical partner for life. The playability, tone, and workmanship are the best available. I'd look for another if this one disappeared.
I compared this one to USA and foreign made Ovations as well as some other brands, some of them much more affordable and very good-sounding, and ended up deciding the extra money I'd have to spend for the Adamas was worth it. None of the others had the XLR output, and none of the others could touch this guitar when it comes to tone.
