Ovation 1867 Custom Legend

Year 2000 model with AA grade solid sitka spruce top, 5 piece mahogany/maple neck, ebony fingerboard and bridge, engraved gold tuners and OP 24+C preamp with chromatic tuner.

Sounds amazing unplug and even beefier plugged in.

Perfect out of the box. Action was low enough for fast playing.

I bang it a few times and not a dink! Can't believe it, this one will last forever.

Haven't used it yet, but 1-800 number sounded friendly.

I've been playing for over 20 years and must say this one really live up to its name.

1985 Model Single Cutaway, AAA Solid Sitka Spruce top "Lyrachord" man made synthetic back/sides, ebony fingerboard w/ diamond inlays, onboard OP24 preamp, 24k gold tuners. The only thing that stinks is that the battery compartment is suspended by a screw inside the body cavity and you can ony access it by loosening the bottom strings and sticking your hand in the sound hole.

Mic'd in a studio setting, this guitar sounded beautiful- rich, clear full bodied tones. I've gotten many compliments. Amplified, it sounds like a signature Ovation (kind of boxy, midrange-y). But you can't beat an Ovation for feedback rejection in live situations.

Action was perfect right out of the box. Output was strong. The finish was flawless and the cut of wood they used for the top had an almost iradescent quality about it. Ovation does many innovative things construction wise. A friend of mine was interested in becoming a guitar builder and Ovation sent him a video of how they make their guitars. Overall, they do things right, but I had a bad experience (see below)

I had the guitar for 6 years without a single problem without a backup. Then one day I arrived at a gig, opened the case only to find that the bridge/tailpiece conmpletely snapped off the top. See Customer Service for resolution of the problem.

I brought the guitar with the snapped bridge to my luthier who called Ovation. They admitted to him off the record that there was a design flaw with this model. It seems that this was one of only a few Ovation models that didn't have bridges anchored to the body- it was only glued to the finished top. Ovation suggested that I send it to them, and they MIGHT repair the guitar at no charge. Oh yeah, it would take 10-12 weeks for them to even look at it. They argued to me that the guitar was beyond warranty, and wouldn't make an exception, even though I was the original owner (gee, an inherent design flaw should be an exception to the rule, doncha think?). As a steady working musician and long time customer, I found all of this to be totally unacceptable.
Since I was a full time musician, I needed the guitar to keep gigging, so I paid my luthier to fix my guitar and then immediately sold it.
I will never buy another Ovation product nor would I reccommend them to anyone. I wish this category had negative numbers for the customer service (or lack thereof) from Ovation.
I then bought a Takamine NP-15C, and I was hesitant to do so because they share the same parent company with Ovation (Kaman). But the Takamine is such a fantastic guitar (see my review) that I'm willing to forgive them a little.

I've been playing guitar 35 years (20+ professionally) and the guitar did serve me very well for a few years. But the treatment I received from the company left a very bitter taste. When everything goes right there's never a problem. However, when things go wrong, especially when the company is at fault, I don't think it's too much to expect that they do everything possible to keep a customer satisfied.
Fix the design flaw and you've got a killer ax. (9 rating). Company sucks (-9 rating).