Ovation Ultra 2071

As far as I can tell, this Ovation Ultra 2071 was made in Korea in 2007. I bought it in the fall of 2008. The "Ultra" line of Ovations consists of guitars assembled in the U.S. from subassemblies built in the far east. The Ultra 2071 was originally available in Natural, Sunburst and Black finishes. Mine is a Sunburst. I'd have preferred Black for reasons explained later, but couldn't find one at an online merchant when I was looking.

My Ultra has 20 frets in a Rosewood fretboard. The neck is mahogany, in the "soft V" shape that Ovation favors, and that I find very comfortable. The neck has a clear, matte finish that seems durable and is comfortable for playing. It does not, however, ???blend??? at all with the black composite body of the guitar in terms of looks. The top is solid Sitka spruce, with virtually no character or distinctive grain. The center sound hole is surrounded by a surprisingly wide rosette of what strikes me as especially fake MOP. The rosette is a full inch wide, and actually serves as an adequate pick guard. Don't know if this was intentional on Ovation's part or not, but I like it. The rosette reflects light back as slightly pink and/or slightly blue. It would look great with a Black-finished top, but with the Natural or Sunburst, it strikes me as gaudy.

The Ultra comes with a single piezo pickup, which Ovation labels as ???High Output.??? The pickup feeds to an Ovation OP-Pro preamp, powered by a 9-volt battery. The OP-Pro features a 3-band EQ, built-in tuner, and a ???shape??? circuit that significantly alters the sound of the guitar when amplified. In most situations, I think the ???shape??? circuit alters the tone for the better, and I generally leave mine on.

The fretboard is Rosewood atop a Mahogany neck, set into Ovation's ???deep??? contour GS body. Unlike a lot of Ovations (including a super-shallow Tangent in my collection), this guitar does NOT slide around when being played sitting down, and has only a slight tendency toward lying horizontally instead of vertically. Ovation's instrument bodies are a plastic composite, though I have no idea what the exact chemical components might be. It's finished with a ???spackle??? black paint job over black composite. My Ultra has a AA Sitka Spruce top with a gorgeous Sunburst finish. I don't really care much for Sunburst finishes, and this one isn't my favorite, either, but it's very well done.

The bridge is Walnut, unfinished or with only a slight application of some sort of oil finish. The tuners are chrome, sealed Ovation. It's my experience that Ovation tuners are excellent ??? smoothly operating, holding their position so the string stays in tune, and in general of high quality.

The guitar came with a neck adjustment tool and a manual. The molded plastic case was extra.

I mostly play blues, with a bit of country and a few ???alternative??? tunes thrown in. I'm not a professional musician. I play the Ultra through a Fishman Loudbox Performer amplifier, but I also play it often as a straight acoustic guitar.

I have three acoustic-electric guitars: an Ibanez, a shallow-body Ovation Tangent, and this Ultra. I've played numerous high-end instruments at high-end guitar shops in the area. This Ovation Ultra won't quite match a high-end Martin in tone, but it cost about ten percent of what that high-end Martin would cost, and for the money, it sounds fantastic. Easily the best-sounding acoustic, or acoustic-electric, that I've owned in decades of guitar-playing. The high end is crisp and bright, mid-range rings clear and true, and the bottom end, as expected with a deep body, is rich and full without being too "boom-y."

The Ultra responds very nicely to differences in touch and technique, and I like it played softly almost as much as when I'm going full-on. On the rare occasions when I'm really pounding it as a straight-up acoustic, the low end gets a little scratchy, and the high end tone tends to get buried by the midrange, but it's still pretty good. Through an amplifier, that kind of physical pounding isn't necessary, and it's just luscious in terms of tone.

It's the best-sounding guitar I've played except for a literal handful of high-end acoustics I've played at high-end guitar shops. I'm very, very happy with the sound.

Finish is excellent. Smooth, dimple-free, just a teeny bit thin in a couple of spots at the edges, but on the whole it's very evenly applied and seems durable. The Sunburst itself has been very well done, fading smoothly into the dark brown/black at the edges. The top's wood is perfectly bookmatched, and the bridge is smoothly finished as well.

When it came out of the box, the guitar had a broken high "E" string, so I replaced the entire set of six with new strings. Various tags on the instrument say that it's been inspected, and give the space dimensions between strings at several frets. For me, the action is just a smidgen high at the upper end of the fretboard, but is otherwise practically perfect, and I'm not going to get out files and sandpaper to deal with 1/32 of an inch or less at the 18th fret. I'm not playing up there that often. The neck is straight and smooth, and fret ends have been properly dressed so they don't snag.

I can't vouch for misaligned bracing, but what I can see through the sound hole seems in the right place and is solidly attached. Finish is excellent, tuners are excellent.

The only mechanical flaw is that the button that needs to be pushed to ???spring??? the OP-Pro preamp out of the body when the battery needs to be changed more or less fell apart the first time I used it, and now basically doesn't work. Fortunately, I'm able to gently pry the preamp loose to replace the battery, but it's something I'll get fixed when I take the guitar in for service.

Since I'm not a professional musician, I don't know how the Ultra will hold up to night after night of live play on a stage. I play it an hour a day at home, and it's fine. Nothing except the previously mentioned preamp button has given me any trouble at all. Strap buttons, tuners, nut, bridge all seem solid and dependable. The finish should hold up well, especially with the wide rosette serving as a kind of improptu pick guard.

If I WERE a professional musician, I don't know if I'd play ANY instrument at ANY gig without a backup, but that's just me.

Haven't dealt with Ovation. The warranty is for 2 years, but it doesn't cover ???electronics,??? which diminishes its value as a warranty considerably. We'll see whether the button on the preamp qualifies as ???electronics??? or not pretty soon.

I've been playing guitar for nearly 40 years. I have 5 guitars at the moment, 3 acoustic-electrics and a pair of electrics, and a pair of amplifiers, one large and loud, the other small and not so loud. This guitar sounds awesome through either amplifier, and it's the best-sounding acoustic I've ever had in those almost-40 years.

If it were lost or stolen, I'd replace it immediately if I could. Too bad they didn't sell very well. Ovation has discontinued this model, so finding another one might be difficult a couple years down the road.

I'm not a big fan of the Sunburst finish, and would prefer Black, but otherwise, this guitar is an incredible bargain. I bought it as a closeout item for just a bit over $400, and feel it was money very well spent. I'll be playing this one for a long time. It has great tone, good action, is easy and comfortable to play, and ??? if you like Sunburst finishes ??? it has a gorgeous finish.

It's among the best guitars I've ever played, and I've played many.