1976 Ovation Custom Balladeer

Specifications

• Made in New Hartford, CT, 1975-76

• $360 in 1976, about $1600 today (2019)

Details

This guitar was my dad’s, which he gave to me mid-way through my high school senior year after I showed more interest in learning guitar (I started on a travel size acoustic). I played this guitar for hours in my room learning all sorts of music via tabs. The neck on this guitar is really great, a thin C shape and a composite fretboard made it feel a little more like an electric than other acoustics I was used to. This really helped because what I really wanted was an electric guitar since all the music I wanted to play was electric guitars. Nostalgia aside, this is a great guitar and I really like the comfortable back, which is made from a material called “Lyracord.” This is a composite material designed to resonance with guitar frequencies and project the sound better than a traditional acoustic body. Whether this is true or not is pretty debatable, but it sounds great. The top is a nicely dyed spruce with a rosewood bridge. The neck is mahogany with a thin stripe comprised of maple and walnut for support, and has a very high gloss lacquer finish. Another really cool feature is the diamond inlays which give this neck a really unique look. Despite being closer to 50 years old now, it’s in great shape and I still have the original case - even more surprising considering my father played this guitar at bars, clubs, and home/basement parties for years in his 20s and 30s. It was made in New Hartford CT in 1975-76, and cost $360 in 1976, which is about $1800 today (2022). This one is definitely on my never sell list.