If you ask Rick Hall, Ovation’s guitar product manager, “Ovation always tends to surprise people.” Well, it certainly has a surprise for us now. Ovation, under the umbrella of Kaman Music, and Guitar Center have combined forces to release the VXT, a six-string electric-acoustic hybrid guitar intended to appeal to a younger audience. And although musicians won’t exactly be buying this “first real six string at the five and dime,” like Bryan Adams in the “Summer of ’69,” it is certainly considered affordable for a professional model. The guitar, with a MAP price of $1,599 and a retail price of $2,499, including a hardshell case, will be at every GC store, www.guitarcenter.com, and Musician’s Friend on May 1. GC will hold exclusive sales rights to the guitar for an expected 45 to 60 days. After that period, independent and international dealers can jump in, but Hall said, “GC will retain first purchase rights.”
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Ovation debuted the product for the first time in a press-only event that took place at Kaman headquarters in Bloomfield, Conn., on Feb. 27. The guitars were seen for the first time after a projector was recessed in the Kaman conference room. Demonstrations by guitarists Matt Smith, a New York City session musician; Greg Orred, Chris Piquette, and 19-year-old Branford, Conn., resident Mike Ranieri followed. A trip to the Ovation factory, housed in a pre-Civil War building nestled near a ski resort, subsequently took place in New Hartford, Conn.
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The history of the VXT dates back about a year and a-half. “Kaman is a major vendor for us,” said Michael Doyle, GC’s vice president of product marketing. “[My coworker, GC’s VP of product merchandising] Keith Brawley and I toured the factory and saw a body blank.
“We asked what it was,” continued Doyle.
“A member of the Viper family,” we were told.
“We had tremendous success with the Taylor T5 and saw a growing market for hybrid guitars. Kaman had the essence of a great new product with that body.”
Some of the key features of the VXT include the Ovation trademarked ridge, a rosewood fingerboard, a three-way switch, a solid spruce top, Honduras mahogany neck and body, two Seymour Duncan ’59 humbuckers, and a Fishman Power Bridge. Ovation chose the Duncan humbuckers for a “crisp yet warm,” sound from the hollowed-out body, as opposed to a “muddy” sound that could result otherwise. According to the company, the Fishman Power Bridge provides an excellent acoustic sound without piezo “thwack—even with heavy-handed picking or plucking.” The guitar is available in black and Teardrop Burst colors.
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