NEWS CLIPS
Ovation’s Big iDea
As Ovation’s press conference on September
18 opened, a keyboard player, bassist, conga
player and an acoustic guitarist launched into
“Oye Como Vas?” in front of a room full of
guitar/music industry journalists and, quite
frankly, we didn’t know what to think. Then,
the bass player got up and left, followed by
the keyboard player and the conga player,
leaving the guy playing the acoustic all by his
lonesome. But the full band sound didn’t stop.
The song kept on rolling as the guitarist ripped
slidey, staccato acoustic riffs that would’ve made
Santana proud.
The secret? A built-in mp3 player that pumped
a backing track through the guitar’s 1/4” jack,
along with the guitarist’s live licks. And Ovation’s
new iDea guitar was officially introduced.
The implications for solo performers are obvious—the mp3 player can store up to 100
minutes of high quality audio. The actual mp3
player is built into the guitar’s preamp unit, so
its menu screen, mini-toggle joystick and other
buttons are located right next to the expected
volume and tone control slides. The preamp
itself takes Ovation’s kidney-shaped design so
it can be bought separately and dropped right
into newer Ovations.
The guitar itself isn’t going to impress any
cork sniffers, but that’s not really the point. Its
rounded, composite back and laminated spruce
top with scalloped bracing give it a sound that
certainly isn’t shabby. What we saw as the iDea’s
true value, however, was its ability to assist in
the songwriting/idea-gathering process. You can
record your ideas and noodling as the inspiration hits you. The preamp also has a built-in mic
that records your singing or commentary, which
can also be switched off if you only want to
record your guitar playing.
In addition to being a handy tool for experienced songwriters, the iDea has lots of implications for beginners, too, as well as anyone
willing to drill down on audio lessons to improve
their chops. It comes with a number of pre-load-ed lessons and jam tracks from Ovation’s education partner, WorkshopLive.com. WorkshopLive.
com is also offering many of their lessons for
free on ovationidea.com.
To watch our video from the press conference,
head to
premierguitar.com/video.
