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Al Di Meola Ovation
Ovation Guitars
Image Courtesy of wikimedia.org and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International.
A Guitar Company that has been making instruments for over 50 years.
Primarily manufactures steel-6/12 string acoustic guitars and nylon string variations, often with pickups for electric amplification.
The Ovation Guitars are known for their round backs, which gives them a recognizable shape. They are also well known for using carbon fibre tops instead of the typical wood tops for acoustic guitars.
Ovations “Round Backed” Guitars (Images courtesy of en.audiofanzine.com)
What sets this company apart from the rest is its ability to be forward thinkers in designing unique or creative guitars and electronics.
Ovations are indeed “electric-acoustic” guitars.
Read on as we review the Al Di Meola Ovation and see how this instrument should fit into your collection.
Where Did Inspiration For Ovation Come From?
Ovation’s inspiration for this new instrument came from an aerospace company called Kaman Corporation, with over 2700 employees, 25% of them being scientists, engineers, and technicians.
President Charles Kaman, a guitar enthusiast, decided to choose a small team of his company’s scientists, engineers and technicians and get them to meld aerospace technology into the art of guitar making.
Taking inspiration from sources such as an orchestra shell, amphitheatre or radar reflectors, in November 1966, after 18 months of testing and research, Kaman’s R&D team concluded that the rounded shape produced a fuller, deeper tone, and the introduction of the first Ovation guitar to the world was released.
Enter Guitar Mistro…..
Al Di Meola
Al Di Meola is an American Guitar virtuoso known for combining Jazz fusion, Meritereianean and Flamenco to his music.
Di Meola at Leverkusener Jazztage (Forum/Leverkusen/Germany) on November 7, 2016. Image courtesy of Wikimedia and licensed under Creative Commons / Share-Alike 4.0
Starting his journey with the instrument at eight years old; even though the artists that inspired him, like Elvis Presley and the Ventures, his music instructors guided him toward jazz, bluegrass and country.
After attending Berklee College of Music from 1971-1974, being only 19 years of age, Chick Corea hired Di Meola to play in his pioneer jazz fusion band “Return to Forever” with Stanley Clarke and Lenny White.
Di Meola recorded three albums with the group, and all three albums made it into the top 40 on the billboard pop albums chart.
After Return to Forever disbanded in 1976, Al Di Meola started recording solo albums with his trademark style.
Flawless Right-Hand Technique Done To Perfection
Di Meola generally prefers to pick every note, focusing on upstrokes and accents combined with a good sense of center, rhythm and time.
His technique for alternate picking is a loose wrist as opposed to a locked wrist or picking from the elbow.
One of the artist’s most identifiable acoustic and electric guitar techniques is the Palm Muting Technique.
Palm Muting
A right-hand technique that is a bit misleading by the name.
This technique is done by placing the side of your picking hand near or across the bridge, not the palm, lightly enough to dampen the sound of the notes picked, creating a muted sound, and the amount of pressure applied will vary the effect of the sound.
The lighter the touch results in a lighter muting; conversely, the heavier the pressing of the hand down on the bridge will make for a heavy muting, making the notes less recognizable.
Want To Learn From The Master? Click the Image Here To Get Al Di Meola’s Picking Techniques
Ovation & Al Di Meola
Partnering with Ovation and the design team in New Hartford, Connecticut, Di Meola designed every aspect of his signature instrument.
An up-scale single cutaway design that only the union of these two greats could make happen.
The Ovation Al Di Meola Signature 6 String Acoustic/Electric 1769 Model
Features
(Images courtesy of sweetwater.com)
A premium AAA Solid Sitka Spruce top with Ovations A-bracing.
Deep cutaway body type with a standard deep bowl composite material delivering rich, robust tones and maximum acoustic output.
A cutaway offers complete access to the custom low-profile, and the 1769-ADII traditional center soundhole has a gorgeous laser-cut rosette oak leaf pattern.
The pickguard is traditionally omitted from the specs list.
Available in black with a glossy finish.
The weight of this guitar is 5.7 lbs or 2.5 Kilograms.
Deep Bowl
Ovation’s Deep Bowl body generates maximum unamplified volume and enormous low end, yet it’s easier to hold and play than a traditional jumbo-body guitar. A “sonic cannon” that shines either unplugged or through a sound system or stage amp.
The Deep Bowl Ovation offers the best of both electric and acoustic worlds.
Neck
The V-shaped 5-piece mahogany/maple neck features a set-in joint and is topped with an Ebony Fretboard and Bridge.
It comes with 20 Abalone Fret Inlays and the Abalone Inlayed Rosette.
Scale Length: 25 1/4″
Bridge
There’s a belly-shaped bridge made of ebony.
Head Stock
Machines: 24K Gold Ovation Die-Cast.
Nut width: 1 11/16″
As customary, Ovation models feature Ovation electronics, which is the case with this model.
Pickups
Thanks to Ovation’s advanced onboard electronics, models sporting Deep Bowl bodies also perform impressively when plugged in.
The Al Di Meola Signature includes Ovation’s high output pickup and an OP Pro Studio Pre-Amp.
The Pre Amp is OP Pro Studio With XLR
Pre Amp is OP Pro Studio With XLR (image courtesy of en.audiofanzine.com)
Designed in collaboration with Di Meola and acoustic rocker Melissa Etheridge, the OP-Pro combines state-of-the-art audio quality with exclusive features designed to meet the needs of professional guitarists.
The easy-to-operate unit offers 3-band EQ, a preset tone enhancement circuit, a battery status light, and a chromatic tuner. Also, the OP-Pro preamp features a special +4 dB volume-boost switch.
The OP-Pro will please even the most discriminating player.
Added Touches
This guitar features an Al Di Meola signature design on the headstock.
(Image courtesy of sweetwater.com)
Case
And comes with A 8158-0 Deluxe Molded Case.
For More Of The Al Di Meola Ovation Guitar, Click On The Video Below!
Final Thoughts
My first exposure to him was in the 1980s with Elegant Gypsy (1977) and Friday night in San Francisco (1980) with Paco de Lucia and John Mclaughlin, one of the most popular live acoustic guitars albums, selling more than two million copies worldwide.
His technical mastery, Fast, Precise Picking, Palm Mute Technique, Complex Guitar Solos and compositions greatly changed my ear and approach to the instrument.
But not only on his Electric playing but his Acoustic as well.
I own an Ovation, but not the Al Di Meola Ovation Signature 1769 Model.
Should You Have One In Your Collection?
Based on my experience with this type of guitar, absolutely yes.
Should it be the only acoustic you have?
No.
With my Ovation, playing while you are leaning back on a chair is uncomfortable, for it slips off, so it is nice to have a regular acoustic to work on as well.
For More On Al Di Meola, Click Image Here”
Did You Like This Article?
Check out my review on the Yngwie Malmsteen Signature Ovation Viper
Also…
I would like to hear your comments in the section below, and if you would like me to review a favourite guitar, give me a request.
As always, stay the course and keep playing.
Image of Artist in CTA courtesy of Amazon
Al Di Meola Images Courtesy of Wikimedia Author Chascar Licensed under Creative Commons/2.0 Generic
Image of Al Di Meola’s Picking Technique booklet courtesy of Amazon
Ovation Al Di Meola Signature Acoustic/Electric 1769 Model
$1,362.90
Pros
- AAA Solid Sitka Spruce top
- Laser-cut oak-leaf and abalone
- Ovation's high output pickup.
- OP-Pro preamp.
- 24K Gold Ovation Die-Cast Machine heads
Cons
- High Action
- No Pickguard
Starting A Journey At 7 Years Of Age, The Love For The Guitar Only Became Stronger Going Into My Teens. This Leading To An Exciting Time Of Teaching, Performing, And Recording. Join Me Now As We Can Bring The Love Of This Instrument To Other Musicians Globally.
Congratulations to you on launching this guitar site! It’s always interesting to learn about the history of each guitar! Keep strumming!
Hello Fran
Nice to see you on the new site.
Appreciate the visits and the comments
Will absolutely keep my strumming going both on the instrument as well as behind the keyboard of my laptop.
Look forward to some exciting new content and growth coming down the pipeline.
D
I’ll be looking forward to reading more!
Hello Fran
Will look forward to creating more also.
Thank you for your visit and your comments are always appreciated.
Cheers
Thanks for sharing. I read many of your blog posts, cool, your blog is very good.
Thank you for the kind words and we really appreciate your comments.
Regards
Dino@gstringuitars