The Ovation Celebrity acoustic guitar combines their legendary bowl-back design with cutting-edge electronics and gorgeous, finely-appointed tops, in a line of truly stunning instruments that offer impeccable tone, comfort and playability, all at incredibly affordable prices. Ovation guitars represented a significant advance in guitar design when first introduced in late 1966, the result of the research and experimentation of founder and aeronautical engineer Charles Kaman into the vibrational and acoustic properties of various materials used in helicopters and other aircraft. After spearheading several technological breakthroughs in aerospace and helicopter design, Kaman, an avid guitarist, decided to apply some if his findings to re-imagining the guitar, and with a team of luthiers and engineers, eventually produced a revolutionary instrument with a semi-parabolic bowl-shaped back, molded from a patented material of interwoven layers of glass filament and bonding resin they dubbed Lyrachord. This material, derived from the super-strong synthetics they were using in high-stress aerospace applications like rotor blades, was designed to be lightweight, durable and highly resonant down to the molecular level, and the rounded, bowl-shaped back produced a much fuller, richer tone than is typically found with a traditional guitar using conventional designs and materials. Ovation also pioneered the development of high-quality on-board electronics, including a piezo pickup optimized for acoustic tone housed in the intonated bridge saddle, and a preamp to contour the output signal. The result was far superior to most other options available at the time for amplifying acoustic guitars, like contact mics glued to the soundboard or feedback-prone magnetic pickups inserted in the soundhole. The innovative Ovation guitar quickly caught on, championed by master pickers like session ace and TV and recording star Glen Campbell, followed by pro players of all stripes, from fellow country plucker Roy Clark to jazz master Al DiMiola, and rockers from Eddie Van Halen to Jimmy Page. While top-of-the-line Ovations can easily cost several thousand dollars or more, the Celebrity line was designed to deliver the sonic clarity, stunning beauty and technologically advanced designs of those guitars at a price more in tune with a working musician’s budget. You’ll still find the exquisite tops in a variety of tonewoods like Maple, Figured Koa or Padauk, with gorgeous finishes like Sunburst and Blue Transparent Quilt; and adorned with either a traditional soundhole, or one of the distinctive, multi-hole patterns for a bit of added flair. The revolutionary rounded backs in shapes ranging from Super Shallow and Contour Body to Mid-Depth and Deep Contour offer a wide range of tonalities and body profiles to suit your playing style and comfort needs. You can get 12-string, right-handed or lefty versions of many models, so no matter how you swing, there’s a Celebrity waiting for you. And check out the Celebrity Signature axes from several top players, including a brutal acoustic from Slipknot’s Mick Thompson, and a strung-out axe from Nikki Sixx. Continuing with Ovation’s tradition of innovation, you’ll find the iDea Celebrity comes with an integrated MP3 recorder and built-in microphone, for recording guitar and vocals on-the-go! If you’re dreaming of earning a standing ovation, why not start with an Ovation Celebrity? Order yours today!
