Richie Valley has used his Ovation® guitar to perform and record. This guitar was used to record five albums: Richie Valley LP (2022), Butterfly Sunflower (2021), Apollonian (2020), Sticky (2010) and Zoom Zoom (2009).
This guitar is easy to play and sounds great.
Richie's guitar has onboard OP PRO Series pre-amp electronics. This has a battery powered guitar tuner with LED display showing sharp, flat or in tune. The built in tuner makes it really easy to tune the guitar anywhere and under any circumstance. The real-time visual LED display allows musicians to tune the instrument without hearing it.
This feature is extremely useful in performance scenarios where often music is already playing. For example, Richie can quickly switch to one of his open D tunings between songs with minimum or no delay.
The entire pre-amp assembly snaps in and out for ease of changing the standard 9 volt battery.
The Ovation was sold with a hard case which is excellent for gigging. Many guitars are sold with a gig "bag" which is soft and does not offer the superior protection of a hard shell case. The Ovation is a unique shape and requires a specific shape hard case built only by the manufacturer.
The headstock is carved in the classic Ovation style with an arching and bevelled top, embedded with the Ovation logo. A unique Ovation serial number is carved into the back.
The bowl or body is one of the characteristics which make the Ovation guitar unique. Made out of durable composites, the Lyrachord composite body is contoured to produce the sound Ovation is known for. Richie's guitar is a mid depth bowl. Ovation also made shallow and deep depth bowls.
The mid depth bowl is easier to hold than the deeper bowl. Even then, Richie finds that the rounded contour shape makes the guitar want to slide away from the body when held. A guitar strap is essential to play this type of guitar.
The classic circular sound hole produces the outstanding music Ovation guitars are known for worldwide.
A simple mother-of-pearl inlay accentuates the sound hole. The inlay looks more attractive but does not materially affect the sound quality.
The label, applied inside the guitar body, states manufacturer information about the guitar. Richie Valley's guitar was made in America, in New Hartford CT.
Some later and different model types were manufactured in Asia which carried the Ovation name, but not the American quality.
The specs state the nitty gritty details about the guitar. Richie's guitar is an A grade spruce top wood. Spruce is known for its tight grain, straight lines and superior sound qualities.
On ovationguitars.com the manufacturer states that their latest Balladeer "is designed for the working musician wanting a guitar that is at home in any stage or studio spruce top with unique, hand-rubbed ebony stain, satin finish guaranteed to meet with approval wherever you play. The full range tone of Sitka spruce is widely acknowledged to be one of the best tone woods around and this guitar makes full use of this wonderful, sustainable wood. The top has a simplified rosette design. The mid depth Lyrachord® body ensures maximum volume and balanced response while the Ovation Op Pro preamp system renders natural acoustic sound through any amplifier or mixing console. "
If Richie recorded it you will find it here. Browse Richie Valley's discography.
Also take a look at my videos, which are recent creative explorations.