ozark guitars

[guitar freek]

Does Anyone know anything about Ozark 3175 or 3178 jazz guitars?

[Meggy]

It took a while for you to get a reply to this one! But I have recently noticed the 3178 model which looks like a lot for your money to me - I like the general style and honey blond finish, and the ebony fingerboard is a plus at this price too. I would have to try one to be sure, but it could be a very good gigging guitar possibly.

[lindydanny]

With the name, I kind of expected them to be based out of southern Missouri or northern Arkansas... England was not what I expected.

~DB

[richy]

(Nov 26th 2011)
Hi all,
I'm buying an Ozark 3178, should be with me next week. I'll post my thoughts on it in a short while for anyone else's interest. Came on here to find out myself, but nothing, so, if it's useful I'll be back with info and opinion.
Rich Alvey UK

[richy]

Hi all
If anyone's interested...
The Ozark 3178 has been with me for a week now.
Verdict? Beyond my expectations! A beautiful guitar! The workmanship is amazing for this kind of price - and an ebony fingerboard, very well fretted and finished. And all wood binding, body and neck/head! Plastic bound F-holes. Very substantial rosewood pickguard and tailpiece and the volume/tone knobs are rosewood too. The pickup is a gold mini humbucker type, set-in with a nice black plastic surround The top is laminated spruce, the rims and back gently flamed maple, both top and back bookmatched and all finished in a nice pale amber. The neck is maple, a comfortable 'C'. Inside it's clean, no glue runs, and it appears to be 'H' braced.
The bridge is a 2 piece rosewood, very well fitting to the top. The tuners are gold, probably not the best, the tuner buttons are gold beneath and seem to have been dipped in a black finish which is peeling slightly on the top 'e' button. I shall probably get a set of Grovers eventually - with black buttons - I like that! Now, the sound... the guitar came with a bog-standard set of roundwounds (11's); I very quickly strung it with my favourite D'Addario 11's! The acoustic tone is loud and free, quite nicely detailed, with no dead spots, entirely suitable for doodling on the sofa! The electric sound through my Fender Mustang II, all pots set to middle and no effects was very clear and detailed with no heavy bass or tinny 12th fret notes. The Mustang is a bit on the toppy side, so another 1/4 of bass, roll off the treble to 2 and it really started to sing. The acoustic sound of the top came through clearly alongside, just lightening and lifting the tone to a wonderful all-over clarity. No muddiness here, the spruce top really does work beautifully in both modes. In fact I was reminded of the tone of a Heritage Golden Eagle a friend had, he loaned it to me for a few weeks to enjoy and make a little recording for my duo. This guitar suits me down to the ground and I can't wait to try it with a Mesa Boogie 1x12 another friend has! So, here is a link - well, for those in the UK anyway!: NEW OZARK 3178 JAZZ ELECTRIC ACOUSTIC ARCHTOP GUITAR | eBay
The guitar showing in their pic looks different in that the tailpiece is different and the pickguard on mine has sidestrap supporting it. See my pics for that.
The close-up pics on the link show well the bindings.
That's it, I hope someone will find this useful and at least something nice to look at! I shall upload a little soundfile soon. Thanks for looking.
Regards
Richy

[tel]

Hi, I'm thinking of changing my Hagstrom Viking 11 for a Ozark 3178,
would I benefit from a change .
yours looks a great jazz guitar for very little cost.

[richy]

Hi, well, depending on your personal taste and the music you ultimately want to play, the Ozark is a very cost effective instrument as is. Now, since I posted that information, having spent a lot more time and recording it, I found that the pickup was a little weak and thin compared to a full-size humbucker, and the tuners were not holding pitch too well. I hadn't expected this to be otherwise, given the price, so I wasn't too bothered. The body and neck are fine, surprisingly well done and finished, so I have no hesitation in recommending the Ozark as a very good base to work from. I have replaced the pickup with an old Seymour Duncan I've had for years - the difference is very evident! Lovely creamy full tones now. I've also re-cut the pickguard to more like a Benedetto slim finger-rest style because I thought the original was too heavy-looking, but that's my taste. The tuners I've replaced with Grovers and now have constant pitch-holding. All this, of course, is something I've done for years, but you may not be the tinkering type, but a good craftsman will be able to do this sort of stuff for you, if you feel it's worth it. (The white bits on the righthand pic were simply bits of masking tape put there to help re-locate the bridge after the work)
Well, I hope this may be of some use to you. See updated pics. Whatever you decide to do, enjoy your music first, it's what it's really about isn't it?
Regards
Rich Alvey

[arnie65]

Hi, well, depending on your personal taste and the music you ultimately want to play, the Ozark is a very cost effective instrument as is. Now, since I posted that information, having spent a lot more time and recording it, I found that the pickup was a little weak and thin compared to a full-size humbucker, and the tuners were not holding pitch too well. I hadn't expected this to be otherwise, given the price, so I wasn't too bothered. The body and neck are fine, surprisingly well done and finished, so I have no hesitation in recommending the Ozark as a very good base to work from. I have replaced the pickup with an old Seymour Duncan I've had for years - the difference is very evident! Lovely creamy full tones now. I've also re-cut the pickguard to more like a Benedetto slim finger-rest style because I thought the original was too heavy-looking, but that's my taste. The tuners I've replaced with Grovers and now have constant pitch-holding. All this, of course, is something I've done for years, but you may not be the tinkering type, but a good craftsman will be able to do this sort of stuff for you, if you feel it's worth it. (The white bits on the righthand pic were simply bits of masking tape put there to help re-locate the bridge after the work)
Well, I hope this may be of some use to you. See updated pics. Whatever you decide to do, enjoy your music first, it's what it's really about isn't it?
Regards
Rich Alvey

Greetings from U.S.A. I was debating whether to buy the new Eastman AR371CE which is basically a copy of the Gibson 175, or the Ozark model you have. But the guitar looks incredibly beautiful with great appointments, and if all that I have to deal with is replacing a pickup and tuning keys, I could deal with that. Bare Knuckle has come out with a new Jazz pickup called "The Manhattan" and it sounds very Jim Hall. Why did you installed your humbucker upside down?


Cheers,
Arnold G.

[richy]

Hi Arnold
Thanks for the message.
Well, whichever model you choose I hope you enjoy it. There is quite a difference in price of course but I've never tried an Eastman so I can't comment, but I understand that they are highly rated. The Ozark obviously is available in the UK, but I don't know if that's so in the U.S.A. 'Ozark' is a brand name of Stentor Music in the UK but I don't know which Chinese factory makes them. Like many of these instruments, the basic design can be branded variously according to distributor. I've not seen any other brands which look like the Ozarks.

The pickup, by the way, is mounted so that the adjustable polepieces are directly under the second 'E' harmonic (the sweet spot) for string balancing by screwing the polepieces in or out. I think the other way is just convention?
The Bare Knuckle Manhattan I've not heard but I know it's rated.

It's good to hear from you and I wish you the very best in your search. Please let me know how you get on.
Best wishes
Rich Alvey

[passfan]

Hi Richy.
You've done a lovely job on the pickguard and pickup and you seem to rate the guitar overall with the few mods you've done.It does look the part and I'm sure it plays as good as it looks.I was in the market for an archtop almost a year ago and thought about the Ozark.Now I'm a bit envious for I bought a used Eastman 905 for £1330.No complaints about that guitar but like yourself I seem to be ever changing this and that.I just changed the pickup and modded the tone control and now I think I could have saved a lot of money with the Ozark.Anyway,water under the bridge but you enjoy your new instrument.It really does look great.

Ken

[pingu]

Nice one
Did you have to enlarge the PU cavity ?

[richy]

Hi Richy.
You've done a lovely job on the pickguard and pickup and you seem to rate the guitar overall with the few mods you've done.It does look the part and I'm sure it plays as good as it looks.I was in the market for an archtop almost a year ago and thought about the Ozark.Now I'm a bit envious for I bought a used Eastman 905 for £1330.No complaints about that guitar but like yourself I seem to be ever changing this and that.I just changed the pickup and modded the tone control and now I think I could have saved a lot of money with the Ozark.Anyway,water under the bridge but you enjoy your new instrument.It really does look great.

Ken

Hi Ken, thanks for your message. Yes, I do enjoy this guitar a lot! I'm in the process of making a new tailpiece, I find the original a bit chunky looking, so watch this space! The Eastman sounds like a nice buy though - I think you'll find that the finish will be rather better though! - not that mine is rough, I just mean that the final detail sanding could have been better - but a few minutes with some 600 grit took care of that.
Best wishes
Rich

[richy]

Nice one
Did you have to enlarge the PU cavity ?

Hi Pingu, yes, I did - a very careful freehand job with my Dremel and a 3mm cutter used on the lower half of the cavity took care of it.

Regards
Rich

[chipmonk78]

Got an Ozark 3178 too a few months back. Astonishing value for money. Plays very well and now the main guitar for gigs. No longer available on EBay, but one or two UK music shops have them for £250-£350. Given the specification, it's a steal.

[chipmonk78]

Been using the Ozark 3178 unmodified now for over 6 months. It's very solid, heavy and feels indestructible. Works best with a set of 13 flatwounds. Gets gigged regularly and is proving to be an excellent workhorse. I'm thinking of getting a Schatten Piezo bridge pickup, as I like the Freddie Green four-to-a-bar stuff.

There was one up on Fleabay recently, with a hard case, for just £299. At that price I may get one or two more!

[richy]

Hello Chipmonk78

Glad you're as happy as me with your Ozark. Mine has just settled beautifully and is as smooth to play as anything I've ever tried. I have a Peerless Monarch and the Ozark keeps getting my attention! I saw the 3178 on ebay too and was mightily tempted!!

Rich

[hagstrom]

Greetings to everyone, I'm new kid in club. After reading all these wonders bout the 3178, I think I'm gonna buy one.

[hagstrom]

the neck of the 3178 does it comes with trussrod in ?

[richy]

Hagstrom

Yes, truss rod fitted and works well. Sorry for the long while I've not been on here, been very busy with other matters.
Thanks for looking.

Rich