LOUD guitar for busking

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

I'll stick with my Ovation 1117 recommendation, specifically the later ones with the Kaman bar neck and the A bracing which gives full mids..Ovation tops were glued on with epoxy and actually aren't know for coming adrift of their bodies, in fact people retopping have a.heck of a time as it involves sharp chisels and very hot heat guns, actual Ovation forums are the place to research this.

I know of several that had their tops separate from the bodies, and a search of the Ovation forums confirms this to have been a common problem with ‘70s and ‘80s Balladeers. Here’s a typical post quote:

“The old Ovations (especially old early 70's) I have seen in my shop all have not aged gracefully. Ive seen everything from twisty necks to tops separating from the bowl to split tops.”

I haven’t heard this about recent ones, which is why I suggested a new one rather than an old one.

[Cavalier]

Pretty unlikely.unless it was a case of severe impact that would have shattered a conventional guitar. I have worked on and with many Ovations from this time period and it just isn't true based on first hand experience. Solid tops can split from abuse and climate shock going to extremes, heat to cold, left for a week in a summer car trunk but this is abuse. Ovation took cues from other lasting guitar makers and the necks were laminated mahogany with maple center sections to prevent grain twisting. Any factory guitar can have the rare lemon but if you look in a cheap Balladeer you'll see they erred on too much epoxy instead of not enough. The better models like Legend and Folklore got more premium woods and attention but the lesser USA ones are nothing to sneer at. More current offerings are often from Asia and not built of the same woods as the USA versions. Go shopping and play a few then form a.opinion is my advise.

[D.G.]

Tricone is your answer.

[michael_s]

When it comes to resonators and as you are from the UK you might want to look here: Please Wait... | Cloudflare

A lot of knowledgeable folks, some of them even long time resonator buskers plus interesting offers in the "for sale" subforum.

[Peter C]

Check out some Tuba Skinny clips on YouTube.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

Any factory guitar can have the rare lemon but if you look in a cheap Balladeer you'll see they erred on too much epoxy instead of not enough. The better models like Legend and Folklore got more premium woods and attention but the lesser USA ones are nothing to sneer at. More current offerings are often from Asia and not built of the same woods as the USA versions. Go shopping and play a few then form a.opinion is my advise.

I appreciate your strong enthusiasm for Ovation and I fully agree with this. All I said earlier was that

“I agree with the suggestion that an Ovation is also well suited to what you intend. The only thing to watch for with Ovation is that they had a lot of problems over the years with tops separating from the bodies. New ones are well within your budget, so I wouldn't buy a used one.”

and

”a search of the Ovation forums confirms this to have been a common problem with ‘70s and ‘80s Balladeers”

FWIW, here’s my loud acoustic:

[Cavalier]

No worries, my only point is the statement is misleading as a Ovation would have to suffer extreme abuse for the top to come adrift. In a severe impact like swinging a guitar at a brick wall the bowl could deform and perhaps break the glue bond but this isn't normal use? I'd be interested to hear which forum you are talking about to read some of these posts. For sure there is more to those stories than Balladeers spontaneously turning their tops into Frisbees. The wood quality of the Ovations through the 80s can be remarkable, tight grain AAA spruce tops are pretty expensive these days which is why I suggest these years, if it didn't cost you a fortune you won't be afraid to use it. The Kaman bar neck is a internal bolt on allowing user neck sets for optimization as well as side to side bend protection a normal truss rod doesn't allow.

But...... I kind of like the 6 string banjo idea. Loud, brash, easy to retop if someone punctures your overtures....