Playing above the soundhole, over the fretboard, even down by the bridge has very little change of tone - it retains its warmth and projection throughout. The consistency of tone and balance of sound across the guitar is remarkable. One slight oversight might be the lack of a pick guard, so if you’re thinking of making a purchase of this instrument we’d highly recommend getting one - the top is far too pristine to besmirch, especially if you want to give the guitar some welly.
#MODEL NUMBERS APPLAUSE GUITARS FULL#
Our attempts to use a plectrum on this guitar show it to have a strong, full sound with some notable projection. Although our playing will never be quite up to the same standards of Campbell’s, as seen in his rendition of The William Tell Overture, in which his plectrum work was quite outstanding, we do try our best to replicate as much a sound of his as possible, though it is more akin to a toned down version of American songwriter Jerry Webb’s Wichita Lineman. A plucked single notes lasts approximately 19 seconds. Mid and treble ranges are strong, as is the bass, although taking the lower E string down to a D magnifies the bass immeasurably. Unplugged it has a clean and understated warmth of tone with almost as much resonance as the Kinkade guitar 35 years its senior, which is impressive to say the least. In the whole of Bristol we only source one such instrument for sale - a bespoke, 1982 Kinkade guitar with a Sitka spruce top and a neck design based entirely on a Les Paul: a kooky design, but a benchmark nonetheless. In order to provide an adequate all-round, well-balanced review we set out to compare it with another bowlback guitar. The width of the neck lets you do this too.īack in the day, the Ovation neck was based around the classical guitar neck, so the nut width would have been even greater at about 52mm, though in this case it is a manageable 43mm. If you like to wrap your thumb around the neck and get into strumming techniques then this is the perfect setup. While your fretboard fingers have light work on the ebony fingerboard, the thumb struggles a little on the steep curve of the reverse side of the neck for melodic playing. The consistency of tone and balance of sound across the guitar is remarkable Playing and standing might be more of a hindrance to players with the more voluminous figure, though. Sitting down to play the guitar there is one obvious benefit to the bowlback and that is the way it moulds into your body as you play: it just seems to naturally fill the void between yourself and the guitar.