Ovation Deacon – or is it a Breadwinner?

This topic has 7 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 17 years, 6 months ago by Michael.

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September 29, 2006 at 8:27 pm #23693

glw
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As I’ve commented on here before, I’ve been looking for one of these vintage 1970s solid-body Ovations for a little while now (see my “Guitars you secretly lust after” thread), and I finally tracked down this beauty for a very nice price.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v118/turquoisemoleeater/guitars/ovation_deacon.jpg

It was sold to me as being an Ovation Deacon but I’m not quite sure. The Deacon was the “posher” version of the Breadwinner and generally had a natural finish, bound fingerboard and “double diamond” inlays on the fingerboard.

Now, whilst my guitar (pictured above) has the smaller scratchplate that adorned most Deacons, it doesn’t have the bound fingerboard, diamond inlays, and is a solid black in colour.

My inclination is that it’s a Breadwinner with the smaller scratchplate, but I’m not 100% on this.

Any Ovation fans out there? Does anyone have any more info for me?
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- October 20, 2006 at 6:01 pm #65905
  
  mrblanche
  Member
  
  The “mix and match” factory habit can produce some great things. Ibanez has done that a number of times, using up leftover parts, and those guitars fetch a pretty penny.
  
  Another thing Ibanez has done is to bring guitars over from Japan for a show, then disposed of them to local dealers so as not to have to carry them back. I’ve seen photos of a few of those, and some are fantastic machines, handmade…and not in any catalog anywhere.
- October 20, 2006 at 12:59 pm #65928
  
  pedalboardguy
  Participant
  
  [quote=”1bassleft”]Nice to see you back, pbGuy. There was a thread here on FX rigs and I wondered aloud if you’d be chiming in. How’s the business?[/quote]
  
  business is steady. thanks for asking!
- October 18, 2006 at 7:42 am #65942
  
  Michael
  Participant
  
  I’m with GL, it has to be a Breadwinner. Your gonna regret stratting it up afterwards… a breadwinner will leave you feeling all warm inside. It’s like restoring a classic car to its original state.
- October 18, 2006 at 7:38 am #65903
  
  1bassleft
  Participant
  
  Nice to see you back, pbGuy. There was a thread here on FX rigs and I wondered aloud if you’d be chiming in. How’s the business?
- October 17, 2006 at 3:58 pm #65931
  
  glw
  Participant
  
  It ought to become a Breadwinner again! You can’t give it a Strat-style body – that would be an almighty cop-out.
  
  Keep checking ebay for parts… there’s been a whole bunch of Ovation solid body parts recently.
- October 17, 2006 at 9:13 am #65769
  
  pedalboardguy
  Participant
  
  Greetings!
  
  I bought a Breadwinner new in 1974. 275.00USD with a hardshell case. I knew nothing about electric guitars. Anywho.. I bought it simply because I owned an Ovation acoustic and it seemed like the proper next step. I’m not sure where the body and electronics got off to, but I still have the 24 fret neck. It’s hanging on the wall, here in my office. How in the world could I have let the neck, body and case become seperated?
  
  My friend owns a CNC machine (uses a computer to cut wood, ie..guitar body) We’ve been talking about building a body for this Breadwinner neck. If we actually do it I’ll post a pic. I’m not sure what body style would work best, but I am a strat guy.
  Stevie
- October 1, 2006 at 5:11 pm #65765
  
  glw
  Participant
  
  OK… the guys over at The Ovation Fan Club – http://www.ovationfanclub.com/ – are pretty insistent that it is a Breadwinner, albeit a bit of an unusual one. It looks like they may have mixed and matched parts at the factory.
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