Ovation Celebrity Elite CE44 6 String Acoustic-Electric Guitar

91
GEARANK

91 out of 100. Incorporating 200+ ratings and reviews.

Street Price: 

$575
Ovation Celebrity Elite CE44 Acoustic-Electric Guitar

Gearank Recommendation

The Celebrity Elite CE44 appeared on our recommended list for Acoustic-Electric Guitars Under $500 from August 2017 until August 2018.

Overview

Ovation guitars are interesting instruments. They abandon convention, and as such have been met with mixed results.

The guitars are generally topped with spruce, and feature bowled bodies made from a combination of glass and a proprietary resin.

Unplugged, Ovations have a very bright and present tone. This makes the guitars perfect for playing in an ensemble because they’re excellent for cutting through a mix. Though to be fair, they lack depth when compared to a traditional acoustic guitar.

There are subtleties in the tone of this guitar that are hard to describe. It’s never going to sound like a traditional acoustic guitar, but at the same time it’s not going to sound any worse.

While the unplugged tone is polarizing, there are few musicians who have any concerns with the instruments amplified tone. Ovation has always been regarded as a quality performance guitar, and their plugged in tone has been a selling point since the brand’s inception.

However, Ovation’s do have a tendency to not hold up well over the years. The reason for this is that the wood top and the body tend to contract at different rates, which can cause the instruments top to crack. So long as you humidify the instrument you shouldn’t run into this problem, though the possibility does exist.

Specifications

  • Body Shape: Mid-Depth Bowl Cutaway
  • Top: Solid Spruce
  • Body: Lyrachord - a proprietary material comprising interwoven layers of glass filament and bonding resin
  • Finish: Gloss Black
  • Bridge: Rosewood
  • Neck: Nato
  • Fingerboard: Rosewood
  • Fingerboard Radius: 10"
  • Number of Frets: 20 to 23 on high E
  • Scale Length: 25.25"
  • Nut Width: 1 11/16" (43 mm)
  • Electronics: Ovation OP-4BT preamp with three-band EQ, volume/gain control, onboard tuner and low-battery light and Ovation Slim line pickup.
Although this was previously on our recommended list, there are now more highly rated options available which you can see in our guide to The Best Acoustic Electric Guitars.

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