The Ovation line of solid body guitars and Basses is a truly under-appreciated group of vintage instruments. The Magnum series was far too ahead of its time and is a menacing looking instrument with tones unlike anything else. The 1 and 3 were the passive variants that still have some complex nuisances to the electronics. The neck pickup has adjustable trim pots to balance the volume of each string and give you a heavy bottom end sound that will shake foundations. The bridge pickup is right up against the saddles to give you a bright cutting sound. In between gives you the best of both worlds. The feel of the bass is hard to compare to anything else. It has a large neck profile to beefs up quite a bit as you move up the fretboard. The body while large is slender and still distributes the weight pretty well. Included is the rare hardshell case. They're a molded plastic style so many have been damaged over the years. Based on the pot codes and serial number this appears to be a 1977. The serial numbers don't give a definitive year.
Condition: "Good". The output jack has been replaced. On the backside of the neck is a carbon fiber strip that runs down the center of the neck. Part of it has a seam separation you can feel and a small stress crack sprouting out to the side of it. It isn't causing any issues. The truss rod turns and functions as expected. The nut has a shim below it. The truss rod cover is missing. The headstock has plenty of dings and discoloration marks and there are plenty of light scratches and dings on the body. The bodies were original satin so it has buffed up to a semi-gloss in some spots. The neck pocket has a stress crack along one side like you see of the majority of vintage bolt on instruments.
- Mahogany body
- Mahogany neck
- Ebony fretboard
- Full "C" neck profile
- 34" scale length
- 10" radius
- 1-5/8" nut width
- 20 frets
- Ovation humbucker neck pickup (adjustable trims)
- Ovation J style bridge pickup
- 2 volumes, 2 tones, 3-way toggle
- Ovation heavy duty bridge
- Ovation Schaller tuners
- Weight: 9 lbs 13.5 oz
- Includes the original molded case (the straps inside are torn).
