First Published In The Music & Sound Retailer’s April 2007 Issue

Ovation & GC Team Up For Electric-Acoustic Hybrid VXT

If you ask Rick Hall, Ovation’s guitar product manager, “Ovation always tends to surprise people.” Well, it certainly has a surprise for us now. Ovation, under the umbrella of Kaman Music, and Guitar Center have combined forces to release the VXT, a six-string electric-acoustic hybrid guitar intended to appeal to a younger audience. And although musicians won’t exactly be buying this “first real six string at the five and dime,” like Bryan Adams in the “Summer of ’69,” it is certainly considered affordable for a professional model. The guitar, with a MAP price of $1,599 and a retail price of $2,499, including a hardshell case, will be at every GC store, www.guitarcenter.com, and Musician’s Friend on May 1. GC will hold exclusive sales rights to the guitar for an expected 45 to 60 days. After that period, independent and international dealers can jump in, but Hall said, “GC will retain first purchase rights.”

Ovation debuted the product for the first time in a press-only event that took place at Kaman headquarters in Bloomfield, Conn., on Feb. 27. The guitars were seen for the first time after a projector was recessed in the Kaman conference room. Demonstrations by guitarists Matt Smith, a New York City session musician; Greg Orred, Chris Piquette, and 19-year-old Branford, Conn., resident Mike Ranieri followed. A trip to the Ovation factory, housed in a pre-Civil War building nestled near a ski resort, subsequently took place in New Hartford, Conn.

The history of the VXT dates back about a year and a-half. “Kaman is a major vendor for us,” said Michael Doyle, GC’s vice president of product marketing. “[My coworker, GC’s VP of product merchandising] Keith Brawley and I toured the factory and saw a body blank.

“We asked what it was,” continued Doyle.
“A member of the Viper family,” we were told.
“We had tremendous success with the Taylor T5 and saw a growing market for hybrid guitars. Kaman had the essence of a great new product with that body.”

Some of the key features of the VXT include the Ovation trademarked ridge, a rosewood fingerboard, a three-way switch, a solid spruce top, Honduras mahogany neck and body, two Seymour Duncan ’59 humbuckers, and a Fishman Power Bridge. Ovation chose the Duncan humbuckers for a “crisp yet warm,” sound from the hollowed-out body, as opposed to a “muddy” sound that could result otherwise. According to the company, the Fishman Power Bridge provides an excellent acoustic sound without piezo “thwack—even with heavy-handed picking or plucking.” The guitar is available in black and Teardrop Burst colors.

Monster Cable is manufacturing a custom cable for the guitar, and it has a 30-hour nine-volt battery life. The acoustic/ electric features Ovation’s VIP virtual microphone imaging preamp, intended to provide acoustic realism. Ovation designed the hybrid guitar to be simple to use with tons of sustain. Also, according to Hall, an end-user can put electric strings on the hybrid guitar and get an acoustic sound. “That took a lot of effort to accomplish,” he said.
Make no doubt about it, the headstock looks like an Ovation, but the company also solicited some help from a friendly source—the people at Hamer—also under the Kaman umbrella. “The Hamer guys are really schooling the Ovation guys on things like finish,” said Hall.

Heavybag Media, a New Haven, Conn., interactive marketing agency, has been stirring up buzz for the VXT for a couple of months now, although who manufactures it and its features have been kept a secret until stories like this one come out and of course, the May 1 release. A Web site, www.thevxt.com, was launched, but the suspense remains at a zenith to visitors, who are only told the guitar will launch on May 1. Heavybag said the promotional plan was tantamount to a movie, where we see little clips in an attempt to grow suspense to a fever pitch before its release.

Heavybag further drew interest by creating a Myspace profile for the guitar as if it were a person. The guitar has tons of “friends” and lists its favorite foods and movies. A Bebo.com profile was also created. Bebo is a Myspace competitor. These themes keep up with the idea of marketing the guitar to a younger audience. In fact, the guitar is designed to be cranked up to very loud levels on stage with no feedback. “It’s a whole new world for us,” said Frank Untermeyer, general manager of the Ovation factory. “We’re used to making acoustic guitars. It’s a different process in the same factory.

“We’re trying to redefine Ovation, with the types of guitars and the care that we put into the guitars,” he continued. “This guitar is unlike others because of its unique sound.”
According to Doyle, May 1 was picked as a launch date primarily to coincide with GC’s free financing offer of no payments or interest for 12 months. “It also suited Ovation as far as the production schedule goes,” he said.

As for the VXT symbol depicted in this story, Heavybag used a symbol library and looked up the word “hybrid,” and out spit out this result. Instantly, both Heavybag and Ovation knew the symbol was just right, and employees of both all donned black button-down with the VXT logo prominently displayed on the right chest.

Following the factory tour, Ovation employees literally practiced what they preached live on stage at Black-Eyed Sally’s, a New Orleans-style barbecue restaurant in Hartford.