Glen Campbell's Ovation 1624 (Proto X014)

[jay]

Just my observation about Glen's use of a nylon. Once Jerry joined the Goodtime Hour, Glen seemed to gravitate to nylons quite a bit more. Glen using Jerry's Baldwin, with its Prismatone caused quite a stir at Ovation, which in turn probably was the catalyst for Ovations hurried development of a piezo pickup...which rocketed Ovation into the stratosphere in the '70s and '80s. And...even though Ovation developed their own piezo, if you saw Glen with a 1624...it had the Prismatone on it, instead of Ovations offering. And Glen certainly seemed to have a fondness for it, as we saw the Prismatone 1624 on the staircase photo in Malibu (the only nylon to be in the picture...which probably says a lot about Glen's preference in guitars).

It seems to me that around '78/79 was the last time you saw Glen with a 1624. In '80 he started playing that blue Adamas nylon.

Soon after that, he ditched nylons all together, for the most part...at least on tour and during TV appearances. It probably was just one less guitar to look after on the road.

[Bluebird]

I have seen him use that one, or at least one identical to it, into the early 80's.

[jeremylr]

I am mighty grateful for your eagle eye and detailed knowledge of Glen's guitar arsenal, Wayne. Do we have any record of how many years Glen used his Australia 1972 acoustic guitar, aka the Ovation 1624 with a Baldwin Prismatone pickup and his initials at the 12th fret?

[Bluebird]

Hi, Jeremy.

No, the guitar in that pic is not X014.

As you pointed out, it does not have the curved bridge that is a distinguishing characteristic of X014.

The one pictured is a very similar instrument, being a 1624 with Baldwin Prismatone pickup and Glen's initials at the 12th fret. It probably even has an 'X0--' serial number. Glen still had one identical to that one in his possession a few years back. You can see it in the 'stairs' guitar collection photo.

Wayne

[jeremylr]

Hi all, could this be the Ovation prototype nylon XO14 acoustic guitar? Carl Jackson seems to think it is a gut string, but it looks very similar to the August 21, 1971, photos from the Milwaukee State Fair. Carl says this photo was taken in Australia just after he joined the band, which would date it to sometime between September 26 and October 9, 1972, when Glen made his debut down under playing six shows. Unfortunately, I am not a guitarist, so some of my terminology may be incorrect. The bridge area looks straight with no curvature which is the distinguishing feature in correctly identifying this guitar. Appreciate any help.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... =3&theater

[Bluebird]

I thought I had posted this already but here is a nice picture of Glen at the White House on May 7, 1971, with musicians Bob Felts, Bill Graham and Dennis McCarthy.

The X014 guitar is on the stand to Glen's left.

[Bluebird]

Here's another great picture of Glen with X014.

Glen and X014.jpg (929.3 KiB) Viewed 34633 times

[Bluebird]

Here is one more of X014 which I believe, was taken on the same night as the previous photo. The sheet music for Manhatten Kansas. This photo also appeeared on the back of the Guitar Instruction book from 1971.

[Bluebird]

Here is the one album cover I know of featuring the GC X014 guitar. This album was released in 1972.

Wayne

[jay]

In 1970, Glen appeared on Johnny Carson, the Goodtime Hour and Tom Jones playing a Baldwin 801CP. Had he not seemed interested in the Prismatone equipped Baldwin, Charlie Kaman may have never developed the Prismatone equipped Ovation 1624. Here is a video from the Goodtime Hour back in November of 1970.



Ovation R&D soon developed their own piezo acoustic pickup and went on to be the leader in acoustic/electric guitars through the 80's.