Up for sale, a 1971 Ovation Storm Series Thunderhead Deluxe in excellent, 100% original condition and in perfect working order. This top of the line USA made Ovation semihollowbody is the perfect blend of Gretsch and Gibson, with a slender figured maple double cutaway body, outfitted with a pair of original DeArmond Dynasonic pickups. Ovation was really taking their electric guitar production seriously in the late 1960s when the Thunderhead was introduced, and the high craftsmanship and dedication to producing a competitive, professional-grade instrument is evident in all aspects of the Thunderhead. The tone has the snap and attack of the maple body and spruce top, with a chiming and clear tone from the alnico magnets on the DeArmond pickups. The semihollow construction adds a certain warmth and airy quality to the tone, and everything from country twang to overdriven crunch sounds great on this guitar. Perhaps the Thunderhead's only claim to fame was being seen in the hands of Glen Campbell while he strummed the chords of Witchita Lineman, but that's a pretty fantastic endorsement indeed! This Thunderhead has been professionally setup here at Mike & Mike's Guitar Bar, strung with fresh 11-50 strings, and dialed in for optimal action and solid intonation.
The bolt-on maple neck has a slender C shaped profile, with a bound ebony fretboard and pearloid diamond inlay. The neck is quite slim and allows for very quick and accurate lead work, with a smooth gloss finish on the profile that feels great on the palm. This Thunderhead is what is known as the "long neck" model, and this second generation of the Thunderhead moved the neck joint a bit further out from the body to allow for easier fretting in the higher registers. This also necessitated a redesign of the bridge placement to keep the scale at 24 1/2". The stock fretwire is intact and in great shape, with well rounded fret crowns and plenty of height and life left. The frets show light, uniform wear in the first position, with almost no wear beyond fret five. With a responsive truss rod, comfortable action, and no buzzing or dead spots, you could hardly ask for more in a vintage Ovation! The nut is a full 1 11/16" width and is a hand carved piece of bone for optimal sustain and clarity. On the headstock, the gold Ovation silkscreened logo is present on the mahogany headstock veneer, and the original gold "Ovation" branded Schaller tuners turn smoothly and hold pitch as they should.
All of the electronics work very well, with a unique set of features that belies it's traditional layout. The guitar boasts a Master Volume, individual Tone controls for each pickup, and a Blend knob that allows for a smooth transition between neck and bridge pickup tonalities. The three-way toggle on the bass side upper bout puts both pickups out of phase in the upward position, returns the guitar to in-phase operation in the middle position, and supposedly is a kill switch in the lower position, although signal still comes through loud and clear (likely modded to also be an in-phase option, as few folks like a switch in their pick path that can kill their signal!). All of the original gold hardware is in fantastic shape, and the Ovation paper label is visible through the bass side F hole.
Cosmetically, this is an extremely well cared for and clean instrument, with gorgeous flame figuring in the maple on the sides and back of the guitar and a gloss finish that shows only a couple extremely faint finish scratches in the clear coat. This is truly a near mint vintage instrument, and it should be noted that the guitar did come from the home of a smoker, so there is a particular odor to the case. This odor clings to the guitar for relatively short periods of time if stored in the case, but otherwise the smokey smell dissipates fairly quickly.
The original hardshell case is included. This case is essentially identical to a mid-1960s Gibson ES-335 case, with a dark gray pebble exterior and gold interior. The case is very clean, and we've put a couple dryer sheets inside and scrubbed the exterior to limit any smell of smoke to the best of our ability.
