This is a great-playing and really beautiful Ovation 1537 from 1983. Some consider this the best-sounding guitar model Ovation ever made. There were roughly 1,000-1,500 made over a couple of years.
When I purchased the guitar last year it had several typical finish cracks in the top. The clear coat used by Ovation in the early years was very thick and it often developed cracks over time. Normally the cracks are in the finish only, although the finish is so thick it can sometimes looks like the crack continues into the wood. The finish cracks on this guitar were purely cosmetic.
I sent the guitar back to the Ovation factory to refinish the top and give the guitar a full checkup and setup. Here's the work they performed:
- Refinish top
- Reset neck
- Replace bridge
- Replace epaulets
- Level / dress frets
- Adjust / set action
- Restring
The cost of the work was $690. As John Budny from Ovation told me before shipping it back, "it's basically a new 1537."
It has the beautiful aged wood top with none of the problems you often see on 1537s.
There is some slight discoloration in the cowboy chord area - this tends to happen on these due to the walnut fingerboard. The top is obviously like new. The brown bowl has a few light scratches. There are no marks / scratches / dents on the neck. The frets show a very slight amount of wear at the lower frets. The case has some slight bubbling as is typical, and the back of the case has some scratches from doing its job of protecting the guitar. The cover for the inner case compartment is not attached but it stays in place fine when the guitar is in the case.
All of the electronics work perfectly and the guitar plays and sounds great. If you're looking for one of these, all the work you'd want to do has been done and it should be ready to go for another 33 years.
