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Ovation Elite TX 12-String Electro-acoustic Guitar Review

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Ovation Elite TX 12-String Electro-acoustic Guitar Review

This review was submitted by Guitar Jar contributor: Toby James

Now, I was looking for a 12 string as their tones are unrivalled and I loved the body shape and resonance of an Ovation.

…it’s an amazing buy, and I would, and have, recommended it to anyone else interested in getting a 12 string…

I checked out some possibilities on their website, but to my horror they were all significantly out of my price range!

I persevered however, and found this. At only £474 on GAK, it seemed perfect! I went to my local music shop and tried it out.

Features:

Well, this was a revelation to me. For under £500 I could get a guitar of this calibre?!

It comes with D’Addario strings, which are lovely and give a beautiful shiny tone. It’s a full electro, indeed it is built like a (particularly fat) semi acoustic.

It has a three band EQ and a feature that allows you to press a button and have the EQ reset to the middle setting for all of them, press that button again and they’re back where they were!

There is an extremely responsive tuner that makes tuning all 12 of the strings a joy, and a nice big volume knob.

Ease of use:

It is very easy to use, even for a beginner on the 12 string.

There is, however, one little problem. Whether I was unlucky or this comes as standard, I don’t know, but mine has an EXCEPTIONALLY high action, up to a centimetre off the fretboard at the fifteenth fret.

This makes barre chords a challenge and it is difficult to fret any particularly high notes for a significant period of time.

I cannot see how this could be deliberate (Does anyone play slide guitar on a 12 string? Who are you?), but it’s not difficult to adjust, and I will get it sorted next time I break a string.

Sound Quality:

Even with the problem with the action, it sounds amazing.

It isn’t particularly versatile, but it suits any song written for a 12 string perfectly. It will handle any rhythm guitar, from hard rock to pop, however it puts its own jingly-jangly twist onto the songs it plays, which is brilliant!

It also sounds just like two guitars are playing together (duh, it’s got twice as many strings), which can be handy for songs that sound best with two guitarists. Its pickup works beautifully, and instead of changing the tone, like on some cheaper electro-acoustics, it perfectly captures the tone with all the EQ at the middle.

Then any fiddling you do to the EQ can produce lovely tones, from deep and bassy for power chords, or nice trebly jangling.

Reliability:

Well, this is the most solid built guitar I’ve ever set my hand upon.

It has a wooden body, but this is encased in a plastic shell that feels like it could contain a nuclear blast within the body, the neck is really tough and the headstock feels pretty damn strong as well.

This thing could, and probably will, survive the apocalypse.

The pickup is brilliant; it doesn’t cut out, even at high frequencies, and is unlikely ever to stop working. So this thing will outlive us all.

Overall Rating:

Well, it only has one (albeit a relatively major) flaw, and that can be sorted.

For under £500, it’s an amazing buy, and I would, and have, recommended it to anyone else interested in getting a 12 string.

While there is no denying that a guitar such as the Adamas is better, it is triple the price and I’m fairly sure it isn’t three times as good.

If someone were to figure out if there was any way to break this, then to spend years developing the perfect weapon, I would be annoyed, but I would dash straight off and buy another one.

Best way to spend £500, in my opinion.

This review was submitted by Guitar Jar contributor: Toby James

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1 Comment

  • I’m a huge fan of Ovation – I think they sound great! Nice looking guitar.

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