FUQ (eff -yu - cue) - FAQ's with an EDGE

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Question:
What’s the prevailing opinion on the Ovation acoustic guitars with round back, as opposed to traditional box back? Better or Worse?

Answer:
They are much better, especially for using as salad bowls and planters.   Just as a side note, I had heard that Igor (?) Sikorsky of helicopter fame had a hand in the design of original Ovations way back in the early or mid 60's. I checked Ovation's site and their indeed was some helicopter/aeronautical engineers involved in the round-body design but no mention of Sikorsky. Anyone know about this? Perhaps they couldn't mention Sikorsky's name due to rights or whatever, or maybe its just an embellishment of the helicopter designer relationship thing. Ask ten guitarists this question and you'll probably get twelve answers.  Go to a music store and play both, make up your own mind. That said, Ovations tend to be a bit easier for people with short arms to play because of the shallow curved back.  Sound wise the Ovations tend to be a bit bright for my taste.  Also, probably because of the shape of the bowl, they tend to project forward well but very poorly to the sides and back -- which means you can't hear yourself with other musicians even though you're coming through to the audience. Some people automatically hate them because the back is fiberglass but they actually don't sound that bad. On the other hand, if you're looking for really broad acoustic tone with plenty of bottom you ain't gonna get it from an ovation. Well, Charles Kaman, holder of many helicopter-related patents (mostly for blade design), an avid guitarist and friend of Glen Campbell, came up with it first.  His son is not president of the company. Kaman aerospace is, I believe, second only to Bell in certain helicopter patent areas.