Compared to a solid-ash Telecaster, the Thinline sounds much more zingy, resonant, and alive-particularly in the midrange. The semi-hollow construction of the Thinline yields audible differences, too. Still, the natural blonde poly finish is beautiful and marks a lovely visual link between the first blackguard Telecaster and this more deconstructed variation on the form. As a consequence, the grain in the two sections that make up our review guitar are less than ideally matched. Because boring beetles have endangered ash trees, visually perfect specimens of the wood are in short supply these days. On the new American Vintage II version, the ash body is fashioned from two solid sections of ash glued together at the guitar’s center line. To create the lighter, semi-hollow Thinline, Rossmeisl adopted the construction technique he developed for Rickenbacker: routing acoustic chambers from a solid section of ash, and then capping the back of the guitar with a thinner section of wood.
#Ovation applause series#
The first Telecaster Thinline, which appeared in 1969, was hatched from the mind by Roger Rossmeisl, who famously designed Rickenbacker’s 300 series guitars, among others, before moving to Fender and conceiving the Coronado, Montego, and the company’s mid-’60s acoustic line. Pickups were not the only deviation from design norms that distinguished the ’72 Thinline. Test gear: QSC K Series powered PA speaker Fingerstyle Through Royer R - 121 Mic Plugged in, the Applause confronts challenges similar to other affordable, single-element piezo systems: Sounds are a little nasal, bright, and bass-heavy with sliders at their midpoints, but boosting mids a bit and reducing treble and bass a tad yields impressively usable tones-especially considering the price point. The bass response won’t threaten nearby dreadnoughts’ egos, but it’s still respectable. Meanwhile, the medium-depth bowl features top-edge electronics with a remarkably easy-to-use tuner, a volume knob, and bass, mid, and treble sliders.Īcoustically, the AE44II has all the hallmarks of the Ovation brand: a balanced sound great for strumming, along with amenability to nuances of gently fingerpicked passages. The neck’s slight-V profile and semi-gloss finish are super comfy, as are the uniformly beveled fret ends and rounded nut edges. The AE44II’s spruce top features an understatedly rustic “vintage varnish” finish and impeccable construction.
Even so, the Chinese-made AE44II-VV is one of those bargain flattops that’ll force longtime players to rethink their snobby, dismissive attitudes. The Ovation family’s composite roundback design has always been a polarizing point: It can be quite comfortable, but it can also lead to awkward instrument movement during play.
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