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Ovation Guitars
This is Where True American Craftsmanship Meets Modern Innovation
About Ovation Guitars
Charlie Kaman, a visionary aeronautical engineer and founder of Kaman Aircraft Corporation, was not only relentless innovator but also a skilled guitarist. He was intrigued by the fact that guitar designs had remained largely unchanged for four centuries and decided to leverage the expertise of his aircraft engineers and scientists to completely rethink guitar building, elevating the design, sound and construction to new heights.
After 18 months of testing and research, the Kaman engineers found that the most efficient shape for a guitar back was semi-parabolic (like that of an orchestra shell, amphitheater, radar reflector or even the human ear). The sound such a shape produced was measurably richer, fuller and deeper. But they didn’t stop there: wood as the back material had limitations such as being difficult to contour, reflecting less sound and being fragile. They researched and tested many new materials based on their aerospace components. Finally they found the perfect material that actually could be “tuned” (chemically and by heat treating) to a precise degree of resonance. We Call It Lyrachord.
Wood is difficult if not impossible to contour to the new round shape. It would require the use of internal bracing and reinforcing members, and, as in conventional guitars, these members would act as baffles, substantially dampening and absorbing the sounds, and setting up non-repetitive vibration patterns which the human ear hears as noise. A guitar top must vibrate to help amplify tone. To vibrate properly, it must be extremely thin and thin wood is, of course, fragile. Sound, like light, reflects best from a smooth surface, and wood is porous. The cellular structure of wood and the natural oils in it vary considerably, not only from one guitar to another, but within a single instrument. The varying densities thus created make it extremely difficult to achieve consistent vibrating characteristics.
To develop a material free of such characteristic disadvantages, Kaman’s engineers first made acoustical studies of many of the exceedingly strong yet lightweight laminar substances they had perfected for use in aircraft rotors, fairings, radomes, missile nose cones and other aerospace components often exposed to high vibrational stress. Encouraged by what they found in these studies, and using them as a base, they then developed and tested many new materials.
Finally they found one, the molecular structure of which actually could be “tuned” (chemically and by heat treating) to a precise degree of resonance.
WE CALL IT LYRACHORD
Lyrachord is still the material we use today, to create these truly remarkable instruments. Listen for yourself. Hear the rounder, fuller, totally unique sound of the Ovation Roundback. Let your own ear confirm the difference that aerospace technology has created. We think you’ll agree, you’ve never heard it so good
