• Serial Numbers Rolex

Dec 05, 2007  Online home for fans of Ovation Guitars around the World. Apr 06, 2016  Seeking information about my vintage Ovation Applause AA-31 acoustic guitar. Made in Korea. Serial # 134919. Front is green. Ovation date-finder says 1978 for this serial number but I've also been told that production in Korea did not occur until the early 1980's. Would love to clarify this and even find a print ad or brochure with this.

• • Join Date:Mar 2016
  • Posts:29

  Ovation Applause AA-31 Acoustic Guitar

  Seeking information about my vintage Ovation Applause AA-31 acoustic guitar. Made in Korea. Serial # 134919.
  Front is green. Ovation date-finder says 1978 for this serial number but I've also been told that production in Korea did not occur until the early 1980's. Would love to clarify this and even find a print ad or brochure with this guitar. Any info would be helpful. THANKS!!
• • Join Date:Apr 2007
  • Posts:8171

  I have an Applause AE-32 - also MIK and looks very similar to yours. The serial number dates it to 1979 but, as you say, Ovation moved production of the Applause range to Korea in the early 80's so it's more likely to be a 1982 or 1983 make.
  Some pics of mine in this thread:
  http://www.harmonycentral.com/forum/..-nylon-strings
  Also some info and a link to an early Applause brochure here:
  http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f../t-159037.html
  I hope you enjoy playing your Applause - they are great old guitars.

  Howard
  'All governments suffer a recurring problem: power attracts pathological personalities.' (Frank Herbert)

  Comment

• • Join Date:Jul 2005
  • Posts:72447

  Originally posted by 75guitarView Post

  Seeking information about my vintage Ovation Applause AA-31 acoustic guitar. Made in Korea. Serial # 134919.
  Front is green. Ovation date-finder says 1978 for this serial number but I've also been told that production in Korea did not occur until the early 1980's. Would love to clarify this and even find a print ad or brochure with this guitar. Any info would be helpful. THANKS!!

  I can't give you specifics, but I can tell you for certain that guitar wasn't made in the late 70s.. I had a late 70s Applause back when they were new, and they didn't offer that model - it was still the AA-14 aluminum necked models that were in the line back then, and they moved to wood fingerboards a few years later - about 1982/83 IIRC.
  I'd almost be willing to bet your guitar was made in the 1980s, although it is possible it could have come from the 1990s. And FWIW, I think they called that color blue, not green.

  **********
  'Look at it this way: think of how stupid the average person is, and then realize half of 'em are stupider than that.'
  - George Carlin
  'It shouldn't be expected that people are necessarily doing what they appear to be doing on records.'
  - Sir George Martin, All You Need Is Ears
  'The music business will be revitalized by musicians, not the labels or Live Nation. When the musicians decide to put music first, instead of money, the public will flock to the fruits and the scene will be healthy again.'
  - Bob Lefsetz, The Lefsetz Letter

  Comment

  1 comment

  • Editing a comment

    Thanks! Looks green but could be a blue/green and with light exposure and whatever over the years who knows if/how the hue has changed. And I have never seen 'green' referenced as an option in any of the Ovation literature I seen online. Maybe a new numbering system was put in place when Korean production began ??
• • Join Date:Jun 2008
  • Posts:3692

  - The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule it. - H.L. Mencken
  Citizens and Residents Of The United States and U.S Persons - USA PATRIOT Act Notice:You are hereby notified that under the provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act, you may be placed under electronic surveillance while viewing this or any other similar web site by intelligence or law enforcement agencies at any time or for any purpose for which they may deem fit, without your knowledge or permission and without the order or supervision of any court of law. As the provisions of the Act strictly prohibit, with fines and imprisonment, the managers of this site from disclosing such surveillance should it become known to us, you should assume that you are under surveillance while viewing this or any other similar web site, electronic mail or any other form of electronic communication related thereto.

  Comment

  1 comment

  • Editing a comment
• • Join Date:Aug 2001
  • Posts:111195

  Some info I found on the net
  The early Applause guitars did not say Ovation on them, because the plan was to sell them through a distributor rather than the Ovation sales force. The concept was to make cheaper copies of their own guitars before someone else did, and the goal was to build them with only one man-hour of labor involved. I don't think they ever reached that goal, but I believe that they were able to build them in less than 2 1/2 hours of man-hours. They used the same back as the Ovations, but had a laminated top (Ovations were solid), and as someone mentioned, the necks were aluminum, and the fretboard, support rod, headstock, and frets were one piece. Then they molded the back of the neck out of a plastic material, and finished it to feel 'just like mahogany!'
  They were introduced in 1976 or 1977, and were built in Connecticut. There was one big difficulty .. the aluminum frets tended to wear quickly, and could not be replaced. The original plan had been that the necks would be easily interchangeable, and that you could have the entire neck replaced for less than it would cost to replace frets on a wooden fretboard. That never became a popular selling point. The next step was to cover the aluminum frets with nickel plating, which helped a little, but they still seemed to wear quickly.
  Around 1982 or 1983, they moved production of the Applause guitars to Korea, and at some point after that, they did away with the aluminum necks. About that same time, they introduced the Celebrity series priced to be between the Applause and Ovation brands. I can't recollect when Applause added 'by Ovation' to their logo.
  Chances are that if next time you change strings you remove the saddle, there will be at least one shim underneath. This is how Ovations shipped. By removing a shim, you lowered the action at the 12th fret by 1/64 .. if you wanted to raise the action, Ovation and their dealers would give them to you at no charge.
  http://www.ovationtribute.com/Catalo.._Brochure.html
  The AA-31s were made in Korea beginning about 1983. There were no US made AA-31s to my knowledge. They have 'real wood' necks and fingerboards as opposed to aluminum. The nut width on my AA-31 is 1-11/16'. All AA-31s have laminated tops.
  

  _____________________________________
  Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.
  Join Date: Aug 2001
  Location: N. Adams, MA USA
  Posts as of Jan 10th 2013: 82,617

  Comment

• • Join Date:Apr 2007
  • Posts:8171

  Originally posted by Phil O'KeefeView Post

  
  . . . . . . I'd almost be willing to bet your guitar was made in the 1980s, although it is possible it could have come from the 1990s. . . .

  I would say mid 80's but I'm not certain. I owned an Ovation Applause AE21 several years ago (sold it on) that had the usual Ovation headstock and also used the name 'Ovation' on the label ('Applause by Ovation') which the earlier Applause models didn't do - they had a different headstock and used the name 'Kaman' on the label.
  This is the later model:
  And this is the early model:
  The original Applause headstock:
  So it would be interesting to know when they made the change - it would narrow down the times.
  

  Howard
  'All governments suffer a recurring problem: power attracts pathological personalities.' (Frank Herbert)

  Comment

• • Join Date:Jul 2005
  • Posts:72447

  Originally posted by MikeoView Post

  Some info I found on the net
  The early Applause guitars did not say Ovation on them, because the plan was to sell them through a distributor rather than the Ovation sales force. The concept was to make cheaper copies of their own guitars before someone else did, and the goal was to build them with only one man-hour of labor involved. I don't think they ever reached that goal, but I believe that they were able to build them in less than 2 1/2 hours of man-hours. They used the same back as the Ovations, but had a laminated top (Ovations were solid), and as someone mentioned, the necks were aluminum, and the fretboard, support rod, headstock, and frets were one piece. Then they molded the back of the neck out of a plastic material, and finished it to feel 'just like mahogany!'
  They were introduced in 1976 or 1977, and were built in Connecticut. There was one big difficulty .. the aluminum frets tended to wear quickly, and could not be replaced. The original plan had been that the necks would be easily interchangeable, and that you could have the entire neck replaced for less than it would cost to replace frets on a wooden fretboard. That never became a popular selling point. The next step was to cover the aluminum frets with nickel plating, which helped a little, but they still seemed to wear quickly.
  Around 1982 or 1983, they moved production of the Applause guitars to Korea, and at some point after that, they did away with the aluminum necks. About that same time, they introduced the Celebrity series priced to be between the Applause and Ovation brands. I can't recollect when Applause added 'by Ovation' to their logo.
  Chances are that if next time you change strings you remove the saddle, there will be at least one shim underneath. This is how Ovations shipped. By removing a shim, you lowered the action at the 12th fret by 1/64 .. if you wanted to raise the action, Ovation and their dealers would give them to you at no charge.
  http://www.ovationtribute.com/Catalo.._Brochure.html
  The AA-31s were made in Korea beginning about 1983. There were no US made AA-31s to my knowledge. They have 'real wood' necks and fingerboards as opposed to aluminum. The nut width on my AA-31 is 1-11/16'. All AA-31s have laminated tops.
  

  
  All of this lines up with my recollections. Again, I had one of the aluminum-necked Applause models (AA-14) when they first came out in the late '70s (got it for Christmas in either '77 or '78), then a Celebrity, then went to Ovations for acoustics in the 80s, so I'm pretty familiar with the brand and models from the era. My best guess is that the aluminum necks were made only in Connecticut - if they made them in Korea, they didn't do it for long - by the mid-1980s (and maybe as early as '82/'83/'84) Applause guitars were using more traditional wood necks.
  The bit about the frets wearing quickly on the aluminum necks is spot-on.

  **********
  'Look at it this way: think of how stupid the average person is, and then realize half of 'em are stupider than that.'
  - George Carlin
  'It shouldn't be expected that people are necessarily doing what they appear to be doing on records.'
  - Sir George Martin, All You Need Is Ears
  'The music business will be revitalized by musicians, not the labels or Live Nation. When the musicians decide to put music first, instead of money, the public will flock to the fruits and the scene will be healthy again.'
  - Bob Lefsetz, The Lefsetz Letter

  Comment

• • Join Date:Aug 2001
  • Posts:111195

  Originally posted by Phil O'KeefeView Post

  
  All of this lines up with my recollections. Again, I had one of the aluminum-necked Applause models (AA-14) when they first came out in the late '70s (got it for Christmas in either '77 or '78), then a Celebrity, then went to Ovations for acoustics in the 80s, so I'm pretty familiar with the brand and models from the era. My best guess is that the aluminum necks were made only in Connecticut - if they made them in Korea, they didn't do it for long - by the mid-1980s (and maybe as early as '82/'83/'84) Applause guitars were using more traditional wood necks.
  The bit about the frets wearing quickly on the aluminum necks is spot-on.

  
  I know a guy at work that has an Applause, I did not play it, but I have seen him play the thing. I believe he got it in the late 70's. I will ask him. There is wear makes on his neck. No pick up on his, cause I loaned him a clip on hole mounted pick up so he could use a PA.
  

  _____________________________________
  Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.
  Join Date: Aug 2001
  Location: N. Adams, MA USA
  Posts as of Jan 10th 2013: 82,617

  Comment

• • Join Date:Jul 2005
  • Posts:72447

  The wear marks on the necks were really common too since it was just black paint over the aluminum fingerboard.

  **********
  'Look at it this way: think of how stupid the average person is, and then realize half of 'em are stupider than that.'
  - George Carlin
  'It shouldn't be expected that people are necessarily doing what they appear to be doing on records.'
  - Sir George Martin, All You Need Is Ears
  'The music business will be revitalized by musicians, not the labels or Live Nation. When the musicians decide to put music first, instead of money, the public will flock to the fruits and the scene will be healthy again.'
  - Bob Lefsetz, The Lefsetz Letter

  Comment

Welcome to Reverb

We're the world's largest marketplace for buying and selling new, used, and vintage music gear. Sign up and start exploring!

• By Applause
• Listed over 3 years ago by GravityMusicGear
• Condition: Excellent
• 72 Views

Ended!

• Make/Model: Applause by Ovation AE-28
• Serial Number: 2705270
• Location of Manufacture: China
• Scale Length: 25.5'
• Nut Width: 1 5/8'
• Weight: 4.6 lbs
• Finish Color: Red
• Top Wood: Spruce
• Neck Wood: Mahogany
• Fingerboard Wood: Rosewood
• Case: NO CASE But Will Be Pro Packed and Shipped
• Features: 20 Frets, White Dot Inlays, Chrome Ovation Stamped Tuners, Shallow Back
• Condition: This acoustic/electric looks good! There are a few scuffs and scratches here and there but overall its in good shape! There are some heavier scratches at the upper bout on the top of the guitar (see pic). The electronics sound good! No issues. The neck feels comfortable in my hands. The action is nice and low making it easy to get anywhere on the fingerboard. The frets themselves look good showing some scuffs but nothing too severe. The headstock has some dings here and there (see pic). Other than that, this thing is a great guitar for the money! Very easy to play and a great beginner to intermediate player! Everything pictured is ready to be professionally packed and shipped.

About The Seller

GravityMusicGear
Joined Feb 2015
Denver, CO, United States

Serial Numbers Rolex

Accepted Payment Methods

• PayPal

Shipping Policy

Ships from Denver, CO, United States to:

Continental U.S.

€0.00EUR

I will ship with tracking to the listed regions. To negotiate shipping rates to other locations, please send me a message.

Return Policy

Return Window

General Terms

Items must be returned in original, as-shipped condition with all original packaging and no signs of use. Buyer assumes responsibility for all return shipping costs unless the item was not received as described.

Refunds

Buyer receives a full refund in their original payment method less any shipping costs.

There were 60,912 carbines made from 1873 to 1893. 1884 springfield trapdoor rifle. Those with serial numbers below 43,700 are known as “Custer Guns,” as there is a possibility they saw action at the Little Big Horn, but easily swapped parts mean “buyer beware”—authenticated guns are rare.