What is your favourit Guitar from Cat?

[Ovationguitar]

Hello, tell me what your favourit Guitar from Cat is and why.
My favourit is the Ovation 1614 "Folklore" modell, Cat plays during the "Majicat" Concert on the DVD.
That is today a very rare Ovation, it is the one with the for a Ovation Guitar unusual slot - head and a wider fretboard.
The best is this guitar together with cat´s famous brown leather guitar strap with his name on it!!

[Vivian]

Tough question. I would say the black gibson that was stolen from Cat, way back when. He looked GREAT with it during the BBC, but I think I will say the one Yusuf just used to play Indian Ocean. Heck, it is bringing that beautiful music back to us.

Peace,Vivian

[Ovationguitar]

Sure the black Gibson is great . By the way, the official name of this guitar is: GIBSON J-180 "Everly Brothers"!
Unfortunately I myself have this guitar modell not.
It´s very rare and expensiv!!
But I have 2 Ovation, a Gibson SJ-200, a Gibson Hummingbird, and a very nice and rare Gibson B-25 12-String in sunburst from 1947. And many other guitars and Instruments!
Which modell the guitar is cat/yusuf play his new song i doesn´t know.
The guitar on the photo from Indonesia Concert could be a Martin or a Japanese Takamine guitar. But I know it not sure
Best regards from Germany!!

[Leonard]

Well, as far as I can say his OVATION Folklore with the wider fretboard is one of the greatest guitars I have ever seen in my life so far. I also do like the Jumbo Gibson alot. But Alun's D-41 is also great .

Ovationguitar, where did you get your Ovation from? I'm also from Germany, left-handed, and would like to have one in the future; best would be a folklore but I do hate cutaways . It always makes me think that something is missing there...

Jacky

[Chris]

I don't know much about guitar models, And a true guitarist would know much better than I about the quality of differnt guitars. But from an untrained ear point of view. The black gibson was a beauty. Maybe it is because of the out come of this particular guitar, but mostly likely it is because so many of my favorite songs (father and Son, Trouble, Where do the children Play) were created during the early days of his career with that particular guitar.

I also love the brown leather guitar strap that is carved out with Cats name on it, it's a classic look with the ovation guitar.

[Ovationguitar]

Hello Jacky,
I have my my first Ovation from eBay Germany it is a 1624 and she was new as i bougt it. An my second Ovation is a 1978 Ovation 1712, that is the modell cat also had, and that is the modell Alun playes during the "Majicat" DVD. This guitar i bought by eBay USA the Ovationguitars are not so expensive in USA as in Germany! And the older Ovation´s from the ´70 sounds much better as the new one´s!!!
You are right, Alun´s Martin D-41 is great!! Besides Cat plays on a lot different guitars and Alun always on his (i think) very old D-41!
And in few days i self can buy a Martin D-41 modell in the same design like Alun´s with the same conspicuous big Pickguard. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
And i will do that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

And Christine, You most like his first Concert guitar the black J-180 Gibson with the stars on the fretboard??
You are not alone Cat himself had often say the he like this guitar almost!! It was besides the only guitar he had not sell in the ´80.
But unfortunately somebody has stolen this guitar out of his house in London
That was not good.

Best regards an all from Germany!

[Leonard]

Yeah, I had a good look at EBAY USA; and I gotta agree with you, in contrast to Germany the Ovation Guitars are ALOT cheaper in the USA, even the older ones of some real precious discontinued Ovation series.

Getting a D-41 would be a dream, but I first long to get a good Ovation Folklore (left-handed).

Jacky

[Ovationguitar]

Hello everyone!
Few weeks ago i wrote in this forum that i´ll buy a Martin D-41. --NOW I HAVE IT!!-- ;D ;D
It´s really a wonderful guitar and in the long solo´s for example by "Father and son" it sounds like Alun´s D-41.
She is from the late ´60 years and I think Alun´s is out of the same time. The both Guitar´s looks like twins!!

................BUT,

TODAY i was very unreasonable.........!!!
In the net I found a Guitar trader in france,
and he wanted to sell a black Gibson J-180 "Everly Brothers" from the ´70. The same guitar modell Cat´s black one was.......!!!!!!

And..........,

;D ;D ;D I BOUGHT IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;D ;D ;

And in few days i´ll hold she in my hands!!

Now i am dead broke, but also VERY HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!

Best regards from germany!!!!!!!!!!!

[Leonard]

Tell how the Gibson sounds, PLZ!!!!!!

Jacky

[Vivian]

What quitar did Yusuf use in the minefield concert?

Peace,Vivian

[Ovationguitar]

Hello Vivian, the guitar Yusuf used in the minefield concert was a spanish "Ortega" nylon string guitar with cutaway and a electronic pickup system. --
and Alun play´s also a new guitar (it´s about time too!!) he plays a black Ovation also with cutaway.-------------

And jacky how my black Gibson sounds? That is a difficult question!
But she had a for a steel string guitar very soft and warm tone, and in solo´s she had a really "singing" tone with a lot of natural vibrato. She is not very loud and the higher strings are louder as the lower. But these things are only so with the right strings! I have try a lot of strings to find the right one with the real "Cat-tone" !
She is a great guitar but she is also the most difficult to play i have, because the neck is very thin and the fretboard is very small. And now with the Gibson "medium gauge" strings that i have made on her she is very hard to play by "barre" chords like " F " or "B " or so.
But day for day it works better!
But Jacky what do you mean with "PLZ" ?? Do you mean the german word "Postleitzahl" ?
My one is 21493.

Best regards from germany, Ovationguitar

[Leonard]

With PLZ, I mean "Please" ^.^
Some kind of chat abbreviation.

Now I know why it's so hard to play non-barre chords with my guitar. It must have a much wider neck than Cat Stevens' Jumbo Gibson "Everly Brothers". I wish I cud get my hands on this guitar. The warmth of the strung strings must be the point Cat liked so much about this guitar, I guess.

It's kinda hard to play a guitar with wider fretboard (Nutwidth: 1 11/16") the cat-way, non-barré. Well, but as you said - it's getting better day by day, step by step .
Actually, it's kinda sad if someone wants to get rid off the barré-chords and instead play it with the thumb and the rest of the hand .

Jacky

[Ovationguitar]

The way Cat plays the barre Chords i only use by "Bitterblue" in the other songs i take the whole finger over all the strings. Why?? -- Hm. It works good!! I don´t know why!!
I think it is matter of habit!
Jacky WHAT a guitar do you have?

[Leonard]

Well, what guitar do I have?
I wish I had Cat's . But as student, you wont be able to afford such good ones. I study North America studies, and sinology (Chinese )

My first guitar is a classical one (Konzertgitarre). It's a Martinez, quite unknown - but it looks almost the same way like Cat's Black Beauty Gibson - the J-180 Everly Brothers. Honestly said, I cant play on it anymore, for the neck is just too wide, I got used to thin necks already....

My 2nd, my treasure, my GODDESS, is a steel-string guitar. After watching the Majicat DVD far too often, I got kinda addicted to Ovation type guitars. Thus, I spent some money on an Ovation Celebrity Blue Burst, with OP-30. (Left-hand)

Moreover, as left-hander you dont have much choice, at all. It's a pain in the a** when it comes to buying guitars. Testing guitars before buying it is almost impossible as southpaw, for there is almost no guitar shop that offers more than 2 or 3 lefties. Oftentimes, they are of low quality as well.

Jacky

[Ovationguitar]

Oh you are left handed? Since two weeks ago there was a "Ovation" 1614 Folklore as a left guitar by eBay in USA. ( The same guitar modell Cat play´s in the Majicat concert) and she was sell for 211$. That was very cheap for this rare guitar!
You have to look to eBay. They have very often very rare guitars very cheap! My two "Ovation" guitars are from eBay too!!

Ovationguitar

[Leonard]

Really?! Two weeks ago? A left-handed 1614 Folklore for only $211... :/ That's really not fair...
The force is not with me...

Moreover, I'm kinda afraid of buying from eBay.com due to the following reasons:

1. The guitar cud be broken in the one or other way.
2. The Delivery fees are kinda inhumane... My last attempt of buying an Ovation from ebay.com ended up with a guy who wanted more than 500€ from me for the delivery to Germany...

Thats why, I gave up on eBay, and bought from Ovation Germany, which is pretty expensive. But the one advantage is that you got the newest technique, the OP Preamps, and lighter lyrachord corpuses. I dunno how the older Ovations sounded, plugged or unplugged, and if they are worse than the new ones, or even better due to their age - some guitar get better after 30 yrs..

Jacky

[Ovationguitar]

500Euro? That is a impudence!!!!
Normal is about almost 80$ !!
I think the Ovations from the ´70 sounds much better than the new one specially for Cat´s music!!!

Ovationguitar

[Leonard]

Well, the guy that wanted to get rid of his old Ovation, must be nuts, I dunno.
What kind of strings do you use for your Ovations? D'Addario EXP?

Jacky

[Ovationguitar]

On the ovations only "Ovation/Adamas" light gauge!
D ´Addario i only use by my nylon string guitars!

Ovationguitar

[Ovationguitar]

CAT / YUSUF HAS A NEW GUITAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Take a look on the pictures from the turkey concert on the Yusuf Islam homepage and you will see him with an black "Ovation" copy guitar!!!!
In this pictures he looks more like CAT than YUSUF i think!!!!!

Best regards from germany, Ovationguitar

[Vivian]

He looks great in those photos.

Peace,Vivian

[Chris]

ovationguitar said:

CAT / YUSUF HAS A NEW GUITAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Take a look on the pictures from the turkey concert on the Yusuf Islam homepage and you will see him with an black "Ovation" copy guitar!!!!
In this pictures he looks more like CAT than YUSUF i think!!!!!

Best regards from germany, Ovationguitar

It's a beauty isn't it? It really does resemble his old guitar.

[spondulix]

I always thought the ovation was a very poor guitar choice. I would have to agree with the Gibson, but I play his songs on a martin d35 it really makes If I laugh sound great with my martin's deep sound. By the way If I laugh is also up there for best song.

spondulix

[Leonard]

spondulix said:

I always thought the ovation was a very poor guitar choice. I would have to agree with the Gibson, but I play his songs on a martin d35 it really makes If I laugh sound great with my martin's deep sound. By the way If I laugh is also up there for best song.
spondulix

Playing "If I laugh" on guitar has always been a riddle to me. How do u actually play "If I laugh"? I'll never get it correctly.

BTW, Cat's new Ovation guitar looks like a CUSTOM LEGEND Model 1719 to me - or something like that....

Jacky