Ovation

Ovation Guitar Company (acoustic guitars, Ovation has also produced solid body electric guitars and active basses), a holding of Kaman Music Corporation, is a guitar manufacturing company based in New Hartford, Connecticut, USA. Ovation primarily manufactures acoustic guitars.
Ovation guitars are differentiated by their composite synthetic bowl, rather than the traditional wooden back and sides of the modern acoustic guitar as produced by luthiers starting in the late 18th century. Ovation has also produced solid body electric guitars and active basses.

Developed starting in 1966 and introduced as the 'Balladeer' in February, 1967, Ovations reached the height of their popularity in the 1980s, where they were more often than not seen during live performances by touring artists if acoustic guitars were being played. Ovation guitars' synthetic bowl and early use (1971) of preamps, onboard equalization and piezo pickups were particularly attractive to live acoustic musicians who constantly battled feedback problems from the high volumes needed in live venues.
The first Ovation guitar was developed in 1966 by Charles Kaman (born 1919). Kaman, an amateur guitarist from an early age, received his bachelors degree in aeronautical engineering from the Catholic University of America in Washington, and then worked on helicopter design as an aerodynamacist at United. Eventually he founded his own helicopter design company, Kaman Aircraft, in 1945.
In 1972, Ovation introduced one of the first production solid body electric guitars with active electronics, the Ovation Breadwinner. The model failed to gain widespread popularity, however, and production of the Breadwinner and the Ovation Deacon ceased in 1980. Ovation made several other solid body models up until the mid 80s. Many of these guitars have become collector's items since only a few thousand were made of each model. Since that time the company's main focus has been acoustic and acoustic-electric guitars.

Other Ovation innovations include composite tops and multiple offset sound holes on guitar tops, pioneered in the Adamas model in 1977. Kaman Music has also sold budget guitars and even mandolins and ukuleles, based on similar design principles to the Ovation such as the Korean-built Celebrity series and the Korean or Chinese-built Applause brand.