SOLD! 1970s Ovation Magnum I
I know I'm going to regret this, but the fact is that I have my go-to basses and this one just isn't getting enough playtime to justify holding onto it (as much as I'd love to hoard it "just in case")
This is a circa late 70s (not sure of the exact year) Ovation Magnum I, and is the desirable (to some) version with the passive electronics - two humbuckers, two volume, two tone, mono and stereo outputs.
The pluses:
- 9.6 pounds. Not too heavy, and it balances well.
- Extremely versatile tonal range. Think somewhere in the neighborhood of jazz-bass meets Ric. These often get classified as "dub-monsters" and such, but I find its sound to be very articulate and well defined. Its no more boomy than a jazz bass, and although the neck pickup physically looks like those overwound Gibson mudbuckers it is actually made up of four small coils with trimpots to adjust the level of each string. Output is very well balanced across strings and up the neck, and frequency response is wide and even across the range. The graphite content in the neck probably also contributes to the clarity. My EB-2D is the dub monster! Not this.
- When was the last time you saw one with the black finish on the bridge and thumbrest in this good of shape? Only minimal nicks and dings, and the mute still works as new (and is one of the better mute designs I've come across - if you're into mutes that is
). The years have been good to this bass.
- It is setup well with GHS precision flats, the frets are all in great shape, and it plays beautifully.
- Everything works as new, and the bass has a cool stereo output feature.
- Just look at that slab of mahogany! Absolutely beautiful!!
The minuses:
- I bought this bass about five years ago, and there were a number of chips in the clear coat along the back of the neck from the headstock to about the 5th fret. There was nothing structurally wrong, just superficial - but the problem was that I could feel the chips when I played it. I feathered and filled them as best I could, and then lightly wet sanded and buffed out the area. The end result is that the neck is silky smooth to the touch, but you can still see the problem areas thru the clear on close inspection. I tried to take some flash photos so you can clearly see the areas that I'm talking about.
- The fretboard has some interesting figuring at the 11th fret. I think it was just a knot in the piece of ebony, and its not really a bad thing... just different.
- There is a hairline crack in the lacquer (not a crack in the wood) between the D and G tuners on the back of the headstock. Hard to see it in the photos, but wanted to mention it so it doesn't alarm anyone. Other than that, the bass doesn't have any lacquer checking or cracks to speak of.
- The bass does not include a case, but it should not be hard to find something that fits. Its a standard 34" scale.
All of the issues are truly cosmetic, the bass plays great, truss rod works fine, and the neck is solid as a rock! I set this up once when I bought it, and I've never had to touch it since. Amazingly stable, well built bass.
Transactions within the USA:
I'm asking
USD $849 plus shipping. I can accept Paypal and Google Payments.
These Magnum I and IIs have been fetching all the way up to 1200+ on Ebay, so I'm offering this one for less due to the cosmetic defects described above.
Shipping will be in the neighborhood of $55 for insured domestic. I don't want to make money on shipping, so if it ends up being less I'll refund you the difference. If it is more, I'll eat it.
International Sales:
I ship quite a bit Internationally for my business, and I want to give everyone an opportunity to own this bass. The problem is that USPS is really the only economically feasible shipping service for International sales, and they have rather low limits of USD $650-675 on insurance to most destinations. I cannot risk this bass getting lost or damaged in shipping, and therefore it must be insured. UPS and FedEx can run upwards of $300+ to ship abroad (according to their online estimator), and I can get a more detailed estimate given your location.
If *you* would like to accept the risk of shipping the bass without insurance (or shipping under-insured), I'm happy to oblige. In this case, I will only ask that you remit payment by wire transfer, and I will be happy to use an economical USPS shipping service. Just message me to work out the details.
In any case, I will pack the bass extremely well - professionally boxed with copious amounts of bubble wrap. I have a long history of excellent trading in the Ebay community as "
psionic_soundworks".
Photos: 
Here are a few over exposed shots that exaggerate the area where the clear coat was touched up. The surface is smooth and polished, but you can see where the clear had chipped away.
The neck looks very unflattering here, but trust that it is in fact perfectly smooth to the touch. No lumps, weirdness, etc... The whiteness that you see along the wood/graphite here in the photo is mainly reflections of the original clear that is now buried under the touched-up/wet-sanded/buffed out lacquer:
Under normal lighting conditions, the neck looks more like this:
Nut shim:
Interesting knot/pattern in fretboard wood grain at 11th fret:
Thanks for your interest, and please contact me if you would like to discuss the bass.
