New Gear: Ovation Glen Campbell Signature Guitars and LR Baggs Synapse Personal PA

Ovation Glen Campbell Signature Model

For many, seeing Glen Campbell pick an outlandish, futuristic guitar was the first time they had ever seen an Ovation. Its round-back design quickly became a favorite of Campbell’s and he soon had an endorsement deal with the innovative guitar making firm founded by Charles Kaman.

Now working closely with the Campbell family, Ovation is releasing a pair of Glen Campbell Signature models: the Glen Campbell Custom Legend USA and the Glen Campbell Legend, both are available in natural or sunburst finish tops.

The Custom Legend USA is made in Ovation’s shop in New Hartford, Connecticut, and features a shallow-depth, non-cutaway Lyrachord body. The AAA-grade Sitka spruce top is finished with nitrocellulose and has a center soundhole with a rosette inlaid with acrylic maple leaf inlays. As Campbell pushed Ovation to develop a pickup and preamp back in the ’60s, a move which help to launch the guitars onto stages everywhere, the new signature model features a recreation of the company’s original pickup and preamp design.

In addition to the US-made version, Ovation is also offering an import model available in cutaway (sunburst) and non-cutaway (natural) designs, and a passive onboard pickup system with no preamp.

Ovation Glen Campbell Custom Legend USA, sunburst

Ovation Glen Campbell Custom Legend USA

• AAA-grade solid Sitka spruce top with shallow-depth, non-cutaway Lyrachord body, ebony bridge
• Mahogany neck with maple-walnut-maple center stripe and bound 20-fret ebony fingerboard, with pearl “dots, diamonds, and squares” inlays, 1-11/16-inch-wide bone nut
• Electronics: SKM Preamp (Single Knob Mono FET), OCP1 “Original Patented Pickup”
• Glen Campbell signature inlaid at end of fingerboard and on headstock
• Nitrocellulose finish available in sunburst or natural
• Hardshell case
• $1,699 (MSRP)

Ovation Glen Campbell Legend

• AA-grade Sitka spruce top with X-bracing, medium-depth Lyrachord body, walnut bridge, oak leaf rosette
• Mahogany neck with maple-walnut-maple center stripe and 22-fret bound ebony fingerboard, with diamond-shaped abalone inlays, plastic 1-11/16-inch nut
• Ovation OCP-1K pickup with volume/tone controls, no preamp
• Available in sunburst (cutaway) or natural (non-cutaway) finish
• $1,350 (MSRP)

LR Baggs Synapse Personal PA

Personal, highly portable PA systems are one of the best things that has happened to the performing guitarist in ages. Now, LR Baggs releases the Synapse Personal PA.

It uses an unusual all-horn speaker design that projects sound 180-degrees out from the unit and a compression woofer. A two-channel preamp allows you to input two instruments or a guitar and vocal combination for singers. The 500-watt Class-D power amp combines big power in a lightweight format. A walnut-veneered cabinet compliments the design, helping give the Synapse a unique presence.

LR Baggs Synapse Personal PA