He may have recorded a part of the EP (Opiate) with it. The first album was recorded with a Chris Squire Rickenbacker and the second album was recorded by Justin Chancellor with a stingray (there are some demos of Aenima with Paul and he was probably using a Stingray too)
Sounds great. Barry Adamson from the Manchester band Magazine played a fretless one. You should check them out Mark. Also Jah Wobble (who was in P.I.L) still currently plays one. Both of them great bass players.
JtotheP68 Jah Wobble, in his excellent autobiography “Memoirs of a Geezer”, swears by his Ovation bass, but says that it’s so heavy that he plays sitting down in a dentist’s chair. And he’s certainly not the smallest guy you’ll ever meet. 😀
@@JtotheP68 you can see in the live videos at the time his Magnum was fretted (th-cam.com/video/g16mJ_omqsw/w-d-xo.html) - the chorus and heavy compression made it sound fretless.. People always seem think the high note on Permafrost means he was playing a fretless, it's just a big string bend (th-cam.com/video/g16mJ_omqsw/w-d-xo.html).I think he uses a fretless on sone of MMATW and I've seem a live video of him playing a fretless with the Bad Seeds after Magazine but, from memory, that was a Ibanez Musician bass
I love the look of it and, while I'm not usually a fan of active pickups, the one in the neck is so ridiculously beefy that the addition of that typical, processed, trebly, slightly chorused sound gives it some nice definition.
John Maloney trust me, there is a huge need for active preamps/pickups on a bass. You don’t need active pickups on a guitar. Generally, active shit has more compression in the signal, and bass needs compression a lot more than guitar.
Ovation also made three solid body guitars to my recollection, the Viper, the Preacher and the Deacon. All three were well made quality instruments but as has been the case for what seems like the entire history of the electric guitar, the market has been dominated by Fender and Gibson. Even when other companies like Ibanez or Kramer have broken through they did so with strat style instruments. The only company that has had success with a novel design that I can think of is PRS but they began as a super high end brand so their different designs had a status attraction at first. Of course their quality eventually carried the day but the high end cachet was what got them their start. Anyway if you are not a snob the Ovation electrics from the 70’s were nice guitars and are well worth a look if you ever come across one. Consider the Magnum. It sounds great and although it will never fetch the price of a P bass of similar vintage it is certainly an instrument of equal quality even though it does not have the same reputation.
Ovation also had the super strange but very nice UK-II, an electric guitar that consisted of a hollow aluminum body coated with urethane, and some hollow-bodies, like the Tornado.
I had a 71 Glenn Campbell Autograph model (acoustic guitar) I bought new. It was really bright, loud, and was pretty well balanced across the registers. I had that thing for years. I loved it. I sold it for a pittance, really. Hard times, blah, blah... I haven't even seen one in years.
I bought mine new... my first guitar/bass... had it made into a fretless by Ken McBride in Vancouver in the 90's; great heavy bass. Noisy sliding pots though.
I had mine defretted in the 80s. It played beautifully with the ebony fingerboard. The EQ sliders started getting noisy, only problem I had with that bass.
A few reggae bass players used these back in the day. Probably the best known consistent player of is Jah Wobble followed by Barry Adamson(Magazine) and Kim Gordon.
I was a young teenager in the late 70's and my bass player friend got one of these as well as the ovation series of electrics (Preacher/Viper) outstanding guitars.. wish I had one now....
The reason weird ass Wednesday is my favorite is because it's the most interesting! Don't get me wrong; Teles, Strats, Les Pauls etc. are bitchen and everyone loves them for good reason. But when you whip out something that breaks the mold, well it just gets so much more attention. Because the geek out factor is just phenomenal. Keep up with the show mamas and papas!
I first saw these watching the live DVD of Journeys show in Houston on the Escape tour. Would love to even just play on one but I know I’ll never have the money for it.
Would have been great to hear it played fingerstyle or with the mids cranked. This is a bass that was used on Journey's Escape album, so you can see you've only scratched the surface of what kinds of sounds you can get out of it. Ross used to play a T-40 too, so you can see he liked versatile basses back then.
Kaman music were also distributors for Takamine guitars at one time and had them produce an electric solid body series of guitars back in 83-84. these too were not popular and didn't last. I happen to have one from 84 (GX-300). maybe you could do a segment on those one day if one comes into the shop.
Bridge pickup isn't a single coil, it's a split coil ... E&A on one coil, D&G on another. Neck pickup is actually a quad-coil. I own an identical '78 Tobacco Burst, and it is capable of getting myriad useable tones. People see the big neck humbucker and think "mud." Not even close.
Years ago,at a pawnshop was aiming for a Gibson ripper they had( all maple), unfortunately priced outta my range(1987- $360) Behind the counter, 2 ovation basses= 1 o these/ &magnum 3. Being a fan of " rickenbacker bass tone", thought the ripper'd be it÷settled for the magnum 3/ full bodied- no e.q- straightforward. Plugged into my rig at the time(off brand tube p.a.amp-2×15 cabinet) omg! Rickenbacker tone/ straight,clear tone w a growl for days!! ( no pedals- straight into amp. Great basses!!
Mark this is GREAT that we did the weird-ass-bass on Wed - that means we are in the clear for TEISCO THURSDAY tomorrow and I for one am ENTHUSED. That's right - tomorrow you'll be breaking out the Speigel catalog and ordering up a MIJ rocker switch TEISCO!!
Own a few of these, including the original prototype which is even weirder looking than the production model..It seems you haven't heard of it but it's actually a well known bass, various reggae players and of course Jah Wobble(PiL etc) and Barry Adamson(Magazine, bad seeds etc)..
Also very good that you worked in Scotty Groves' GROOVY moniker. Is this a clandestine nod that Norm and Scott are close to a deal on "Dr. Groovy's" collection of colorful non-Gibson non-Fender shredders? Sort of a Trump-Putinesque nod to the future of Norm's? Some dandy stuff there- some worth $hundreds and I think a TEISCO or two as well!!
Still have my Ovation Magnum II - this differs from the Magnum I which has the Passive circuitry rather than the EQ of the II ... that case is not the original Ovation case for the Bass however - the originals, like mine are brown flight cases golden brown internal trim. Fantastic piano like tones ... big Dub monsters used by the likes of Jah Wobble of PIL et al.
And quite frankly I don’t appreciate your derisive tone talking about “weird” 70s stuff. The weird stuff is the best stuff. Who needs another video about strats or les pauls, Zzzzzzzz.
I have a magnum 3. Sadly the when my parents bought for me for christmas they didn't know that it was heavily chopped up and modded. I'd love to at least restore the neck pick up but finding parts is impossible
I didn't expect that to sound so good...
The only bass I play!
yeah i was expecting nothing but wool from that neck pickup but it just sounds real warm and good
But it do!
Ovation I believe had a "Epiphone" style lower product line like Gibson. It was called Applause
Michael Anderson I have a lefty applause my first guitar. Would love to get rid of it.
That's right.
Michael Anderson I can't tell if that's a fact or you are just making a rather intelligent joke
Michael Anderson Yes but I don't think those showed up until the '80s did they?
Narwhal Shwag nah that's legit
The first bass player for Tool recorded their first two albums with one of these, yet nobody seems to know this.
Unfortunately most people ignore/forget Paul...
He may have recorded a part of the EP (Opiate) with it. The first album was recorded with a Chris Squire Rickenbacker and the second album was recorded by Justin Chancellor with a stingray (there are some demos of Aenima with Paul and he was probably using a Stingray too)
For all the commenters who keep asking Mark to do a lefty, can you explain how he's supposed to play it?
I’m a stingray guy...but I played one of these at a Guitar Center once. It needed a setup, but I fell in love with that bass. I loved the eq controls.
Sounds great. Barry Adamson from the Manchester band Magazine played a fretless one. You should check them out Mark. Also Jah Wobble (who was in P.I.L) still currently plays one. Both of them great bass players.
JtotheP68 Jah Wobble, in his excellent autobiography “Memoirs of a Geezer”, swears by his Ovation bass, but says that it’s so heavy that he plays sitting down in a dentist’s chair. And he’s certainly not the smallest guy you’ll ever meet. 😀
Joseph Herrmann Not sure about that, on the records there is definitely a fretless.
👆🏼 Jah Wobble---that's thee man synonymous for playing this bass. 👍
@@JtotheP68 you can see in the live videos at the time his Magnum was fretted (th-cam.com/video/g16mJ_omqsw/w-d-xo.html) - the chorus and heavy compression made it sound fretless.. People always seem think the high note on Permafrost means he was playing a fretless, it's just a big string bend (th-cam.com/video/g16mJ_omqsw/w-d-xo.html).I think he uses a fretless on sone of MMATW and I've seem a live video of him playing a fretless with the Bad Seeds after Magazine but, from memory, that was a Ibanez Musician bass
Excuse me, while I go change my skinny jeans.
Finally a bass I can hear... And I'm as deaf as Carlos is blind!
Did you enjoy that natural reverb?
Peter What?!?
I play one and I can make it sound like a bass or even a guitar.
I love this series so much. Thanks for making all these "Guitar of the day" videos! You all rock!
I love the look of it and, while I'm not usually a fan of active pickups, the one in the neck is so ridiculously beefy that the addition of that typical, processed, trebly, slightly chorused sound gives it some nice definition.
John Maloney trust me, there is a huge need for active preamps/pickups on a bass. You don’t need active pickups on a guitar. Generally, active shit has more compression in the signal, and bass needs compression a lot more than guitar.
this is an old comment, but I think only the eq is active. The pickups are not.
Thanks for the ovation, and the history lesson. Love your work.
one of the few basses that cuts through my phone with tone intact.
Alan Anton that's highly improbable
Ovation also made three solid body guitars to my recollection, the Viper, the Preacher and the Deacon. All three were well made quality instruments but as has been the case for what seems like the entire history of the electric guitar, the market has been dominated by Fender and Gibson. Even when other companies like Ibanez or Kramer have broken through they did so with strat style instruments. The only company that has had success with a novel design that I can think of is PRS but they began as a super high end brand so their different designs had a status attraction at first. Of course their quality eventually carried the day but the high end cachet was what got them their start. Anyway if you are not a snob the Ovation electrics from the 70’s were nice guitars and are well worth a look if you ever come across one. Consider the Magnum. It sounds great and although it will never fetch the price of a P bass of similar vintage it is certainly an instrument of equal quality even though it does not have the same reputation.
Jim Bonacum i have my dads ovation breadwinner, same thing as the deacon but different finish. Its a very cool guitar. Big ol slab of mahogany
Ovation also had the super strange but very nice UK-II, an electric guitar that consisted of a hollow aluminum body coated with urethane, and some hollow-bodies, like the Tornado.
I had a 71 Glenn Campbell Autograph model (acoustic guitar) I bought new. It was really bright, loud, and was pretty well balanced across the registers. I had that thing for years. I loved it. I sold it for a pittance, really. Hard times, blah, blah... I haven't even seen one in years.
I bought mine new... my first guitar/bass... had it made into a fretless by Ken McBride in Vancouver in the 90's; great heavy bass. Noisy sliding pots though.
I had mine defretted in the 80s. It played beautifully with the ebony fingerboard. The EQ sliders started getting noisy, only problem I had with that bass.
this is the birth of active tenation wow i love the dreamers and you and me rock on mark jen norm thank you
Awesome!!!! I saw Ross Valory of Journey live this past weekend at Classic West.
A few reggae bass players used these back in the day. Probably the best known consistent player of is Jah Wobble followed by Barry Adamson(Magazine) and Kim Gordon.
I’m a proud owner of an Ovation Magnum III and I love it very much.
Roger Waters used that bass on The wall. It's exposed in "Their mortal remains" exibition
It sounds like the bass on Hey You and Pigs.
"Really" a nice sounding bass, Ovation was on to something!
I played one of those in 78 at Kaman corporation. My Godfather was Charles Kaman's great employee. I still live close to the main plant.
I was a young teenager in the late 70's and my bass player friend got one of these as well as the ovation series of electrics (Preacher/Viper) outstanding guitars.. wish I had one now....
I have a Magnum I on my table right now. Bought it back in the 90's.
totally unexpected, delightfully weird, enjoyable commentary, great fat sound - thanks for that one, you hit the spot :)
Not only interesting gear, but some history as well...love it.
that bass is very interesting
Ah! Bodan Arsovski from Leb i Sol used an Ovation Magnum in the 80s and 70s. Great bassist.
The reason weird ass Wednesday is my favorite is because it's the most interesting! Don't get me wrong; Teles, Strats, Les Pauls etc. are bitchen and everyone loves them for good reason. But when you whip out something that breaks the mold, well it just gets so much more attention. Because the geek out factor is just phenomenal. Keep up with the show mamas and papas!
My favorite Agnesi bass video yet! Weird Thumpin Ass Wednesday 👍👍
For me, the theme from Barney Miller would sound killer on this bass.
man this bass was utterly brilliant. wish i Could afford it
Wow sounds great!
I first saw these watching the live DVD of Journeys show in Houston on the Escape tour. Would love to even just play on one but I know I’ll never have the money for it.
Wow sounds kickass.
Weird ass Wednesday has become my new favorite day of the week
Would have been great to hear it played fingerstyle or with the mids cranked. This is a bass that was used on Journey's Escape album, so you can see you've only scratched the surface of what kinds of sounds you can get out of it. Ross used to play a T-40 too, so you can see he liked versatile basses back then.
I remember seeing that bass in one of the guitar mags back when I first started playing and just GASsing hard. Never got one but man they are awesome.
This bass looks so cool. Really beautiful.
Kaman music were also distributors for Takamine guitars at one time and had them produce an electric solid body series of guitars back in 83-84. these too were not popular and didn't last. I happen to have one from 84 (GX-300). maybe you could do a segment on those one day if one comes into the shop.
Bridge pickup isn't a single coil, it's a split coil ... E&A on one coil, D&G on another. Neck pickup is actually a quad-coil. I own an identical '78 Tobacco Burst, and it is capable of getting myriad useable tones. People see the big neck humbucker and think "mud." Not even close.
Years ago,at a pawnshop was aiming for a Gibson ripper they had( all maple), unfortunately priced outta my range(1987- $360)
Behind the counter, 2 ovation basses= 1 o these/ &magnum 3.
Being a fan of " rickenbacker bass tone", thought the ripper'd be it÷settled for the magnum 3/ full bodied- no e.q- straightforward.
Plugged into my rig at the time(off brand tube p.a.amp-2×15 cabinet) omg! Rickenbacker tone/ straight,clear tone w a growl for days!! ( no pedals- straight into amp. Great basses!!
hell ya with the 90s tunes!
Man that sounds BOSS!
Neck pickup thumps almost like an upright. I can dig it!
surprised on how clear the tone was on that bass. very cool!
Thanks for another great video
very nice bass Danny Partridge played an Ovation bass... Great to see different stuff
YES!!! Finally an Ovation! Now can you do a Jackson please?
Mark this is GREAT that we did the weird-ass-bass on Wed - that means we are in the clear for TEISCO THURSDAY tomorrow and I for one am ENTHUSED. That's right - tomorrow you'll be breaking out the Speigel catalog and ordering up a MIJ rocker switch TEISCO!!
Damn fine bass.
Paul D'Amour from Tool played an Ovation Magnum on Opiate. Moved to a Ric by Undertow though....pretty sure.
Garrett Hudson i don’t think he used a V2, i’m pretty sure it was the V1
kick ass vintage bass
Really good guitar Bass
Happy Weird Ass Wednesday
everyone! It's a Thumpin' goodtime!
Kim Gordon used to play this on Sonic Youth albums from the 80s
Cake - never there
Smashing pumpkins 1979
Breeders - cannonball
oh come on man, you gotta do a ovation breadwinner some day, they are awesome!
CANT SPELL WEDNESDAY WITHOUT 'BASS'
It is a great bass, I own one ' I would never get rid of it
How about finding a Hagström 8-string bass for weird-ass Wednesday or Thumpin' Thursday.
George Erdner he did a hagstrom a couple of weeks back
Then never mind.
i love ovations, my dad has a 74' ovation preacher and sometimes i find it real hard to put it down
Very well done Sir but I'm sure I'm not the only one who could live without thumpin Thursday
Speaking of rare Ovation guitars, have you ever gotten your hands on one of their Les Paul double cut clones?
Thats a relly badass headstock dude
great work, a standing ovation....! regards, air guitar
Own a few of these, including the original prototype which is even weirder looking than the production model..It seems you haven't heard of it but it's actually a well known bass, various reggae players and of course Jah Wobble(PiL etc) and Barry Adamson(Magazine, bad seeds etc)..
Jah Wobble uses this as is main bass. If you don't know who he is look him up, you'll be glad you did.
The only guitar I own that never saw un luthier = Ovation Collector's Edition 1988!!...
Fucking SWEET!
I highly approve of this message! Thanks guys!
I saw one of these in my local guitar center once
More classic Agnesi!!
Mark loves basses !!!!!!!!
Dan Butcher his hatred for basses made me leave the vid.
Man if you don't like them just don't make videos about them
Also very good that you worked in Scotty Groves' GROOVY moniker. Is this a clandestine nod that Norm and Scott are close to a deal on "Dr. Groovy's" collection of colorful non-Gibson non-Fender shredders? Sort of a Trump-Putinesque nod to the future of Norm's? Some dandy stuff there- some worth $hundreds and I think a TEISCO or two as well!!
ross valery had one of those. played it on stone in love i think
The Breadwinner guitar is still pretty popular. Also, Ovation sponsored the second season of The Partridge Family. They mimed on Ovations exclusively.
Damn that thing thumps
that is a sweet design
Wumping Wednesday! 1.Chinese food 2. Italian food 3.Greek food! 1?........ 2.Smashing Pumpkins "1979" 3.The Breeders "Cannonball"!?
Bodyknowledge 77
yo BK
Bodyknowledge 77 1 is Never There by Cake
SeanTheOutsider
you are correct Sean. Never There 👍🏼
SeanTheOutsider Ok thanks. Sounds like a non sequitor...
Mike M. Greetings Mr Fellowtwangerplayer
The neck pickup is wired quadrophonic and the preamp is three-band.
Still have my Ovation Magnum II - this differs from the Magnum I which has the Passive circuitry rather than the EQ of the II ... that case is not the original Ovation case for the Bass however - the originals, like mine are brown flight cases golden brown internal trim. Fantastic piano like tones ... big Dub monsters used by the likes of Jah Wobble of PIL et al.
I have an original brown molded Ovation case for the Magnum series basses. Using it with a p bass. I'll sell it.
Do you still have the case?
I had one of these back in the early 90s. It had a neck issue I couldn't afford to get fixed. Wish I'd never have sold it.
Jah Wobble played Ovation Magnums in PIL.
Hey, Mark, would love to see a Warwick on an upcoming Thumpin' Thursday. I think they're some of the best basses ever.
Sweet Playlist Mark . what's the chances that a Dan Armstrong might show up tomorrow?
That's Badass for a bass.🎸🤘🏻
Lovely
I peep an O-42 Custom case in the back room. Do it for flat top Friday mark!
Bass sounds really great...
ovation is building awesome solid body electric's, shipping august, american made around 3K , beautiful guitars fyi
It sounds pretty good
Just picked up a mint Ovation UKII. Nice!
Wacky .. hey thanks guys have a great night
Barry Adamson from Magazine and Jah Wobble both players of this number.
Mark Smooth of Clockhammer and Farquar played one. IIRC
And quite frankly I don’t appreciate your derisive tone talking about “weird” 70s stuff. The weird stuff is the best stuff. Who needs another video about strats or les pauls, Zzzzzzzz.
I have a magnum 3. Sadly the when my parents bought for me for christmas they didn't know that it was heavily chopped up and modded. I'd love to at least restore the neck pick up but finding parts is impossible
Awesome
Paul damour from tool rocked one back in the day
was the second song 1979 by th pumpkins??
Yep. if only the bass was made one year later
lol,I thought the same!
no that was 1980 by the intact squash
I had a Magnum I back in the 80's. Heavy. Threw my back out. Good bass, though.
Oh baby 1979