1972 Ovation Matrix 1138 12-String Guitar

October 20, 2019

1972 Ovation Matrix 1138 12-String Guitar

I have a history with Ovations. My first "great acoustic" was a first-year-of-production Balladeer and I treasured that poor brute. I still don't know why I sold it! What I do love about these guitars is their haggard determination to simplify the design of what a decent acoustic is. They tend to be quite stable, have a warm and balanced musical voice up until the late '70s (when the company started getting quirky), and their necks are both "home base" in a sort-of vintage-C-shaped feel but also very comfortable for modern hands.

It's unfortunate that the instruments are long out of fashion because for a great number of guitar players, they're probably a very good fit as far as practicality and durability goes.

This 12-string Matrix, however, is one of Ovation's first oddities. Unlike a normal model (I often have slight cravings for the 12-fret, Glen Campbell model 12-string), it has a ply spruce top instead of solid. Further unlike a normal model, the "Matrix" necks are a combination of a big aluminum core wrapped in some sort of wood-looking resin. The headstock's "veneer" is a curvy aluminum bit as well. Luckily, this is an early Matrix, so its fretboard is still actual rosewood instead of a molded aluminum fretboard with "integral" frets.

So, basically, this guitar is more synthetic than it is wood. How about that? Unfortunately, the ravages of time took its toll -- even after work, the neck deflects a hair over 1/64" overall under tension, so while these were advertised as "warp-proof" necks in catalog literature from the time, I might take small issue with that on these 12-string versions as I'd already nixed some aged-in initial minor warp via my fret level/dress to begin-with. Playability-wise this doesn't really give concern for the average player, as this thing is easy and quick to play and excellent for chordal bashing, but the lack of an adjustable truss rod is slightly frustrating.

The sound is good, too -- it's chimey, balanced, and midsy like you'd expect an Ovation to be. Sometimes folks refer to this as "glassy," but I hear more chime than glass. I think of "glass" as generally having a weirdly-scooped high end. This rings more like an autoharp on the treble.

Size-wise, this instrument is almost 16" at the lower bout and has a long, round-shoulders body, so from the front it's roughly the size of a J-45 but with a slimmer waist. It's a mix of "slope dreadnought" meets "000 Martin," I suppose... plus that deep, rounded bowl on the back.

Repairs included: a fret level/dress, bridge shave, new fully-compensated bone saddle, cleaning, restring, and setup.

Setup notes: action is bang-on at 3/32" EA and 1/16" DGBE at the 12th fret. Strings are a custom set of really light gauges: 20w/46w, 14/36w, 9/26w, 8/18w, 12/12, 8/8 low to high. The neck deflects ~1/64" under tension tuned to pitch (almost dead straight) and with the low action, you will notice some "zippy" notes if you're digging-in around frets 10-16 on the treble side. For average pickers/strummers with thinner picks, you won't notice a thing.

Scale length: 25 1/4"

Nut width: 1 7/8"

String spacing at nut: 1 5/8"

String spacing at bridge: 2 5/16"

Body length: 20 1/4"

Lower bout width: 16"

Waist width: 10 3/8"

Upper bout width: 11 3/8"

Side depth: 5"

Top wood: ply spruce

Back/sides: synthetic

Neck material: aluminum core and headplate plus resin outer

Bracing type: tonebars/A-frame

Fretboard: rosewood

Bridge: rosewood with synthetic insert

Neck feel: slim-to-medium C shape, ~12" board radius

Condition notes: the finish is totally distressed on the top with lots of raised hairline cracks in the first veneer layer of the ply that follow along the finish cracks that opened them up. Structurally, this is no issue, but it does look like it's been around the block a few times. It's entirely original except for the new bone saddle.