Review
The vintage guitar market has gotten extremely exclusive in the last 20 years. Older guitars are literally selling for 5-10 times what they sold for in the mid eighties. This leaves a large segment of the guitar playing population out of luck as a lot of these vintage guitars are just out of reach price wise. Until now. Myrareguitars.com is bringing back to life a lot of the old favorites that have been out of reach price wise for the average player.
The Ovation Ultra GP is one of those guitars. Having only made 500 of the GPs in the mid 80s Ovation pulled the plug on them rather quickly. After a few years had passed folks began to seek out the GP as it was a Les Paul style guitar that was a great value and very few were to be had. Over a twenty year span and only 500 guitars in circulation the interest and collectability of the GP has grown many times over causing the GP to bring close to 3 grand on the used market. Josh Homme from Kyuss and Queens of the Stone age has been a major artist using the GP and making it an even more sought after part of 80s guitar history. Thats all fine and dandy Mr Reviewer but how does that help me you say?
So how DOES a musician on a budget afford one of these oh so popular GPs? At one point Eastwood founder Mike Robinson asked himself that same question and unlike myself and you came up with a solution. Enter Eastwoods take on the classic GP. The Eastwood Ultra GP is a killer remake of the Ovation classic. A Mahogany body and set neck and a carved maple top insure consistent singing tone and sustain for days. The cutaway on the back and the front of the guitar just seem to cater themselves to a real human body and is much more comfortable to play than a Les Paul style guitar. The wide open dual cutaway allows total access all the way to the highest positions on the guitar, something that is normally a bit of a challenge on a Les Paul and a major plus to a guitarist like myself that learned to play in the 80s. This access to the higher frets is critical to acheive the proper amount of "weedely weedely" in a proper solo. All kidding aside the roomy cutway rocks. The 5 ply binding and inlays are classy and make the GP a great looking axe without going overboard on aesthetics. No firebreathing dragons or jungles cluttering up this fretboard.
With 2 humbuckers designed after the Super Distortion 2s that the original GP had the Eastwood versions provide plenty of bark and bite and with slight tone control changes can sing like Santana, smooth toneful and balanced. A full step drop the the low E string and some dirt the GP can handle downtuned tight chunky riffs with best of them. Classic clean tones sound great in all pickup configurations with a warm fat tone in the neck pickup and the BB licks flowed right thru it. This guitar not only sounds amazing with a clean tone but handles high gain with ease and smooth tight rock tones are there in spades. The GP can lullaby or rock the house with toneful ease. This is not the most expensive guitar on the block but it is one that inspired me to play it, not all guitars do that. Think about that the next time you are trying out guitars.
The guitar feels and plays great. Its just one of those guitars that feels right. I might be in the minority here but I prefer the appointments, design and playability of the Eastwood to a Les Paul. If you've ever thought a Les Paul feels cramped and limited by fret access but need that fat humbucker chunk and big sustain the Eastwood GP is definitely worth a shot.
Myrareguitars.com seem committed to bringing back old favorites and bringing them within reach of the average player. The Eastwood GP is just one of many "tribute" guitars that myrareguitars has resurrected. You gotta give props to a company that brings it to the people. The Eastwood GP is a killer looking and inviting take on a classic that is worth checking out at a dealer near you or at www.myrareguitars.com
