As the Preacher emerged from its traveling pulpit I was assailed by a mixture of feelings. Would it turn out to be a true Instrument of the Spirit or just another expensive charlatan? Ovation do after all occupy a rather strange position in the guitar hierarchy. Their electric acoustics are acknowledged as the best modern compromise between the acoustic sound and the practicalities of amplification — perhaps the only compromise, since no-one else has yet had the audacity to come up with a challenger. And so Ovation rules with a kind of Papal infallibility over this corner of the market. The question concerning the Preacher was this: has its design been subjected to the same cold, scientific logic as its hollow-bodied stable mates? Is it a musical instrument, built by a real human being, or is it the product of a machine which belches the things out at a steady 500 a week? Enough of these questions; let's have a couple of answers. To begin with, it ain't exactly pretty. The shape is like a blun­ted Gibson SG. The body is very thin and contoured at the back in the traditional manner. A large black scratchplate sprawls the entire playing area. There are two pick ups, two volume controls, two tone controls and a selector toggle sensibly positioned just under the bridge. The guitar can be played stereo or mono, and a pair of jack sockets enable you to plug in ac­cordingly. The stereo facility can be extremely useful if used with taste, since it means that with no more than a flip of the toggle you can get wildly dif­ferent sounds. Needless to say, two separate amps are a must if you want to extend the stereo feature to your PA; otherwise two channels on the amp will still give a nice degree of variation.

The pick ups are the twin-coil type, and deliver a fair amount of power, though not as much as those on, say, the better Ibanez guitars. The sound is — surprisingly — on the trebly side rather than the full-throated roar one might expect. But there is plenty of bite there for when you need it, and the natural sustain from the instrument is excellent one of its best features, in fact.

The action on the guitar was very low when I first got my hands on it. By flexing the neck a little I actually got the strings to lie flat along the fretboardl Adjustment was made by means of three screws, one on either side of the bridge, and a third right underneath at the back of the guitar. The latter raises or lowers the bridge en bloc, whilst the other two tilt it from one side to the other. This is a good idea, because it means you can make changes quickly. I found that the bottom E string still rattled a bit, though, even when it was at the right height. Forward and backward motion for the bridge was achieved with some very small screws located between the ball-ends of the strings. As you can imagine, this made things fairly tricky, and the plastic surround which clogged the area around the bridge only added to the dif­ficulty.

Apart from the sustain, another praiseworthy feature of the Ovation was the neck. Again, this is fast, flat, thin and narrow — not to everyone's taste, admittedly, but if you happen to like this type and your hands aren't too large to cope with it, you'll get along with it very well. The only slight problem might be the square end where the neck joins the body, which makes access to

the higher frets not exactly dif­ficult, but awkward. The strap button is also screwed in at this point — not the ideal position.

The body and neck are made from mahogany, and the fret-board is ebony. Despite the nor­mally heavy feel of mahogany, the slightness of the whole guitar (I'm talking about its thin­ness and overall streamlined shape) is such that it rests very easily on the shoulder. The finish was very good, although the Preacher had been out evangelizing all over the country by the time it got to me, it was in fine shape — a good omen at least of its durability. A further note here: the one I had for a few days seemed to be about the only one Rose-Morris had in stock, so there might he some problems with availability, since the instrument has been "out" for some time in the States. It would be advisable to check with your dealer whether he can actually get hold of a Preacher before placing your order.

So, what conclusions do we draw? Bear in mind the price (I'm sure you were going to anyway) — it places the Preacher in the same bracket as the better Gibsons and well above any Fender on the market. It costs more than the Yamaha SG1000 and SG1500 (two of the best guitars curren­tly available) and most Ibanez models. This means that one's reservations about it really ought to be minimal. I cannot in all honesty say it feels like a £500 guitar: it's very easy to play, the controls are sensibly and simply laid out, and it is stereo wired. But it doesn't look too hot, and the range of tones you can get just isn't wide enough or rich enough. I could see it finding a home with country players, however, because it has just the kind of middley attack that goes down well with them thar folks, and the speed of the fretboard would make bluegrass lickin' just as easy as pie.

On the other hand, this here travellin' Preacher may be on the road for a while longer before he makes any con versions.

Tested P.D. with Orange and Maine amplifiers. R.R.P. £520 inc. VAT.