The Ataris Tour Blog: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love My Ovation Acoustic

The Ataris just wrapped a tour that reunited the classic lineup that created their 2003 major label debut So Long, Astoria. Guitarist John Collura documented this reunion. Check out the second installment of his report below.

Let me just put this out there: I love my Martin. I'm the type of person that would want to keep my Martin in a glass case at all times. With that said, when I go on the road I like to take an acoustic guitar with me to write. When traveling on a bus it's really easy to be able to carry an acoustic guitar on board and stow it away in a junk bunk or back lounge.

But when traveling with a van and trailer it becomes more difficult. I know there are some really great road cases built specifically for acoustic guitars. SKB makes a really nice one, but with quality comes price. So on this latest tour, I opted not to bring my Martin because I was paranoid with leaving it in the trailer. My friend Jason at Fender/Ovation helped me out with an alternative solution. He sent me out an Elite T 2078TX Ovation guitar.

Collura's new Elite T 2078TX Ovation (left), and his beloved Martin

Yeah I know what you're thinking, I have a Martin and took out an Ovation instead. Well to my surprise this 2078TX has some serious tone, it's not your Uncle Rick's Ovation from his 1980's terrible cover band. And even more surprisingly, the guitar is built like a brick shit house. It's covered in a textured enamel, like the same as the back of a pickup truck. I'm not concerned with babying this guitar, it's built to be road worthy and the action and feel of the guitar is really comfortable.

Does this mean I'm done with my Martin? Hell no. But I couldn't be happier to have a durable, great sounding acoustic that I can take on the road.