Sounds Of Silence: Ovation Guitar Closing New Hartford Factory (original) (raw)

The Ovation guitar, the curved-back acoustic model beloved by stars like John Lennon and Paul Simon, will no longer be made in the United States.

Fender Musical Instruments Corp., one of the largest guitar makers in the world, said Tuesday it is closing its Ovation plant in New Hartford, where nearly 50 employees work, because of low sales and “market conditions.”

The company, based in Scottsdale, Ariz., is ceasing U.S. production of Ovation as part of its consolidation of U.S. musical instrument manufacturing. Work in New Hartford will end by June. Fender will continue to make Ovation guitars in China, South Korea and Indonesia.

The decision ends half a century of guitar-making in Connecticut that began with spare wood initially bought to make helicopter rotors by Charles Kaman, the founder of Kaman Corp, which sold the guitarbusiness to Fender in 2007 for $117 million.

Kaman Corp. ran the business alongside its aerospace operations for decades. Kaman was an accomplished jazz musician.

After Fender bought the company, Kaman Music Corp, it moved the production of Guild and Hamer guitars to New Hartford in 2008, citing the region’s skilled labor and the facility’s available production space. The company stopped production of the Hamer line in New Hartford last year.

The New Hartford plant currently only manufactures the Ovation and Adamas line of Ovation Guitars. The guitars are known for their curved backing, which Kaman engineers developed in the 1960s. The instruments were played by artists including Melissa Etheridge, Neil Diamond and Billy Joel.

In 1993, the New Hartford plant employed more than a hundred workers, who turned out about 15,000 instruments a year. Fender spokesman Jason Farrell said the Ovation model makes up an “extremely small percentage” of the company’s overall production.

“It’s the end of an iconic American brand,” Richard Hall, a worker at the plant, told The Republican American newspaper. “In the 1970s and ’80s, just about every big touring band was playing Ovation.”

In a statement, Richard McDonald, senior vice president of Fender, said: “We are committed to providing the same high quality musical instruments our artists, consumers and customers expect and demand, and will continue to support the brands that are currently being produced in New Hartford.”

Laid-off workers will get severance, outplacement services and other job assistance, the company said.

Originally Published: April 23, 2014 at 4:00 AM EDT