Prototype Adamas Guitar: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This production prototype for the Adamas model of guitars was made by Ovation Instruments Inc., a subsidiary of Kaman Corporation in Bloomfield, Connecticut, around 1973-1974. The Kaman Corporation, founded by Charles Kaman, had great success in aerospace engineering. Kaman, a dedicated guitar enthusiast, founded Ovation Instruments, Inc. and applied some of the engineering discoveries to manufacture an acoustic guitar that could be sonically improved by modifying its shape and construction. Patents granted to Kaman include, a sound board for stringed instruments #3,880,040, guitar construction #4,056,034, and a stringed musical instrument body #4,090,427.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: 1973-1974
• maker: Ovation Instruments Inc.
• Object Name: guitar
• Measurements: overall: 14 1/8 in x 15 3/4 in x 5 3/8 in; 35.8775 cm x 40.005 cm x 13.6525 cm
• place made: United States: Connecticut, Bloomfield
• ID Number: 1979.0818.02
• catalog number: 1979.0818.02
• accession number: 1979.0818
• Credit Line: Gift of Charles H. Kaman
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.