GEWA music has recently announced the acquisition of the Ovation guitar brand from longtime partner, Drum Workshop Inc. Associated brands Adamas and Applause are also included as part of the deal that was inked in September of this year.
In 2015 DW became owner of the legendary guitar maker as part of a multi-brand acquisition from Fender/KMC. GEWA was immediately awarded exclusive Ovation distribution rights throughout Europe and soon after, began developing proprietary Ovation designs for the European market. GEWA’s long history of manufacturing and distributing string instruments has been and will remain an important asset to the successful continuation of the legacy brand.
February 1, 2021 will see GEWA Music USA taking over Ovation distribution from Drum Work-shop in the United States, while international retail partners already serviced by GEWA will continue as before. Moving forward, Ovation‘s New Hartford Custom Shop will focus on the manufacturing of high-quality Adamas models. These hand-built instruments will be available for viewing directly on the Ovation website and will be available for purchase through the brands‘s worldwide network of “Ovation PLUS Retailers”.
“We look forward to using our knowledge and expertise in the guitar field to link new ideas and concepts with one of the most legendary guitar brands of the 1970/1980s. We are already working on the implementation of several ideas that will soon be presented to our worldwide Ovation fans & trade partners. No other guitar brand has shaped the sound of the 1970s and 1980s like Ovation. It is a very special challenge to continue the legendary story that began with Charles Kaman’s vision. We dedicate ourselves to this with a lot of enthusiasm! We would like to thank Drum Workshop for the fair and open discussions and the good cooperation over the past years.” Hans-Peter Messner CEO/President GEWA music GmbH!
“We couldn‘t be more pleased that GEWA will be shepherding this important guitar brand into the future. Their knowledge in this area and dedication to carrying on the Ovation tradition of innovation and player-friendly design means Ovation is in excellent hands going forward. We congratulate Hans-Peter Messner and the entire GEWA team on being part of this brand’s ongoing story.“! Chris Lombardi CEO/President Drum Workshop Inc.
Responsible at GEWA music are long-time guitar specialist and GEWA Guitars product manager Uwe Prüßner. GEWA Guitars Marketing Manager Thomas Neuhierl will oversee artist relations and marketing efforts. Rick Hall will remain an integral part of the Ovation team, supporting GEWA Guitars team as Sales & Marketing Specialist.
For further information and news follow GEWA Guitars and/or Ovation Guitars at: ovationguitars.com
Since 1925, GEWA music has become one of the worlds leading manufacturers and distributors of musical instruments. GEWA provides retailers and other distributors in almost every category of musical instruments. GEWA is separated into the following divisions: GEWA Keys, GEWA Strings, GEWA Guitars, GEWA Winds and GEWA Drums. GEWA music is located in Adorf, Saxony, in an area of Germany known for a long lasting tradition in instrument making and since the early 1970th as the European cluster No.1 for micro and nano chip technology. GEWA is proud to manufacture professional Instruments such as String bow instruments, Digital Pianos, Digital drums as well as Cases for musical instruments under the brand “GEWA Made in Germany“ at the companies headquarters in Adorf, Germany. Products under the brand of “GEWA German Engineered“ or “PURE GEWA“ are manufactured in GEWA’s newly opened centralised Asian manufacturing plant in the city of Wuqiang, China. GEWA’s centralized warehouse is located at the headquarters in the centre of Europe, which is where GEWA fulfills the demands of European and international distributors and retailers. GEWA has subsidiaries and offices in almost every European country, as well as in the United States of America and China. GEWA music is a multi-lingual company, which is able to communicate in more than 14 different languages and create marketing content for each GEWA Division based on regional requests and demand.
ABOUT DRUM WORKSHOP INC.
Founded in 1972, Drum Workshop, Inc. is a family-owned and operated musical instrument company best known for designing and manufacturing award-winning drums, pedals, hardware and accessories under the DW® brand name. Other Drum Workshop brands include Latin Percussion and Pacific Drums and Percussion. The company is also the ex-clusive worldwide manufacturer and distributor of Gretsch Drums. Current endorsers across all brands include Phil Collins, Chad Smith, Sheila E, Mick Fleetwood, Dave Grohl, Don Henley and Tommy Lee and many others. Drum Workshop, Inc. is headquartered in Oxnard, California. For more information visit www.dwdrums.com