Ovation's CC Series guitars have provided value for guitars for years and have been one of the company's most popular series.

Everyone has a purist friend who refers to Ovations as "salad bowls" or makes some other derogatory comment about the non-wood back and sides. But lets face it, Ovation was ahead of the game when it came to using less precious wood in guitar making. And their guitars are great values that sound good too.

This new CC guitar also looks great with its Burled maple top. Burled maple grows mostly in the Pacific Northwest. It occurs when unusual growth yields a highly figured piece of wood. That wood is darker than normal maple with folds and patterns throughout. Ovation draws out this unusual grain with a light nutmeg stain.

The CC series Burled maple guitar has a mid-depth body, rosewood fingerboard, gold hardware and an OP4BT preamp with tuner. Retails for around $600 but a smart shopper can find it for less.