Ovation guitar factory in Connecticut closing this summer after 47 years

HARTFORD, Conn. – An Ovation guitar factory in the western Connecticut hills that has produced instruments for music legends from Paul Simon to Cat Stevens to Glen Campbell is closing after 47 years.

The New Hartford factory’s owner, Fender Musical Instruments Corp. of Scottsdale, Ariz., is ceasing U.S. production of Ovation guitars and notified employees Tuesday that production at the factory will end by June. That’s according to a report by the Republican-American of Waterbury (http://bit.ly/1ieyjig ).

The company is citing “current market conditions and insufficient volume levels.” Factory workers are calling it the end of an iconic American brand.

Ovation guitars were created by the late Charles Kaman, a helicopter engineer and founder of Bloomfield, Conn.-based aerospace company Kaman Corp. Fender bought Bloomfield-based Kaman Music Corp. in 2007.

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Information from: Republican-American, http://www.rep-am.com