I collect Ovation guitars, and I'm going to have to play the Devil's Advocate here. I LOVE my (American Made) Ovations. I own about twenty of them and about a dozen Adamas guitars. They are not plastic, but rather fiberglas on the backs. Yes, the do roll off your lap, but that's just a matter of adaptation, IMHO. The ones I own, except for two, are acoustic electrics. Plug them in and you might change your mind about how good they sound. Do the pre-1980's sound better? Maybe. Also, as someone else wrote, because of the fiberglas backs, the sound might not be as evident to the player, as the sound is projecting better through the front. I LOVE my Ovation guitars. I think they are iconic, and for the most part, and everyone I have sounds beautiful. I also own Fenders, Martins, Les Pauls and several other brands of guitars.