The DEACON (MODEL 1252) was made between 1971 and 1982. The Deacon had a unique shape, designed to be beautiful to look at but also comfortable to play. It was perfectly balanced and ideal for playing seated as the shape afforded two playing positions . The bridge had solid brass self aligning saddles (nylon saddles on early models) with ball bearing action tips for easy height adjustment of individual strings. The bridge was mounted to the body by three large steel bolts -adjustable for height. Electronics were active with a FET preamplifier. The early models had Ovation's "toroidal" dual pole, single coil pickups with the original FET preamp. From 1972 to 1973 these pickups were gradually phased out and replaced with new humbucker, twelve pole dual winding pickups. The Deacon came in both 6-string (model 1252) and 12-string (model 1253) configurations.
Ovation described the Deacon as follows in their 1979 brochure:
"The Deacon. A work of an. Its form follows its function. And its function is to make music. Whether you‘re standing on stage or sitting in the studio. the sculptured Deacon shape conforms to your body. Which leaves you free to concentrate on your music. The Deacon's slim, two-piece mahogany neck means faster fingering and more control. The high cutaway extends playing range to a full two octaves. Powerful double-coil humbucking pickups are fed through the active electronics of a built-in FET pre-amplifier for enhanced output. Conveniently mounted volume and tone controls put you in charge of every note. And the pickup selector switch permits a choice of three distinct sounds. Select the neck pickup tor rhythm guitar. Or the bridge pickup for bright, piercing leads. Or both pickups out-of-phase for a funky sound. Balance. Grace. And a functional shape designed to bring out the artist in you. Listen to sound sculpture. Play the Deacon. Play a work of art."