help with a 1997 Collector

45flint Posted 2004-01-06 10:24 PM (#197797) Subject: help with a 1997 Collector Joined: March 2003 Posts: 555 Location: Wooster, Ohio I just got my newly purchased 1997 Collectors. It is fine except for one thing which I am not sure is normal. The fingering is fine up to the body fret. Where the neck joints the body the fingerboard seems to slant down as it follows the soundboard that it is glued to. At the end of the fingerboard the bass E string is about a 1/4" off the fingerboard. There is no bow or anything that else that seem abnormal. The bridge is plenty high and I can bring it down. Is this normal? Standingovation Posted 2004-01-07 6:45 AM (#197798 - in reply to #197797) Subject: Re: help with a 1997 Collector Joined: June 2002 Posts: 6192 Location: Phoenix AZ This is a traditional problem with Ovations (I have a mando in the shop right now getting the same thing fixed). Happens because the neck set angle is not right (changes over time). Sometimes, as in the case of my mando, it's because the top actually "sinks" a bit. Since the neck is attached to the top it causes the hump in the neck at the body joint or change in angle at the upper frets. This can be corrected with what is generally called a Neck Reset. Go to a good repair guy and he will know what to do (or send it to Ovation). I'm guessing it would cost about $75 to $100 to get it done properly. My mando is a bit more expensive because I'm geting other work done to it at the same time. Dave