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Posts: 1026
Location: Back in the Valley of the Sun Mesa Az. | Hey all,
I got back into town Sunday, and my e-bay 1711 Balladeer had arrived. Acoustically, my old Legend still rules, but plugged in, this baby sings!!! Not as Bassy as the Legend, but very nice tone, and great electronics. I am not dissapointed at all. Condition was not quite "like new" as advertised, (due to just minor pulling near the bridge), but with no other blemishes, I would consider it in excellent condition. Not as ornate as my legend, but I like the feel of the satin finish neck. A Plain Jane by Ovation standards, but a very nice guitar just the same.
One question though, I noticed immediately the action was a little high. I am going to try a neck adjustment, but I am wondering how much to turn it. I put new strings on as well (going from light to medium). I am thinking a half turn to the right, tune it and let it sit for a day. What do you think? Also, I noticed my Legend has developed a buzz, due to a bow in the neck. I have been told it may have resulted from my keeping guitars tuned down to a D#? Perhaps a half turn as well but to the left? Is there a particular tool for doing this? It seems a standard 3/8 allen wrench just doesn't reach back far enough.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Norse(DEEP BOWLS RULE!)man1
p.s. I guess my impulsive 276.00 e-bay experience turned out O.K. Whew!!! |
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Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | Careful, truss-rod adjustments are to control neck-relief, which will be dictated by string guage, playing style, presonal preference & action height, & while a rod adjustment can influence the action this is not it's primary function. The action should be set at the nut & saddle & the rod adjusted so the strings can vibrate cleanly when played in the lower fret positions. To check if the relief is correct put a capo on the first fret, fret the 6th string at the 12th & see how much clearance there is between the crown of the 5th fret & the string. If the string is touching or almost touching the fret you need to loosen the rod, if there's too much clearance tighten it. Do it a 1/4 turn at a time and give it some time to settle. You should make any adjustments to the rod with the strings up to pitch.
Given that the frets are in good shape, too little relief is generally the culprit for buzzes, let the rod off a little. Big strings & a heavy hand generally need more relief for the guitar to be buzz-free
Paul
[ August 05, 2002: Message edited by: Paul Templeman ] |
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May 2002
Posts: 1026
Location: Back in the Valley of the Sun Mesa Az. | Thanks Paul, a quarter turn it is. The nut is a little worn down, but the neck bow is quite visible. What do you think of the idea that keeping the guitar tuned down to D# is causing the backbow?
Norse(tweeking lightly)man1 |
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February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | You should be able to tune a semitone flat & compensate with the rod, though I can't see it as being necessary. I can go from open C to open E tunings on both my Adamas guitars without a problem.
Paul |
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December 2001
Posts: 10582
Location: NJ | Norse if the bridge is coming up you may never fix the problem without repairing that first.
tune the guitar and see how far the bridge comes up if it moves you need to get it glued back down then adjust the rod |
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Posts: 613
Location: Zion, Illinois | Just a reminder, there might be shims under the saddle you could remove to bring the action down.
Bradley |
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May 2002
Posts: 1026
Location: Back in the Valley of the Sun Mesa Az. | Thanks for all the good advise guys! After doing some checks as suggested, I decided (with the help of a more experienced guitar repair man) to go ahead and give a quarter turn. It worked! The buz is gone, the action is still plenty low. The bridge looks to be holding just fine, and yes there does seem to be a thin shim under the saddle that I could be removed or built up in the future. Anyway, for now the Legend is back to her wonderful sounding self! I can't figure why the backbow got in there, other than the down tuning, or the mistake I made (and will not do again) of removing all the strings at once when replacing the set (I didn't know this could cause a backbow by itself).
As for my new Balladeer, a quarter turn to the right seems to have brought the action down nicely, without causing a buzz.
I sure hope these truss rod adjustments are the exception, not the norm. I got more than a little queezy doing this to my little round bellied babies! Thank God all went well!
Norse(and thank you Paul, Al, and Bradley for your guidance, and caring)man1
[ August 07, 2002: Message edited by: Norseman1 ] |
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March 2002
Posts: 15664
Location: SoCal | Norse:
A quick note. Taking all the strings off your guitar at once shouldn't do any damage at all. I've always done that when I change my strings (can oil the fretboard or clean the peghead if you don't) and have never had any trouble. Also, I've never had to adjust a neck on any Ovation, from my 78 Legend to my 83 Elite and everything in between. So I would guess that your adjustment will not have to be a regular thing unless there is a structural problem. |
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Location: Las Cruces, NM | Norse
I'll second Paul that you shouldn't have to adjust the neck very often and add something I've experienced occasionally. New Mexico has tremendous swings in humidity, I used to monitor it at White Sands Missile Range and it would go from 5-10% in sunshine, and jump to 90% as a rain cloud would drift over the monitoring tower during what we call our monsoon season, which is July and August. What happens is my guitars will buzz sometimes during extremes like when it has been raining heavily, but I've learned to leave them alone as they come back to normal as it clears up. It's an annoyance, and tends to keep me from playing for a day or two during the bad rains and spending too much time on the computer as you may have noticed. So think twice before you adjust if the weather is unusual.
Bailey
[ August 08, 2002: Message edited by: Bailey ] |
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Posts: 10582
Location: NJ | it has been my experience that if the guitar needs constant tweaking on the rod you are trying to achieve action that is too low. |
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Location: Scotland | Or the neck and/or rod is unstable. |
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May 2002
Posts: 1026
Location: Back in the Valley of the Sun Mesa Az. | It has been very humid up here in Minnesota this past month. Perhaps this is the problem. I guess I'll know if my action seems a little higfh come the end of September! I think everything is O.K. structually on the Legend, but I guess time will tell.
I know I've said it a hundred times, well here goes 101. This Legend sounds absolutely astounding! The more I play it, and play other guitars, the more I am amazed. I just hope she can last my lifetime (which according to my wife shouldn't be a problem!).
Norse(ruined for other guitars)man1 |
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May 2002
Posts: 3005
Location: Las Cruces, NM | Al is right, I adjusted my Viper right on the edge of buzzing so it's my fault. I just couldn't resist all those adjustments, I want the action on my electric to be different than an acoustic, but it only buzzes when it rains. Sometimes it sounds pretty weird, thunder and lightning, torrents of rain, and my guitar buzzing through the spring reverb.
Anybody here ever hear Mickey Newbury's Frisco Mabel Joy album? If you have, you know what I mean.
Bailey |
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Adjustments