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September 2022
Posts: 11
Location: Québec City | Hello all,
Guitar tech from Quebec City here. A customer dropped a Preacher Deluxe at the shop a few days ago. It was basically fully disassembled and has been in that state, locked up in its case for at least a couple of decades. The owner wants me to assess damages and see what can be done.
I have no idea if the electronics are working because the pickguard has been torn around the output jack and the jack itself is missing. Well, some of the blades of the jack are still soldered to the board but the body of the jack, as well as the sleeve are missing , gone with a good chunk of the pickguard. So I'm having a hard time doing tests on the thing. I might have to take educated guesses as there are no schematics floating around that I could find.
So, first things first : I have located a source for a suitable pickguard replacement. So that's OK on this front. I could have made one, but hey, why waste precious bench time on this. I do know the replacement likely won't be cut exactly like they did at the factory.
What I need to know now is the exact model of the jack used in those so I can replace it and then see if the preamp is still alive before I get into ordering things. Anyone knows what model this jack this would be? I'm guessing from the remains that it WAS an enclosed type, maybe some Switchcraft, but exactly which?
Second… having read all the threads I have found here about the model, I suppose the chances are very slim that the preamp might still be working after all those years of neglect. What's your opinion on this? Likely dead, uh? I'd probably just remove it then since I learned from the past threads that those pickups are the same in the passive version of the Preacher. Anyway, what's your feeling? Just want to be educated as I have never seen any electric solid body Ovation in the shop, so experience is at a glowing zero.
For the record, geometry is OK, truss rod working good, no other parts missing. I still have to check pickups but rarely find dead ones so I'm hopeful.
Any help hugely appreciated!
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Posts: 7222
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | I've upgraded you to full member and have moved this post to the main section so others can jump in. I think it may have been a stereo jack, but it was wired to that when a regular guitar (mono) was plugged in, it completed the circuit to turn on the pre-amp (only when the guitar was plugged in). There are others that have more info on the specifics. |
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Location: undisclosed | I may have a schematic, I'll check. There is a good chance the preamp still works unless it is physically damaged, easy enough to test. Modern stuff is more fragile.
Edited by Cavalier 2022-09-09 1:26 AM
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Posts: 11
Location: Québec City | Thanks!
Before I went to bed yesterday I took a few minutes to have a better look at the preamp and the pickups.
Pickups read different as far as resistance. Neck is 20/6K and bridge at 16/5k. Not sure if this is up to normal specs, but they seem to be working.
From the board I could see the jack is a stereo one to shut off batteries, that's pretty normal. I'm going to solder temporary wires to the board to do further testing. |
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September 2022
Posts: 11
Location: Québec City | Thanks Cavalier. This would be veeery useful. I could then have the preamp repaired by my amp tech then. Thanks a lot!
Edited by Torvisse 2022-09-09 8:57 AM
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October 2005
Posts: 4044
Location: Utah | Ovation Tribute has a bunch of schematics. http://ovationtribute.com/Schematics.html
The Breadwinner circuits may be quite similar to the Preacher Deluxe.
Edited by FlySig 2022-09-09 10:32 AM
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Location: Québec City | Thanks, I'll look into thos. |
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Location: Québec City | Mr. Ovation - 2022-09-09 2:17 AM I've upgraded you to full member and have moved this post to the main section so others can jump in. I think it may have been a stereo jack, but it was wired to that when a regular guitar (mono) was plugged in, it completed the circuit to turn on the pre-amp (only when the guitar was plugged in). There are others that have more info on the specifics. Thanks a lot! |
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Posts: 1118
Location: NW Washington State | I copied my post from an old thread about the Breadwinner preamp- basically the same.
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Here's a link to a page that explains how the preamp works: http://www.ovationtribute.com/Catalogues/Breadwinner%20Settings%20M...
It's not worthwhile for the average person to try to make an exact copy of the original preamps. They used some custom-made parts that aren't available anywhere I've looked. But here are some schematics from OFC member BruDev:
http://www.ovationfanclub.com/photos/BruDev_63029_c-2.jpg
http://www.ovationfanclub.com/photos/BruDev_63084_c-3.jpg
http://www.ovationfanclub.com/photos/BruDev_63139_d.jpg
http://www.ovationfanclub.com/photos/BruDev_63183_e.jpg
http://www.ovationfanclub.com/photos/BruDev_63233_f.jpg
The last two schematics on this page are for Breadwinners: http://www.doremi.co.uk/breadwinner/circuits.html
The second one from the top is for a UKII and was posted on the Breadwinner page by mistake.
If you want to duplicate the action of the Breadwinner preamp, you need an active bass/treble "tilt" control on a single knob, a volume boost ganged to the pickup switch when both pickups are selected in parallel and out of phase, and a midrange notch filter switch with volume boost. I can imagine several ways to get close to this but don't have any specific suggestions. It would be pretty easy to build a preamp with conventional volume and tone controls and maybe a treble boost in place of the notch filter switch. Or you could try one of the Artec preamps that are commonly available on eBay.
-Steve W. |
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Location: NW Washington State | Torvisse - 2022-09-09 8:55 AM
Pickups read different as far as resistance. Neck is 20/6K and bridge at 16/5k. Not sure if this is up to normal specs, but they seem to be working.
There are two little pots on the board, one controls the relative volume of the pickups. The other adjusts the out-of-phase balance when both pickups are on. If you're checking the resistance with the pickups still attached to the board, the pots might affect your reading. I'd expect them to be about equal if disconnected.
My Preacher Deluxe is buried somewhere right now, but I think the pickups have metallic looking, conductive polepieces, probably alnico. Those pickups might be loud enough to use without a preamp. On the other hand, the similar pickups from my Deacon have dark gray, non-conductive polepieces, probably ceramic. I tried them without a preamp and they were low output.
Be careful not to apply too much heat when soldering on the PCB. The pads/traces can peel up and aren't fun to repair. Don't ask me how I know. 
-Steve W. |
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Location: NW Washington State | Mr. Ovation - 2022-09-09 12:17 AM
I think it may have been a stereo jack, but it was wired to that when a regular guitar (mono) was plugged in, it completed the circuit to turn on the pre-amp (only when the guitar was plugged in).
Miles, maybe it's a special enclosed jack with a little switch inside that controlled the power. Been a while since I looked at one closely.
-Steve W. |
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September 2022
Posts: 11
Location: Québec City | Numbfingers :
Thanks a whole lot for the links to the diagrams. I had no idea the Preacher and Breadwinner circuits were similar. Looks like I got my answer about the jack type as they're described and consistent across all versions of the diagram. It seems to need a Switchcraft 113PCX. I'm having trouble finding one anywhere after a couple of hours of scouring the usual sources… |
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Location: Québec City | numbfingers - 2022-09-10 12:37 AM Torvisse - 2022-09-09 8:55 AM Pickups read different as far as resistance. Neck is 20/6K and bridge at 16/5k. Not sure if this is up to normal specs, but they seem to be working. There are two little pots on the board, one controls the relative volume of the pickups. The other adjusts the out-of-phase balance when both pickups are on. If you're checking the resistance with the pickups still attached to the board, the pots might affect your reading. I'd expect them to be about equal if disconnected. My Preacher Deluxe is buried somewhere right now, but I think the pickups have metallic looking, conductive polepieces, probably alnico. Those pickups might be loud enough to use without a preamp. On the other hand, the similar pickups from my Deacon have dark gray, non-conductive polepieces, probably ceramic. I tried them without a preamp and they were low output. Be careful not to apply too much heat when soldering on the PCB. The pads/traces can peel up and aren't fun to repair. Don't ask me how I know. -Steve W. Got it, thanks again. |
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March 2013
Posts: 359
Location: undisclosed | Well I have Preacher and Viper schematics but someone will have to remind me how to post pictures from my phone tonight. I'd be surprised if Ovation Tribute didn't have them too but you never know. |
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Posts: 11
Location: Québec City | Cavalier - 2022-09-10 12:25 PM Well I have Preacher and Viper schematics but someone will have to remind me how to post pictures from my phone tonight. I'd be surprised if Ovation Tribute didn't have them too but you never know. You can also send them to me ... Pierre (at) torvisse(dot)com If this is allowed. |
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Location: NW Washington State | Pix of the jack on a rev. D board. They're in an album here: http://www.ovationfanclub.com/megabbs/photos/photo-thumbnails.asp?a... -Steve W. 
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Posts: 11
Location: Québec City | Great, many thanks! |
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Posts: 1118
Location: NW Washington State | There are some interesting Switchcraft jacks at Surplus Sales, maybe some discontinued or special order types: https://www.surplussales.com/Connectors/Aud1-4-2.html
Let us know if you find one that works!
-Steve W. |
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September 2022
Posts: 11
Location: Québec City | Thanks for the link, it seems they have just the exact same jack Ovation used back then that even Switchcraft does not stock anymore. I have found (my tech friend who builds synth clones has loads of them!) a normal enclosed stereo jack that'll be just the ticket to get the preamp going. I suppose Ovation used switched jacks because they must have had loads of the thing as they were likely used in the stereo/mono guitars, à la Rickenbacker. Anyway, I'm going to remove the remains of the original jack tomorrow and install the new one. Pinout is identical and conforms to the board so no sweat. I'm hoping the preamp will wake up. I have just ordered the new pickguard from Pickguard Planet. Never used them before so I have no idea about the quality. We'll see. Thanks to all, and especially to Steve numbfingers. Great bunch of guys here. |
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Posts: 11
Location: Québec City | Good news guys. I have replaced the jack and the preamp and pickups are alive and well, apart from some crackling noise from the switches that can't really be cleaned. Pots have cleaned up nicely with shots of DeOxit. Now I'm waiting for the pickguard to complete the resuscitation of the Preacher!
Thanks again. |
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Preacher Deluxe tech question