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July 2007
Posts: 13
| Hey guys, I am new here. Can anyone give me some tips on how to replace and FET 3 system with an Op-Pro system? or even refer a place in the NYC area that could do it? Thanks. |
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Posts: 1421
Location: Orange County, California | There is this little place in New Hartford CT....
Seriously,
Routering the bowl for the oval pre-amp can is going to be the toughest (riskiest) part. |
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Posts: 7307
Location: South of most, North of few | Send it to the factory. Best leave it to the professionals. Probably be cheaper (less shipping) too. |
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August 2006
Posts: 3145
Location: Marlton, NJ | I've done two of them so far with a third on the way. The hardest part is locating where to put the can. Once you have the location traced out, the rest is fairly simple. |
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March 2002
Posts: 15667
Location: SoCal | Is the FET preamp in your guitar just a knob or is it a rectangular box w/ knob and sliders? If it't the former, there shouldn't be a problem. If it's the latter, then the new preamp won't fit. |
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Posts: 1421
Location: Orange County, California | Nothin' a little fiberglass wont fix... |
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July 2007
Posts: 13
| The FET3 is a knob with 3 sliders. I know it won't fit in that hole and will require some modification. When I contacted the factory, they said that they weren't doing upgrades. I plan on calling them again when they reopen if I can't find another option. As for locating the can, I was hoping to have it placed where the current preamp is, after it is modded. |
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July 2007
Posts: 13
| Originally posted by CrimsonLake:
I've done two of them so far with a third on the way. The hardest part is locating where to put the can. Once you have the location traced out, the rest is fairly simple. does this mean that you had two done, or you did them? |
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March 2002
Posts: 15667
Location: SoCal | You're going to end up with holes in your guitar from the old preamp, next to where the new preamp will go. Unless you're going to do a patch and repair job, I wouldn't even consider it. Either get a new guitar or don't mess with it. That FET3 preamp was a pretty good unit. |
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Posts: 1421
Location: Orange County, California | Or you could get an Optima and the XLR board... |
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August 2006
Posts: 3145
Location: Marlton, NJ | DLH - I did them myself, but moody is right, unless the locations of the old amp and the new amp line up, you'll end up with extra holes. From looking at my guitars,they don't line up very well.
I didn't replace an amp like the FET3 - I added an OpPro to an acoustic only and replaced a single knob amp on the other guitar.
Again - I agree with moody - keep the existing amp or find an acoustic only to upgrade. |
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July 2007
Posts: 13
| Crimson,
Any chance you could post a pic to show me what you are talking about? I don't understand where the hole will be. Isn't the can for the op-pro bigger than the hole for the fet3? If so, why would there be a hole left over? Wouldn't the current hole, need to be made larger? |
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Posts: 3145
Location: Marlton, NJ | DHL - The OpPro is contoured to fit the curve of the body and sits in the deepest part of the curve. The FET is rectangular and at least on mine, sits on a flat spot to the right of the curve. While the holes would overlap, there would be a significant portion of the old hole remaining uncovered. |
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Posts: 15667
Location: SoCal | The reason the factory doesn't do this conversion is that the factory can't do it w/o replacing the entire bowl... |
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July 2007
Posts: 13
| Originally posted by moody, p.i.:
The reason the factory doesn't do this conversion is that the factory can't do it w/o replacing the entire bowl... Actually, the person I spoke with via email, said they don't do any upgrades period. At that point, I wanted to upgrade my Korean Celebrity's OP-20 with the OP-Pro. They told me that I could replace the 20 with a 40, but the pro would require a different pup, which I have. There was no discussion about bowl replacement. As for the Balladeer, a hole would have to be drilled for the XLR out, next to the 1/4" and I would have thought that the current fet 3 hole would need to be enlarged. What am i missing? |
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Location: Marlton, NJ | I'll try and take a couple of pics later on. You're right about the XLR. |
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Posts: 15667
Location: SoCal | The OP20 and OP40 have the same shape but totally different electronics, including the jacks. To change from the 20 to the 40, everything in the guitar needs to be swapped out.
We were talking about the difference between the FET3 and the OP series, which the factory won't and can't do w/o a new bowl. |
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July 2007
Posts: 13
| I appreciate the help. I didn't think I would like the 1862 as much as I do. I just picked it up for $250 with case and love it. I snatched up the Korean celebrity for $100 out of a store because of a paint problem. I bought that to mess with on the beach and was surprised by the quality of it. When the 1862 became available I had to grab it to see what the difference is. The 1862 is much nicer and has a thicker tone, but the celebrity is quite nice. |
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Posts: 15667
Location: SoCal | Where are you located? You don't have any personal info up.... |
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July 2007
Posts: 13
| Originally posted by moody, p.i.:
Where are you located? You don't have any personal info up.... Sorry about that. I am located in NYC. |
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Posts: 1374
| Originally posted by moody, p.i.:
Where are you located? You don't have any personal info up.... damn private investigators... :D
never slow down for a minute..and always on the job.
Welcome DLH... CrimsonLake did an upgrade(great job!)for me on the 1613, and will soon be doing an 1114 the same way with a thinline instead of OPP... but they're right the best option for upgrade is the OP-X very minimal modification, and will look like oem.
Glenn |
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Posts: 13
| Originally posted by Amazingly-Detached..:
Originally posted by moody, p.i.:
Where are you located? You don't have any personal info up.... damn private investigators... :D
never slow down for a minute..and always on the job.
Welcome DLH... CrimsonLake did an upgrade(great job!)for me on the 1613, and will soon be doing an 1114 the same way with a thinline instead of OPP... but they're right the best option for upgrade is the OP-X very minimal modification, and will look like oem.
Glenn |
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Posts: 3145
Location: Marlton, NJ | The upgrade that I did for Glenn involved replacing a single knob preamp - so only two small hole to worry about - one of which was covered by the oppro, the other was capped with a black plug.
The white oval in the picture shows where the OpPro would have to go (approximately). That whole part of the FET-3 not covered by the white oval would be a gaping hole that would have to be filled. |
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Posts: 1421
Location: Orange County, California | The Optima, OP-24 +C, OP-24E (Only E), all have a tuner and fit in the rectangular cut-out. |
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Posts: 2850
Location: Midland, MI | How do the OP-24 derivatives (+C, E, etc.) sound compared to the much revered OP-24? I might consider upgrading to one with a tuner if it's not a) cost prohibitive and b) doesn't change the tone (like I ever plug it in). |
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Posts: 13
| Originally posted by CrimsonLake:
The upgrade that I did for Glenn involved replacing a single knob preamp - so only two small hole to worry about - one of which was covered by the oppro, the other was capped with a black plug.
The white oval in the picture shows where the OpPro would have to go (approximately). That whole part of the FET-3 not covered by the white oval would be a gaping hole that would have to be filled. |
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Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | Because the newer OP preamps are contoured to fit the inside curve of the waist. |
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July 2007
Posts: 13
| Originally posted by The Wabbit Formerly Known As Waskel:
Because the newer OP preamps are contoured to fit the inside curve of the waist. I guess that makes sense. |
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Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | Sure it makes sense.
Up to the Optima (or maybe the OP-X, I'm not sure which was later) the preamps were flat faced, fitting the face of the slope from the waist to the lower bout. since then they've been contoured to fit in the waist itself. I have the same problem, I'd like to upgrade the OP-24 on my 87C, but the farthest I can go without major repairs is an Optima (which doesn't bother me, I think it's one of the best they ever made).
Here's the OP-Pro page from the electronics section on the Ovation website showing the curve of the preamp.
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July 2007
Posts: 13
| Yeah, I know how they are shaped. I have an op-20 in my celebrity and the op-pro. I guess I just wasn't thinking it had to be perfectly level. |
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Installing an Op-Pro