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Location: Warren,Pa. | WARNING: not a subject for the faint-hearted. I'm tired of walking into the bathroom and facing the mirror and the tiled wall with my guitar to hear what it sounds like! I re-read an article in AG on sound ports in the sides of guitars. This greatly enhances the sound experienced by the player. Not long ago someone on this board suggested removing the new style preamp and can from an O to achieve this effect. I don't wanna go THAT far, but I would like to know from any of you fiberglass surgeons out there....what would it take to put a hole in the upper bout, bass side of my guitar? It would have to look like the guitar came that way...nice and neat. |
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Location: Vermont USA | Ok Bro,
I have an easy cheap solution for ya, invite Lisa over for hot dog night and let her play your guitar. You can sit back and enjoy listening to the rich and vibrant sound of your guitar.
Did I save you some money or what.
Paul |
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| Master Templeman is the man to aerate your guitar. Not tidy, but effective.
If you go here http://www.monteleone.net you can look at his quattroporte and get some idea.
The nature of the roundback and the Lyracord probably make sticking a hole in it safer than doing it to a woodbox, but I might be inclined to ask the mothership for thoughts on placement - even tho they are bound to tell you not to do it for their own insurance reasons.
Careful with that axe Eugene. |
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Location: NJ | Used Adamas - $1,200.
Cordless Drill - $39.
"DoorKnob Saw" attachment for drill - $15.
Staring at the bathroom mirror and wondering what your guitar USED to sound like - Priceless. |
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Location: Warren,Pa. | So far, you guys aren't helping me see a clear approach to this. |
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| Well I tried.... |
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Location: Canton (Detroit), MI | Uh....the phrase "leaving well enough alone" comes to mind.....that and "be careful what you wish for, you might get it"......
Best wishes if you decide to proceed with this...but I haven't a clue how to pull it off.
Roger |
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Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | Originally posted by bauerhillboy:
So far, you guys aren't helping me see a clear approach to this. Chicken. |
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Location: Orlando, FL | Wow, there are some beautiful guitars on that Monteleone site that schroeder mentioned. I wonder what that quattroporte would sound like? Sure is purdy! |
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Location: Warren,Pa. | And that's a custom guitar. That means someone paid...what...maybe $20,000 for a guitar with sound ports built into it. I'm not the only one who's thinkin' about this. Actually Schroeder, you convinced me that I must see this through. Thank you. Paul is just like me and was no help at all. Us otter/golden retriever types are all about everybody having a great time together, but we don't get very much work done like the "type A's". I will be cautious until I've researched this thoroughly (listened to about 25 people who don't know anything but sound authoritative), then I WILL do it! After all, this isn't a $5,000 Martin...it's just a $1,000 Ovation. |
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Location: Orlando, FL | I have no idea how to do this, but I think it's an interesting idea, especially after seeing the quattroporte.
Which guitar is your prospective victim? |
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Location: SE Michigan | Someone else posted this a long time ago, but it is an eye-opening experiment: If you have a multi-hole Ovation like an Elite or an Adamas, take the back access cover off and strum a few chords....the sound just dies, like the body was full of pudding. I guess a small hole in the upper bout would be less pronounced, but be carefull, it could ruin the whole guitar. Maybe we'll see you at the next factory tour with a piece of duct tape over your experimental hole.
If you want to really hear your guitar, try playing in the bathroom, preferably one with a lot of ceramic tile. My cousin plays sitting on the edge of the bathtub facing inward towards the shower stall. He even has recorded some songs in there, it sounds great. It's like playing in a giant reverb chamber. |
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Location: Warren,Pa. | BrianT...I started out this thread saying I play in the bathroom. Sounds like this is the plight of the common man. Designzilla....'04 Std Elite LX NEB, but I have another interested party. My daughter(the artist formerly known as Lori Anne) has an Elite T with a shallow bowl and if I,m successful, she wants this too. I do have a set of airlocks. I,ll drill the hole to fit the largest one (it says Ovation on it). Then if I cover it up, it'll look like a factory job! |
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Location: south east Michigan | We could have tried this on the booted Celebrity!
Drat the missed opportunity. |
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| But it's much more exciting for the audience when The Father Of The Artist Formerly Known As Lori Anne (why didn't I just type Persephone?) is going to do it on a real guitar. |
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Location: NJ | ". . for my Next Trick, I'll need a Volunteer . . ."
- Warren Zevon |
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Location: Warren,Pa. | I'm gathering bits of information. I AM thinking about the dead sound when you remove the access panel. The proposed hole...uh, sound port...is 1 9/16" diam. I do have an alternate plan...fasten a 4"x6" mirror to the top at a 45 degree angle between the bass holes and the fingerboard extension. This way, the sound will be reflected back at me AND I can see all the stupid expressions on my face while I'm playing. I could rig up some hooks to it that fit into the soundholes so it can be quickly and easily removed. |
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Location: Vermont USA | John,
I may not be the brightest light bulb on the Christmas tree, but if it were me I would not do it.
Paul |
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| Not that I'm trying to encourage you in this - but the removal of the rear cover would just let the sound straight out into your belly, killing it stone dead and leaving the bowl with nothing to work with. A hole, sorry - soundport - in the top shoulder would be a completely different kettle of fish, as we say in these parts. Whatever else might worry you in your quest for that million dollar experience, I don't think you should worry too much about the rear door thing.
Just a thought - are you sure you actually want to hear yourself?
If you plug a set of headphones into the outjack, you can listen to yourself quite happily.
But that won't be any fun for us. |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | The side and the back are different. You could always try it on an expendable Im-port. Now is this a guitar you're going to play for just you or for an audience? |
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| It's Ovation's new Swiss Cheese model. More holes than the US Budget. |
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Location: Warren,Pa. | I play more just sitting on the sofa than I do playing out, but both are important to me. However...THIS JUST IN...Kim K just called me. We had a little conversation, and he says "go ahead". His suggestion is, if need be, have the airlock plug in the side port when I'm plugged in and move it to the front when I'm unplugged. Now I have to find a 1 9/16" holesaw so I don't have to drill 1 1/2" and file it bigger. As soon as I have the tooling in place I'm gonna do it. |
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Location: closely held secret | Is the airlock plug going to fit in a curved surface? |
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Location: Warren,Pa. | There's not really that much curve over a 1 9/16" distance, but the plug is just over 5/16" deep and the bowl is not very thick at all. Wish I could run to the hdwr store right now and buy the holesaw, but I'm in the middle of another project that MUST get done before Maryanne gets home. It's so hard for me to be task-oriented. |
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Location: Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey | In my 'youth' I've done some strange things to my guitars that seemed like a great idea at the time. Unfortunately, the results usually ended up less than stellar.
I really hope this maneuver works out ok for you. Personally, I got a little nauseous just thinking about it...
Good luck! |
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Location: south east Michigan | ***Bulletin Board For Two***
John...I just placed a "life is good" shirt order. n-i-c-e stuff |
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Location: Orlando, FL | I'm always very interested in this sort of project.
On someone else's guitar. ;)
Good luck! |
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Location: Carle Place, NY | bhb:
So what were you smoking when this idea came to you?
Cutting into the body of a guitar with a key-hole saw to attempt to make it sound better to the player is too far fetched for me to accept.
It appears though that you are "committed" to this.
Good Luck!! :eek: |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | It should work fine, just do it. |
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Location: NJ | . . . just don't hit the Mojo Vein . . . |
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Location: Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey | ***Bulletin Board For Two***
Enjoy, Brad! They have fun stuff! |
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Location: Warren,Pa. | I got the largest spade bit they had- 1 1/2". Also got a little drum sander for the Dremmel to make the hole slightly bigger. I drilled the hole at 4:10 PM EST. Looks just fine. Have to spend some time with it to see what I think. We'll see. |
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| 25 hours from first post to hole. |
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Location: closely held secret | Why didn't you use a hole saw? |
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| I guess they didn't have one in stock and time was moving on - if bhb had had another couple of days to think about it he wouldn't have done it. |
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Location: Orlando, FL | There's no going back now.
I hope your documenting the process. I'm sure we'd all like to see pics. |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | It voids the warrentee, but who cares. Move ahead in the name of science! |
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Location: Warren,Pa. | Hole saws have too few teeth per inch to make a smooth cut. The spade bit has those little points on the end that actually seemed to scrape away the material. Nice, smooth, perfect circle. I'm busy all day tomorrow, but Thursday I'll enlarge the hole with the Dremmel so as to accomodate the airlock. To be continued. |
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Location: Upper Left USA | May I suggest the use of a Dremel and a metal guide for the hole size? Start slightly smaller and then use the abrasive wheel to even and smooth - with the steel guide in place. |
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Location: south east Michigan | ooooooo this kind of talk makes my teeth hurt. |
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Location: Warren,Pa. | That idea of the metal guide is perfect. I have a friend who is kind of like Inspector Gadget, and he has a million Dremmel tools and accessories. But today I hang out with teenagers till after the bonfire...so I'll have to wait till tomorrow. |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | We will expect a full report. |
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Location: Central Florida | I sure hope this works out well for bhb, but I also hope it doesn't set off a rash of folks poking holes into the sides of their beloved guitars.
IMHO, a modification should only be done if it will enhance the overall tone and/or playability of the instrument. If the goal is simply to reroute some of the sound in a different direction, I gotta believe there are far less dramatic ways of accomplishing this. But, that's just me. The argument can just as easily be made that if poking holes in your guitar increases your enjoyment of it then, I suppose, it can't be all bad...
Jeff |
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Location: closely held secret | I hope he's careful with that Dremel.
It's real easy to turn a circle into an oval (or worse) in seconds with those things. |
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Location: Upper Left USA | You have been looking at my workbench, have you?
Makes you wonder about that 12 fret Koa! |
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Location: closely held secret | Haha. Like it was supposed to be a circle? :D |
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| I've just noticed that the title of this thread is portS not port. So when and where is the next one going? |
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Location: Vermont USA | John,
How did this all turn out??????????????? |
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Location: Orlando, FL | No news is good news, we hope... |
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Location: Tampa, FL | I've been keeping my eyes open for a "Composite body patch/repair" thread. Figure that might be the first indication. |
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Location: closely held secret | Perhaps he's installing a sponge in the treble bout to absorb the drool that drips into his new 'port'.
"This new Ovation upgrade also features a built-in humidifier." |
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Location: Venice, Flo | If you get one of the "big bowl" versions, not only will you get a lot of volume, but because of the larger bowl when sitting down it is easier to face the guitar more towards you. Just a thought. I have a 1987-4, #78 of 1000 produced. Collector's Series. Although the Ovation factory dosn't seem to know about this version. They only inidate a 1987-5 and a 1987-7. My guitar looks exactly like the one picutred for the 1987 Collector's Series. :) |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | I'd be suspicious of all the encouragement coming from a guy who finds rare O's in his basement, Bill. I guess it's too late now. The silence may not be a good sign. I think I would have just put ceramic tile in my guitar room. |
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Location: Tampa, FL | And that special China seat? :eek: |
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Location: Carle Place, NY | BHB:
No news is . . . . no news.
I've got a big spade bit that's just itching to cut a hole in my 1619.
So, did it work? |
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Location: Warren,Pa. | Well....I think so. The hole has been there for a while now, but I haven't had much time to sit and REALLY pay attention to the sound. I took it camping with about 20 teens this past week (I know...I AM insane!). Playing around the campfire isn't the best situation in which to judge such things. I guess so far I can say there's an improvement, but I don't think it's enough to warrant doing it to YOUR guitars. I'm not done with this experiment yet. The hole is still smaller than the airlock I want to use, so I will be enlarging it a little. Sure wish I knew how to post pics. Maybe Lisa can help with that...she's 17 and knows much more about that stuff than I do. |
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Location: closely held secret | Do you know how to get pics from your camera to your computer? Cuz the rest is easy. |
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Location: Keller, TX | Originally posted by cwk2:
It should work fine, just do it.
It voids the warrentee, but who cares. Did anyone else notice that cwk was encouraging him but didn't mention the warranty thing until AFTER it was done? :D |
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Sound ports on an Ovation