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Joined:
July 2008
Posts: 14
| I've recently gotten my hands on a UK2 that's apparently had a very rough life. I think it was a nutmeg about three or four paint jobs back (the last of which was applied by mop from the looks of it).
I can't stand to see a UK2 in distress, so...
This is the second UK2 I've come across with a twisted neck. Is there known cure for these?
Does anyone know what adhesive was used to bond the neck on in the first place?
Is the Ovation logo on the headstock an inlay or a decal?
I found what looks like a date in magic marker at the bottom of the route (if you can call it that on a molded guitar) for the neck pickup, looks like 2-15-80. Would this be the manufacturing date?
Is conventional paint stripper safe for that urethane body or is it sandpaper time? That paint has --got-- to go.
I'm sure more questions will come up as I get farther into this, thanks very much all.
Robin. |
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Joined:
July 2003
Posts: 3111
Location: Nashville TN. | I would send it to to the Wizzard Greenwoords Rd
ie the mothership... the factory and say fix it.
UKII are rockin guitars! |
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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 7247
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | Be VERY careful. I agree on sending it back to CT. But... if not, the extra layers of paint may be your saving grace. The Urelite is essentially a "foam" with a hard shell. The shell is not thick, and if you penetrate it... you'll have a mess on your hands. At least with layers of paint, you can lightly sand it smooth, and put a goof finish on if you want. If I recall, there is NOT a finish on the UKII exactly. The "finish" is part of the process of creating the Urelite.
Someone else may be able to explain better, but if I recall how it was explained to me, there was a mold and the "finish was injected into it as it spun, then the foam was injected into that. The wood grain looking finish of the brown ones was a result of that spinning. Black and White of course were just black and white.
In any cause, you don't want to go through that hard shell.
As far as twisted neck... I have only seen a couple in the 100's of Ovations I have looked at close up. With their process of letting the neck set, leveling it, THEN finishing it.. it makes them somewhat bulletproof. Not sure if they always did those steps, but as I said. I've rarely seen an actual twisted Ovation neck. |
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Joined:
July 2008
Posts: 14
| Thank you very much for your comments, folks.
I agree on the "rockin guitars" comment. This is my third UK2, along with a Tak EG320, an AE28 that I think someone used for a canoe paddle (I'm a sucker for basket cases), and various other non-O implements of destruction.
Miles, I understood your explanation of the "shell" perfectly. That's pretty much the same way that a lot of fiberglass parts are made; spray the clearcoat into the mold, spray the color, then spray/lay up the actual glass and resin. I was trying to avoid going the sandpaper route but I guess that's where I'm at. On the bright side, I can probably sand an 1/8" in before I even get close to the original surface. Like I said, painted with a mop.
Unfortunately, finances may preclude having the lads at the factory do the refinish as they'll already be getting a chunk of my change for other hardware. I have no idea what happened to the bridge but it must have been a very Bad Thing. Someone has forced oversized screws through half the saddles and the whole thing looks like it's been used to mix battery acid. Most of the plating has been wire brushed off, probably in an attempt to clean up the pitting.
I will check the neck for twist more carefully once I have a set of winding sticks that are correct for the neck radius, but just sighting down the neck sumpin' sucks.
I'll try to post some pictures of the major damage.
Thanks all,
Robin. |
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Joined:
July 2008
Posts: 14
| This is sighting down the neck on one of my intact UK IIs:
I've taken the neck off of the new basket case (someone else already broke the adhesive) and taken the tension off the truss rod and so far it's relaxed back pretty close to straight. The twist in it was about as bad as this one. |
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A couple of UK2 questions
