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Questions about a neglected CC257 Celebrity guitar

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Ovaraptor
Posted 2021-02-21 4:04 AM (#555187)
Subject: Questions about a neglected CC257 Celebrity guitar


Joined:
February 2021
Posts: 7

Hello Everyone, nice to join this forum, I'm from the UK.

I have an Ovation CC257 multi-hole, which I'm embarrassed to say I have neglected for about ten years, left out of its case, full string tension, variants of temperature, all that, I'm a very bad person...with regrets. I've now got the urge to play it again and probably not surprisingly I'm finding the action is rather high at the bridge end 6/7 mm at the 12th fret.

The bridge is as low as it can go, just barely poking it's head above the wooden saddle, the nut slots could be lowered a little but the string clearance at the 1st fret is very low. I've put a straight edge along the top of the frets at the bridge end and strangely it meets at a position maybe 7 mm below the top of the saddle, which confuses me no end. I have another guitar and doing the same thing it is level with the top of the bridge??. I'm only using a 12inch straight edge (see photo)

Looking down the neck it looks pretty straight it is joined to the body just fine, no splits or cracks and inside all the bracing looks glued and intact. Of course the neck is glued on, no bolts grrr. There is only a slight bulge behind the bridge, again with a straight edge placed horizontally there is less that a couple of MM showing either side. So I'm confused, I haven't tried tightening the truss rod, but I can't imagine that doing so could alter the angle of neck anything like enough to raise the straight edge to the top of the bridge.

As with all the multi-hole Ovations she's a pretty instruments but I'm wondering if it's time to make her into a wall decoration.

I don't want to spend money on a neck reset, if she was perfect she would only be worth £300 ish I may get myself a new guitar soon anyway. I saw a YouTube video recently where a young guy took a Dremel to the bridge on his Ovation and lowered everything, I was horrified initially but now I'm wondering if that might be a way round my issue...Anyone got any advice?

Best Regards

Ovaraptor



(20210219_154003.jpg)



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arumako
Posted 2021-02-21 8:41 AM (#555189 - in reply to #555187)
Subject: Re: Questions about a neglected CC257 Celebrity guitar



Joined:
October 2012
Posts: 1034

Location: Yokohama, Japan		Hi Ovaraptor,
Sorry to hear about your CC257. Definitely not a bolt-on neck - lots of adhesives to keep that thing in place. Sounds a bit strange though. As you're probably aware, a straight edge extended from the top of the frets to the bridge should end up right on top of the bridge. If your action is 6~7mm at the 12th fret and the straight edge is only 4~5mm under the top edge of the bridge that could mean several things...

1. Your neck has too much relief or is coming loose out of the neck cavity
2. Your top has sunk into the bowl
3. Your bowl has warped (does happen to SSBs)
4. Or a combination of 2 or more of the above

It's hard to tell with just that one pic you shared, but your description of its past 10-years suggests option #4. If you can post a pic of the neck heel where it meets the body, a pic of the full neck from the side, and a pic of the body that shows the flatness of the top from the side, I think you might be able to get some good help. There are some heavy hitters that really know what they're talking about, and with a bit more clarity, they might be able to offer some good advice. I would definitely work with the truss rod first. It wouldn't take much time and it certainly would not hurt.

In my neck of the woods, no one will work on Ovations - especially the Celebrity models - so I've had to learn to fend for myself. With the help of some kind OFCers, I've been able to salvage quite a few Os - neck resets including bolt-on conversions of Celebrity's too. Good luck with your quest!
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Ovaraptor
Posted 2021-02-25 3:22 PM (#555224 - in reply to #555187)
Subject: Re: Questions about a neglected CC257 Celebrity guitar


Joined:
February 2021
Posts: 7

Thanks very much for your reply Arumako and apologies for my delay replying to your reply. I guess I'll need to post another thread as I don't see a facility to add additional photographs onto reply's, although that could very easily be me. I'll have a look at the truss rod first though. I notice there is something called advanced reply, just below here, I wonder if that allows photos?
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Old Man Arthur
Posted 2021-02-25 3:45 PM (#555225 - in reply to #555187)
Subject: Re: Questions about a neglected CC257 Celebrity guitar



Joined:
September 2006
Posts: 10777

Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR		Below it sez... [ ] Attach a file after posting.
Click that, and attach a file (photo) after posting.

If you already have the photos posted on another website you can just post the link.
Or, you can go to "Advanced" and attach that link.

I hope this is helpful.
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Love O Fair
Posted 2021-02-25 9:21 PM (#555228 - in reply to #555187)
Subject: Re: Questions about a neglected CC257 Celebrity guitar



Joined:
February 2016
Posts: 1802

Location: When??		@Arthur - >>>Below it sez... Attach a file after posting.<<<

Just an FYI... on my view (desktop PC) the only way to add a photo is to either be the first post when creating a new thread, or, to choose the "Advanced Reply" option when replying to someone else's post. Otherwise, the standard reply box located just below the last post in the thread will only post text with no option to add a file or photo. The Advanced Reply option button is just to the bottom right of that box, and choosing that instead of the standard reply box brings up a reply text box that includes the file/photo option. Not sure if it works that way for everyone, or just with my particular system along with my configuration of OFC preferences in the Control Panel.
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Ovaraptor
Posted 2021-02-28 10:56 AM (#555245 - in reply to #555187)
Subject: RE: Questions about a neglected CC257 Celebrity guitar


Joined:
February 2021
Posts: 7

Okay re the first reply to my original post here are some more photos. By the look of things I am going to have to post one photo per reply piece, so please view the next three replies.

Thanks



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Ovaraptor
Posted 2021-02-28 11:17 AM (#555246 - in reply to #555187)
Subject: RE: Questions about a neglected CC257 Celebrity guitar


Joined:
February 2021
Posts: 7

First photo



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Ovaraptor
Posted 2021-02-28 11:35 AM (#555247 - in reply to #555187)
Subject: RE: Questions about a neglected CC257 Celebrity guitar


Joined:
February 2021
Posts: 7

This should be my final photo, incidentally on the previous photograph of the heel, you will notice there is what appears to be cracking along the black part of the heel and the guitar back and along the edge. There is absolutely no movement at that point though, if I try and bend the neck backwards against the crack, absolutely nothing moves, so I'm wondering if the main glues part of that fitting is still very solid but the external edge has cracked, much like cracking on the surface of plaster, I'm not an expert though and would welcome any opinions. I'm having to reduce the size of all my photos as the files are too big for the site.

Edited by Ovaraptor 2021-02-28 11:41 AM




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leonardmccoy
Posted 2021-02-28 3:11 PM (#555248 - in reply to #555187)
Subject: Re: Questions about a neglected CC257 Celebrity guitar



Joined:
December 2015
Posts: 287

Location: Katmandu		<p>*delete*</p>

Edited by leonardmccoy 2021-02-28 3:16 PM
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leonardmccoy
Posted 2021-02-28 3:11 PM (#555249 - in reply to #555187)
Subject: Re: Questions about a neglected CC257 Celebrity guitar



Joined:
December 2015
Posts: 287

Location: Katmandu

Check the neck relief at the 7th or 8th fret by holding down the string at the 1st and 12th fret. There should be almost none, just the slightest tiniest bit of relief.

Unfortunately the saddle is already so low that it cannot be lowered anymore (without causing other problems) to accommodate the slightly high action. The question is whether the bridge can be plained down instead and in order to avoid a neck reset. This should still be a bolt-on neck.



Edited by leonardmccoy 2021-02-28 3:17 PM
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