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| I just restrung my ovation celeb for the first time. And I did it with light guage martins. And the once loved tone is gone. And now it has a kind of a tinny high sound when picked. But right now I dont even want to play it because of this horrible sound how can I get the old sound back. would buying the d'addario's that ovation says they use fix my problem or should I move to a medium guage. |
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Location: SoCal | Strings are a real subjective subject. People here use everything from Elixirs to D'Addario's to Adamas to ad nausium.
If memory serves, Ovation sends out their guitars with D'Addario lights. Try them first, but don't be afraid to experiment. You may find something eventually that you like better. |
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Location: Scotland | How long were the old strings on the guitar before you changed them? Maybe you've just gotten used to and prefer the duller sound of played-in strings as opposed to the "zing" of brand-new strings. If that's the case coated strings such as Elixir or D'addario EXP's may be the answer, as they sound played-in right out of the pack. |
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Location: OR | He said it's his 1st string change. Why not go back to the originals? Ovation homepage lists strings for their guitars, I think. |
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Posts: 1900
| Considering today's technology and research, it seems entirely reasonable to me that each individual acoustic guitar has a specific 'window of resonation' which can be precisely measured, allowing for the use of the ideal guitar string for that particular instrument; perhaps there is an acoustic lab somewhere that specializes in that service; I know I have used 'cheap' strings that sounded great, and 'great' strings that sounded cheap; Antonio Stradivari made guitars as well, so perhaps he discovered something we've missed... |
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| yea see the guitar was purchased not to long ago but it was the display model and I could see small dents from the frets on the strings. And thought that it be best to change all the string. Which is why I might have gotten used to the played in sound. And ovation lists the strings used on the guitar as D'Addario EXP16 (.012-.053) Phosphor Bronze strings. So I will go grab a pack of those and see if I get my old sound back. Thanks for the replies |
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Location: Scotland | Steve, there are way too many variables for what you suggest. Guitars change constantly, albeit slowly & subtley as they age & response further changes as the strings wear out. Then there's playing style & technique, the biggest influence on the tone of a guitar is the touch of the individual player. Then there's personal taste. If there was such a thing as an "ideal string" there would be no guarantee that everyone would actually like the tone. |
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Location: On the beach in Southwest Florida | I agree. Only experimentation will get you where you want to be. The first experiment failed. Try another. |
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Location: Las Cruces, NM | gamenutt
I am going to assume that you are referring to the acoustic sound of your Celeb and put in my country/bluegrass dos centavos that most acoustics sound best with medium phosphor bronze or heavier, lights or light medium are going to be wimpy sounding as they can't drive the top. Electrically, or amplified, it might be a different story, but the Ovation should be set up for both acoustic and electric. I suggest nothing less than medium.
Bailey |
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Location: Scotland | Bailey, String guage is not just a tonal issue, it also significantly affects playing feel. While there may be a slight tonal benefit to mediums their extra tension means that unless you exclusively play first position chords or Bluegrass-style flatpicked lead then some players, especially novices or those used to electric guitar guages will struggle. It's pretty difficult to bend a .017guage second string up a tone, and without a perfect set-up meduims can make it a pain to play full or partial barre chords in the higher positions. I personally like the sound of mediums, but my playing dictates that I need to use standard light guage, except on my slide guitars or standard guitars which are down-tuned. So while you may recommend "nothing less than mediums" I would say you are being a bluegrass facist ;) A standard 12-52 set is pefectly capable of driving the vast majority of guitar tops. Personal preference & playing style dictate string guage, not a beleif that heaviest is best. Another issue is that many lightly-built guitars just do not like medium guage strings. In the 70's and early '80's Martin were stamping "not to be used with medium guage" inside some of their guitars (M-36/38 and some of the smaller sizes) |
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| yea I also like the sound of mediums but being ive only played for 2 and a half years and that time being only electric. Then I doubt ill have an easy time playing mediums or heavier. Right now my fender strat set up with .09 guage d'addarios which I got used to. But being used to that small of a guage woulnt help me play an acoustic with heavy strings. I think its best to go for the d'addario exp .12 gauge just because I liked the tone I had before and thats what ovations are shipped with. |
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Location: OR | You say a display model was sold to you that had fret dents! That takes many, many hours of play, not just hanging on the wall! What does everyone else think? |
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Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | I agree on the fret dents. Many hours of playing with an appearent death-grip on the neck. |
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December 2003
Posts: 4
| yea not sure because wasnt normal fret dents like it had looked like they reused some old strings on it. They were only on 2 of the strings and on those string the dents werent on the very bottom of the string but slightly to the side if that makes sense. Which is why I thought I should just change out the whole set now. |
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Location: Zion, Illinois | Has anyone stated the obvious yet? Play it for a few days before judging the strings. To me, new phosphor bronze string always sound high at first. I just play through it for a few days until the string dull up a bit. Then they tend to sound the same for a few weeks depending on the type of string, and then they go dead.
Bradley |
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Location: Las Cruces, NM | Paul T.
From what I've seen and heard of Celebritys they seem to be built rather solidly and not as flexible as a vintage spruce topped acoustic. Also I noticed that the fret marks were on the strings not on the frets, that's not too unusual on a new guitar. I suggested mediums as he stated lights were tinny sounding. Does anybody here have any insight into the type of top on this Celebrity? That might be good info for us all to know as relates to string gauge etc..
Bailey |
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Location: Scotland | All Celebs have laminated tops. |
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May 2002
Posts: 3005
Location: Las Cruces, NM | Thanks Paul
This cheap ass bluegrass player who has played many of those laminated guitars, suggests that mediums will work great and the guitar will be good for many, many jam and friendly get togethers, you will die before it does.
Bailey |
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restrung celeb sounds bad
