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Joined:
March 2007
Posts: 665
Location: Tychy, Poland | First of all, i want to say hallo and introduce myself. My name is Dorian, i live in Tychy, Poland. I'm 23 at the moment. Sorry for my bad english, especially grammar.
Hi, i've adopted old, 1979 Ovation 1617 Legend, It's in horrible condition, but with some work (and a lot of money) that guitar will be back to a good shape.
So what is wrong with that guitar...
Hmm. Nearly everything.
Neck is nearly broken. it has some tears and visible wear. Wood on top is broken, but i hope that bracing isn't damaged.
Back of the guitar has one relevant failure, but i hope to fix it by myself, i want to use epoxy resin to patch the damage.
Even with all those damages, that guitar sounds surprisingly good. i've paid for it about $150 with case.
Reparation of this guitar won't be easy, mainly because there is no ovation dealer in Poland, and there are less than 100 guitars produced by Ovation in whole country.
But no one said it'd be easy.
I have a question: do you think neck in this guitar is salvageable? and if not, where i can find new (or used) neck for this guitar?
there is a sample played on this particular guitar:
http://hapex.activnet.pl/~shovel/1617.mp3
and there are photos (you have to browse this directory)
http://hapex.activnet.pl/~shovel/ovation |
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Joined:
November 2003
Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | It does sound good.
Welcome to the site, Shovel.
That guitar has too much character to do too much restoration.... Stabilize the top cracks and check the bracing and let it be... |
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Joined:
September 2003
Posts: 9301
Location: south east Michigan | Welcome Shovel.
Wow... That Ovation sure has seen some action.
Only an Ovation could have taken that much abuse and still sound like it does.
That crack in the neck is scary. The cracks and dings on the top just give it character. But that cracked neck seems like a problem. I would say don't put very much money into it. With a little careful handling, it might be playable for a long time.
And... even with all the cracks and dings, take a look at that fine, straight grain on that spruce top. |
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Joined:
March 2007
Posts: 665
Location: Tychy, Poland | but top is choppy, and this guitar can't be tuned properly. neck has one another damage, which is not shown on pictures (i'll add the pictuure later), which makes it impossible to play over 11th fret on the first E string.
i've already talked with a good luthier, and he asked for a 250$ for a complete renovation.
it's not that bad, especially since ovations in poland are very rare and relatively expensive (i think, after succesfull renovation i could easly get about 700$ for that guitar)
and... another thing is that i won't part ways with that guitar. ever.
along with my father we have 9 guitars. even though some of them are now worthless and don't sound right, we still keep them as a keepsakes.
ps.
You have right about the spruce. it's beautiful, i haven't seen such a fine wood on any guitar... |
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Joined:
November 2003
Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | $250??
... jump on that! |
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Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | Welcome, Good luck getting it back in working shape. Just try to get it working well, I wouldn't go for new condition, it's not worth the agrivation or expense. |
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Joined:
March 2007
Posts: 665
Location: Tychy, Poland | i don't want it to get into mint condition. i don't care about look as long as it will sound well. |
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Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 12759
Location: Boise, Idaho | Welcome Shovel. As long as the repair cost doesn't exceed the value, the repair makes sense. Say hello to any of my relatives over there--Prusynski. |
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Joined:
January 2007
Posts: 672
Location: New South Wales, Australia | G'day Shovel and welcome. That guitar has certainly lived a life but it still sounds good.
Just had a listen and it was a nice mellow way to start my morning down here in Australia.
Hope it all works out.
I don't think I've got any relatives over there but say g'day anyway :D |
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Joined:
March 2007
Posts: 665
Location: Tychy, Poland | hah ;]
i don't know anyone named Prusynski.but if i'll meet anyone i'll forward greetings.
Guitar will go to luthier on tuesday... and i should get my O back in mid-may.
I could probably get it done earlier, but i'm broken, i wasn't planning on buying new guitar, and earning 330$ per month doesn't help either.
but i'm in a good spirits. it's just hard to play again on my hohner acoustic guitar after playing on Legend. |
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Joined:
March 2007
Posts: 665
Location: Tychy, Poland | just got reply from luthier. He's in a good spirits.
the good:
-A-bracing survived practically undamaged, and this is quite incredible considering damages on the top.
-back of a guitar is already repaired.
-machines are in good condition
the bad:
-neck is a big problem. head of the neck is broken, but not detached from rest. In place, where neck is connected with top of the guitar, neck is going downwards, like it would want to enter center hole.
-the top requires a lot of work
-repair will take 6-10weeks |
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Joined:
March 2007
Posts: 665
Location: Tychy, Poland | Just got few pictures from a luthier.
He finally started to work on this guitar, and pictures are from just before cutting the top.
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Joined:
May 2003
Posts: 4389
Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | Yak sie mash and Jing dobre panay!This is all the polish I know, taught to me by my old offices cleaning lady. She was real nice. Welcome. |
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Joined:
March 2007
Posts: 665
Location: Tychy, Poland | Jak sie masz i dzien dobry Panu? ;-)
How are you, and how do you do (in english)
does anyone have a spare neck?:-) |
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Joined:
January 2007
Posts: 672
Location: New South Wales, Australia | G'day Shovel..I'm watching some stupid TV show with my kids and we've just been informed of a Polish easter tradition called "schmingus dingus"...I don't know how to spell it, but is there such a thing or were they having a bit of a joke with us?
How's the work on your guitar going? |
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Joined:
March 2007
Posts: 665
Location: Tychy, Poland | Yeah, "schmingus dingus" exists, and it's on second day of holidays. People just sprinkle each other with water. Someone could just barely drench (?) you using a small container called "sikavka", which is designed to throw small amouts of water for distances up to 5-7 meters, or you could end up whole wet after being attacked by someone with pail full of water.
about guitar: top is removed. there's awfully lot of work to do and luthier will start repair after his holidays, so guitar should be ready around 25th may.
I've bought used Crafter ED50-CEQ for $100 3 days ago, with idea of having him only until return of Ovation, but after changing strings and basically setting this guitar up, i've changed my mind. Buying that Crafter, i made possibly best bargain in my whole life till now. Plays great, sounds very good (comparable to yamaha apx-5) and it's in very good condition. |
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Joined:
October 2006
Posts: 5575
Location: big island | LBJ
~i have a good friend who plays a Crafter dreadnaught at church. i have strummed it several times and have been pleased with its construction and sound. for the price, it is a very good value. i was in a music store last week and they had a large selection of Crafters. one in particular really caught my eye. i don't like red acoustic guitars usually, but this one was a huge slope shoulder cherry burst. 12 fret and abalone bling all over it. sounded similar to the last gibson hummingbird i played. i'm glad you have a decent guitar to play while waiting for your "O". |
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Joined:
March 2007
Posts: 665
Location: Tychy, Poland | My Legend is finally done. During the repair i've decided to not paint it again, so i wouldn't risk losing THAT sound and character that came in all those years this guitar was beaten.
Instead of new paint, my Legend got new frets (Dunlop Hard's) and got electronics repaired so tone and volume control works (previously only volume worked)
I didn't want to resize photos so i'll just post links to them:
front
back
headstock - where broken
headstock - top
now i'm going to pub and i'll drink some beers for the luthier's health. He did great job.
Guitar is easy to play, intonation is perfect, sound is huge and i'm pleased
(total cost with shipping - $260) |
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Joined:
January 2006
Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Your luthier did nice work on the headstock repair. You may have the only zero fret Ovation in the world! |
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Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 5567
Location: Blue Ridge Mountains | Wow, great restoration and I know you're pleased as well you should be...It always feels good to save a great instrument! Props to you my friend!
Blessings... |
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Joined:
November 2006
Posts: 2241
Location: Simpsonville, SC | Congratulations LBJ! Hard to tell it's the same guitar. Looks like the luthier did a great job. Enjoy it!!! |
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Joined:
March 2007
Posts: 665
Location: Tychy, Poland | It still sounds like ovation, so it's ok.
Maybe it's not that boomy on the low end, but the sound is very clean and crisp.
I'll add some sound samples next week.
generally i'll compare this one to custom legend on saturday, and then i'll see how it sounds head to head compared to other ovation. |
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Joined:
October 2005
Posts: 4065
Location: Utah | Originally posted by shovel:
First of all, i want to say hallo and introduce myself. My name is Dorian, i live in Tychy, Poland. I'm 23 at the moment. Sorry for my bad english, especially grammar. Somehow I missed your introduction a few months ago, so here's a late "welcome aboard" Dorian. My name is Lydian. (Sorry, just being a wiseass. Maybe my bedtime reading needs an adjustment).
BTW, that's a very pretty restoration you've done. And you don't have to apologize for your English until we speak better Polish than you do English. |
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Old ovation from Poland...
