I picked up my first Ovation - this 1977 Balladeer recently, not sure of the model # as the sticker is gone.  I've discovered a few things about it, in the short time we've been together.

It looks to have had the top swapped - purfling by the waist is off & rosette doesn't look right.  Inside - it's X-braced with what looks like a rosewood bridge pad.  The bridge, as shown - has had the original pickup removed and a new insert installed with a piezo.  Saddle slot is straight across...oops!

I've taken the bridge off (it was loose) and added a humidifier inside before I tackle a top crack.  My plan is to let it acclimate for a bit, then I'll have another look at the neck angle.  I don't like what I see now, so a Bowl Bend may be in this Balladeers future.

Without the model # - can you tell what model it might be by the inlays?

More pictures & carnage to follow.

Chuck

Yes, this guitar has been re-topped. That rosette is definitely non-standard. The early Balladeers were X-braced, but the x-braces were quite a bit simpler than what you'd find on a Martin or Taylor, though to my knowledge Ovation never put rosewood bridge plates. The LX braces used maple bridge plates, but not rosewood.

Here's what the latter X-braces looked like. This is from my 1974 1111-4.

This is what the typical Martin X-brace pattern looks like.

From the inlays, and the fact that it's a 1977 and AE, I'd hazard a guess and say it's a 1612 Custom Balladeer.

Here's a page that you use to determine what model it might be. (See: Ovation Decoder)

Dan

Martinized scalloped bracing

Better shot of 3 ring rosette.  Bridge came of clean. Tiny hole for transducer.

The easiest way to clamp the top to the bowl is to cut a slot into a piece of plywood so the fret board extension doesn't interfere.

Then, tape the top into place so it doesn't move, flip the guitar upside-down, then put soft weights onto the bowl to clamp the two together. It's also a good idea to make alignment marks on the underside of the top and bowl so you can confirm alignment.

Here's a pic of the fixture I've used. Ignore the framework and guitar-shaped plywood. You only need to make sure the fret board extension doesn't touch the workbench.

When I say, soft weights, I mean something like this -- a large bag of clothing. Here's a couple of guitar tops being clamped to the body.

The one on the left is using the fixture above because the neck is still attached. If your neck is removable, you can use any old surface to clamp the top to the body, like the one on the right.

Either one should work fine for what you're doing. As I say, you'll want to notch whatever you use so the top can rest flat without interference from the fret board extension.

Here's the pics.

I would expect some distortion of the back of the bowl (flattening) when force is applied to warp the bowl so the kerfed lining is flat.

The good news is that the back of the bowl will regain its rounded shape once the force is removed.

The big question is whether the bowl will pull the top into the 'dip' when the force is removed. Personally, I don't believe it will, especially with an X-braced top as these are very stiff.

Because the bowl and top form a monocoque structure once joined, they will create a rigid unitized shell that should not distort. At least they haven't in my experience.

In fact, I've found that re-topping an Ovation is the perfect time to do a 'neck reset' as the shape of the bowl, and by definition the neck angle can be changed much more easily than by more conventional means.

My biggest concern right now would be the neck angle. When I've done neck resets during re-tops, it usually involves pulling the neck down to literally change the angle, then gluing the top into place, which locks the bowl into its new, distorted shape, and holding the neck at the new, correct angle.

Generally, increasing the neck angle will 'elongate' the bowl at the kerfed lining area. On guitars where the lining is already flat, this introduces a slight backwards curve that stretches the waist. Since your guitar is already warped here, this elongation should flatten it. Or, rather, flattening the bowl so the waist is flat will elongate it.

The first thing I'd do is to check the neck angle by mocking up a top with the bridge in the right spot. Based upon the fact that the bowl is warped at the waist, I'd be willing to bet that the neck angle is low.

Here's a page on Frank Ford's Frets.com site that explains how to easily check the neck angle.

Checking Neck Angle

This is the neck clamped, but the body is resting in the jig. This is how I route the purfling/binding slots.

Here the top is being clamped to the bowl. Neck angle was verified, then sand baggies placed into the bowl to weight it into place. Last, the framed plate is put onto the top and clamped with rubber bands.

The good news is that using a heat gun will soften the epoxy so you can easily separate it from the wood with a Xacto chisel.

Neck tenon cleaned of epoxy.

Neck placed back into neck block.

I'm not sure what brace pattern you're planning to use, but if you're thinking of an X-brace I'd like to suggest my custom X-braces I developed.

It's a Martin pre-War forward X-brace that's been modified to fit the Ovation shape.

Basically, I started with the standard Martin scalloped and tapered X-brace, then followed the Stewmac Banjo-killer video to modify it into a forward X-brace pattern.

I've done three of these. One of the guys liked his first one so much he commissioned me to build him another.

I've re-topped three guitars with these braces, one in plain bearclaw Sitka spruce, one in torrefied Sitka spruce and one in torrefied Adirondack spruce. It sounds equally good in all three, though my personal preference is the torrefied Sitka.

Here's a pic of the standard Ovation LX brace pattern, which is similar to the standard Martin pattern.

Here's a pic of the pattern. Like your guitar, I used a rosewood bridge plate.

First, the mock-up.

This is the torrefied Adi top being glued.

Well I got the neck off and the new top on.  It's starting to look like a guitar again.