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Joined:
August 2005
Posts: 3736
Location: Sunshine State, Australia | Well, I had to take the deception to new depths, but the '05 is now out of the garage.
A colleague and I hatched a 'story' that had him 'giving' me this 'project' that he'd given up on.
I feel good coz I can now work on the guitar out in the open, but bad because of the level of deception.
I've now got the action to close to where it should've been in the first place, but the frets now need some professional attention. (I had to pack out the heel with about 1 1/2 thicknesses of credit card to get the neck straight)
Now that I know how much packing is needed and got it straightened out, how do I get rid of the ugly gap? Do I shave off the excess from the bottom of the heel, or use some sort of filler? |
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Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 5563
Location: Blue Ridge Mountains | shave off the excess from the bottom of the heel The professional way to do it right! A solid neck set and one that looks great as well.
Blessings... |
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Joined:
November 2003
Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | This didn't effect the intonation? |
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Joined:
May 2004
Posts: 2850
Location: Midland, MI | Originally posted by Jeff W.:
This didn't effect the intonation? ITYM "affect." ;)
I'm not a luthier, I don't play one on TeeVee and I haven't stayed in a HIE lately, but I'd guess the 'right' way would be to take the requisite amount off the bottom of the heel.
Out of curiosity, how did the neck end up like that? |
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Joined:
August 2005
Posts: 3736
Location: Sunshine State, Australia | Originally posted by Jeff W.:
This didn't effect the intonation? It's actually MORE accurate now because the action is considerably lower.
Originally posted by cruster:
ITYM "affect." .... on TeeVee .... in a HIE lately... WTF?
Originally posted by cruster:
Out of curiosity, how did the neck end up like that? Long story.
After holding back my GAS for years, I finally broke and bought my first ever NEW Ovation. I waited full of excitement and anticipation for weeks and weeks and when it finally arrived, I was gutted! The neck was way wrong, you could fly a small plane under the strings - my Hondo plays better.
Ovation won't honor the warranty unless I return the guitar to the dealer that I bought it from (Victor Litz). Shipping each way would equate to another 2 or 3 US Ovations in my collection.
The mother ship suggested I contact the Aussie importers, who then put me on to their 'recommended' luthier, who was just going to pack out the heel, but I wanted it done 'properly', as some have agreed to above.
I suggested to the luthier that it would need substantial packing, as the neck was aiming nowhere near where it should be. I didn't get a good vibe from the luthier (the brushoff effect) and decided to see just how much it needed packing out - hence my temporary DIY investigation.
As you can see, it needed quite the realignment.
Now I've got the action close to where it needed to be, but I've gone as far as my ability will allow. Really, in a practical sense, I just need a fret dressing and a final tweak of the truss rod to get her playing like an Ovation should.
But it looks like $#it !
I wish lived near Connecticut. |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | This is why USA-built guitars cost more when bought through international distributorships than when importing direct. And it highlights one of the potential problems if you get a wrong'un. If this had been bought through the Aussie distributor they and the factory would be dealing with it on your behalf at no expense to you. Who's to say the US dealer didn't know the guitar was dodgy and saw a way to unload to someone halfway accross the world, knowing that any warranty was effectively invalid. It is not unreasonable for Ovation/Kaman to expect faulty instruments to be returned to the point of purchase, regardless of where in the world they end up. This protects their warranty terms and their international distributor agreements. Official distributors are not highly motivated to fix something which is in reality not their problem. Bottom line, if you are going to import guitars and bypass the official distributor, only use dealers you know and trust and not faceless "box movers" who just slap a shipping label on a carton and couldn't care less. |
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Joined:
August 2005
Posts: 3736
Location: Sunshine State, Australia | Hi Paul - I don't blame Ovation/Kaman for any of this, other than it shouldn't have left the factory in that condition. I fully understand their position.
My post wasn't intended to bitch about warranty (and I apologize if it sounded like I was) but to ask advice on what to do next.
I'm happy to pay a luthier to do the work but its just impossible to find one down here that take Ovations seriously.
If I'd bought it from the Aussie distributors, it would've cost me well over $AU 3 grand. With shipping, I paid around $AU1800 for this one.
Even if I pay a luthier to finish her off, I'm still way in front.
I bought my 1768 from eBay USA, sight unseen, and it's an absolute treasure.
Ya pays ya money, ya takes ya chances. |
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Joined:
May 2004
Posts: 2850
Location: Midland, MI | Originally posted by muzza:
Originally posted by cruster:
ITYM "affect." .... on TeeVee .... in a HIE lately... WTF?
TeeVee == Umm, TV? Television.
HIE == Holiday Inn Express, derived from a popular series of TeeVee (see previous) commercials whereby people with zero experience/knowledge of advanced subjects manage to solve problems by dint of having stayed at a HIE the night before. The catch line is always, "I'm not a(n) {specialist}, but I did stay at a HIE last night!"
Essentially, I was busting Jeff's bal...er, just needling him a bit seeing as he forced me to put him in my "other people" classification on a thread a couple days back (you'd have to go look for that one, I can't even remember the topic! Really, I think Jeffster is quite cool and his posts crack me up, but don't tell him, that, ok?).
Long story. Thanks for sharing it. It's a bummer that you wound up with a guitar that has such a significant, and obvious, problem.
Looking at the picture, I'm trying to imagine how the guitar was able to leave QC if the bottom of the heel was pulled away from the body that much (the inverse of how much you've packed out the top of the heel). Was the neck built wrong to start with? Was it attached wrong? Did it move during shipping?
I don't expect you to answer those questions, but they're the things that pop into my head and make me go, "hrmmm." An interesting (for me) problem to be solved, as I like to figure out how things get/got the way they are.
I truly am sorry that you have to deal with that mess. I hope you do locate a luthier to help you out. Best of luck. |
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Joined:
September 2006
Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | "Ya pays ya money, ya takes ya chances."
'Ell Yeah Muzza!
But what I really wanna know,
about all you guys sneaking-in guitars,
and thinking your Ol' Lady don't know...
Don't You Think They Read This Stuff? :rolleyes: |
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Joined:
August 2005
Posts: 3736
Location: Sunshine State, Australia | OMA - She don't, and she never will. You've gotta turn on a 'poota to read this stuff. She CAN use a 'poota, but hates them with a passion.
Cruster - the guitar LOOKED fine when it arrived. It wasn't until I played my first chord that I noticed it wasn't what I was hoping for.
The guitar was cosmetically well made (for me, it's the perfect Ovation) and the heel was snug (and gapless) against the body, but the angle of the neck to the body was wrong. (If you looked at an acute angle along the neck from the bridge end, the top of the fretboard lined up with just below where the bridge is attached to the soundboard. My 1768 lines up near to the top of the bridge)
I've adjusted the angle with the packing, hence the gap. |
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Joined:
September 2006
Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | "She don't, and she never will. You've gotta turn on a 'poota to read this stuff. She CAN use a 'poota, but hates them with a passion."
Misty and Jewels Mom will kick my butt... But!
I went with my Mom and bought her a computer, cuz she thought she wanted one. I told her "You ain't gonna use it, I'll use it more than you. And when I'm gone it will collect Dust!"
Now I use my computer everyday. And sometimes I actually do something besides OFC, eBaaa, and UTube! :D
I'm not complaining about this, but she calls me daily, from Tennessee. ('bout 2000 miles away)
I tell her that if she would turn-on her computer, I could send her stuff, photos, music, etc.
[And she PAYS for internet with here call-anywhere phone bundle!!]
Enough of that... |
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The '05 is now 'indoors'!
