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Joined:
October 2002
Posts: 3
Location: Santa Clara, CA | I have an older (CC257) Korean Celebrity Deluxe and need to adjust the truss rod. However, I have been absolutely unable to find the tool that Ovation supposedly offers to perform this task. I have sent numerous e-mails to Kaman via their website with absolutely no luck and have also inquired at two local dealers and gotten a rather brusque negative response. Does the tool exist - and if so how do I get one? Or alternately, is there something I can jury-rig that will do the job? Please help - the action on my Ovation has rendered it all but unplayable for the past year or so, and it's just sitting there. I'd really like to get this thing tuned up again, as it's my only AE. I really don't feel like paying a tech $50 for a set-up unless it's really difficult to set up an Ovation. Any hints or pointers to instructions would be welcome. |
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February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | The celebs use a standard truss rod rather than the K-Bar. It's possible to adjust the rods on Elite-style guitars with a long-handled screw-driver and the correct allen-bit, which I think is 1/4 inch. Bear in mind that you should adjust the action at the nut and bridge before adjusting the rod. While the truss rod has an influence on the action it's primary function is to control neck-relief. |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 1817
Location: Minden, Nebraska | I suggest looking for a website that offers tech tips, particularly for checking neck relief. I have found many times that when the neck has too much bow that adjusting the truss rod corrects the problem with string height without having to make any adjustments to the bridge.
If the neck relief DOES need adjusting, it is done on that model by removing the hatch on the back and using the proper hex tool. I am not sure if the Celeb's take metric or standard. Paul T. may be correct, but I am not sure.
It is a lot cheaper to buy a set of hex keys than to pay a tech, BUT it is critical to know if neck relief adjustment is what is needed before messing with it.
I have adjusted necks on at least a thousand guitars, so the process seems routine. But for those without experience in adjusting truss rods, I very highly recommend taking your time and making the adjustments in small steps, such as 1/8 turn at a time. I never apply more than a quarter turn and then allow some time before checking the relief again.
If one doesn't know how to correctly check neck relief to begin with, one would be well advised to not try to adjust it. |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 1380
Location: Central Oregon | Originally posted by Paul Templeman:
The celebs use a standard truss rod rather than the K-Bar. It's possible to adjust the rods on Elite-style guitars with a long-handled screw-driver and the correct allen-bit, which I think is 1/4 inch. Bear in mind that you should adjust the action at the nut and bridge before adjusting the rod. While the truss rod has an influence on the action it's primary function is to control neck-relief.
Back when I was screwing around with the Celeb I had I tried various allen wrenches on the truss rod & 1/4" is too small. Just about when it feels like it's going to turn- the wrench slips. I'm nearly certain the Korean jobs have a metric truss rod nut & I'm also nearly certain it's 5mm. If you can't find a big enough allen wrench try a 5mm allen socket & an extension. (I finally got mine to turn but it didn't help a bit.) You might even need to cut the "L" off of a wrench with a cutoff wheel & put the long piece in a 5mm socket to reach in far enough if it has to go through a hole like the one on my 1612.
My 1858 Elite came with the special wrench for the American models (I bought it new about 6 months ago). It loooks like a really large allen wrench, maybe 10 inches long with a 3-4 inch "L". It's the only truss rod wrench I'll ever need, I'll never buy another non-USA Ovation.
Good luck.
/\/\/ |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 1817
Location: Minden, Nebraska | The long-handled wrenches that come with the newer USA models are really nice. They eliminate most of the loss of forearm skin formerly required for shoving one's arm inside the bowels of an Elite style model to get the key in the wrench.
It sobers me to think of what my rancher friends have to do when they go out in the middle of the night to "pull calves"..... :eek: |
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May 2002
Posts: 3005
Location: Las Cruces, NM | Paul B.
I've seen that done (calves), and they usually have these long rubber gloves. I grew up on a dairy farm, and most of that type thing was done in the barn. You're right, I feel for the rancher that has to do it in the field, I helped my dad with it once when a calf was hung up out in the pasture and we had to pull it out, that was done without gloves and some pulling and shoving in the mud the blood and no beer. The operation was a success and cow and calf took off for a nursing session immediately thereafter. There were no delicate adjustments involved and I would rather work on a guitar although I must admit to a certain feeling of medical accomplishment when mother and calf ran off in good health.
Bailey |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 1817
Location: Minden, Nebraska | Bailey,
You could not have better illustrated why reaching inside a guitar is not so bad! |
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May 2002
Posts: 3005
Location: Las Cruces, NM | Yeah
And you never get kicked in the head, at least not by the guitar, sometimes by the wife. |
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September 2003
Posts: 782
Location: Waurika OK | I've pulled lots of calves, but I always felt sorry for the cow.
Noel |
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May 2002
Posts: 3005
Location: Las Cruces, NM | Yes xnoel
The cow would be dead, and the calf also, if somebody didn't help. In nature, without us, they would "die". Nobody likes to hear how cruel nature is, only how cruel we are when we don't let "nature" take it's course. The problem I always had on our dairy farm is that we gave the cows a "name", and got to know them. Next thing you know we became concerned about their welfare and almost liked them like a pet dog, even though they wouldn't or couldn't "fetch". A thing very few people know is that each cow has her stall, just like we have our little preferences, and as a farm boy, you tend to give them names like "lady", "whity", "kicker", etc. and start thinking of them as dumb persons because you don't have to butcher them, just milk them, which you do twice a day 7 days a week. This requires intimate contact with their breast area in a totally non sexual context. Like a lady needs foreplay, a milk cow needs to have her "teats" manipulated a few minutes before you put on the Milking machine to bring the milk down. To help those who don't milk cows to know that their milk is safe, this procedure is used to clean off the area and keep the unwanted materials out of the milk (cowshit).
Bailey |
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Joined:
July 2003
Posts: 1922
Location: Canton (Detroit), MI | I just looked at my CC01...the truss rod end looks like a 6 or 7mm....I'm used to looking at these because my other major hobby is riding, building and maintaining my bicycles, and all good quality bicycle components are metric.
Also, if 1/4 inch is too small, it is probably 7mm. 1 inch = 25.4 mm.
Bailey, I am a farm boy and I remember the days my dad would milk our cows when I was little(4 years old)....I didn't understand the "foreplay"...he could always get milk from the teat, I hadn't a clue!!!!
Roger
1976 Applause AA14-4 6-String
2001 Adamas 1598-MERB Melissa Etheridge 12-String
2003 Celebrity CC01 Spruce Top 6-String |
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Kaman Bar Adjustment & general set-up hints
