Any opinions (Dan?) on how hard a reset/glue this is?  I am willing to try to pick it up for $40 and try to advance my rudementery luthier skills if it seems like it might be viable...and since its a Pacific Rim model if I screw it up...at least I am not ruining a classic!!

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac/msg/5257664913.html

With the neck in place, take a straight edge and lay it on the frets and see where it's 'aimed' at the bridge. Anything over the top of the bridge is good. The higher, the better. (within reason)

Here's Jay's Balladeer.

Naturally, you'll also want to make sure it's square to the body. I lay a yardstick along one side of the neck at the fretboard, then the other, then measure the distance to find the center line. If it's the same as the center seam of the top wood, or the center of the bridge, then you're golden.

The top is in really good shape, with some polishing it could get to great.

Wow the amount of glue in this thing is stagering

The guy who owned it said he never liked playing it because the action was too high... seeing this I am wondering if this was a factory missalighned neck. Ah... Pacific Rim Models

Gonna get all that outa there and see what is what

It doesnt look like there was much epoxy on the fretboard where it overlaps the sound board, does this seem normal?

Looks more like a half harted attemt to rough up the surface and very little glue, than something intentional.

USA Bowl...

I've read that high action from the factory is normal, no matter who the manufacturer is. This allows the buyer to have the action adjusted to suit his/her own taste.

The height of the saddle in the pics would help account for the high bridge action. Also, since the original owner said he bought the guitar, but never really did anything with it means he probably never had the nut action adjusted, either.

Putting the neck back into place, even without gluing, then checking the neck angle with a ruler should reveal whether the guitar can be made playable.

"Do you think you used enough glue there, Butch?"

Great big gobs of gooey, greasy epoxy in the neck block is normal. Unfortunately, this construction technique has not helped Ovation's reputation with luthiers over the years.

Ok so got the majority of the epoxy out and tested the neck. Looks like it just musta been glued/set badly because I put a ruler on it and it lines up just at the top of the bridge - in fact it looks almast the same as the pic Dan posted above - just perhaps another 1/8" higher.

No I was wrong... They have the truss rod adjustment on the bottom...why? Wouldn't it have been more practice to stay with the original design? Even my first crappy applesauce fake elite had the truss rod adjustment at the top...