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Location: Campbell River, British Columbia | I guys. Long time no post, but I'm still up here in the Great White North. After many years of thinking about it and a fortutuitous posting in my neighbourhood, I just bought a Country Artist 1624-4. Judging by the serial # it was built in 1977-78 and it kinda looks it, though pretty good for its age. (much like myself...) It played okay, sounded good, but the electronics weren't working so the price was pretty good. Nothing looks broken. So, I've started taking it apart to see where the issue might be and ran into a snag. I don't know what sort of screw holds the pot knobs on. It doesn't fit anything I've got. What sort of screw head is it? Anyone know?
Edited by fillhixx 2024-04-24 12:21 PM
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Location: Campbell River, British Columbia | Nevermind. Found the right size on the oldest set of allen keys I own. In the bottom of an old tool box. #PackratsRule! :-) |
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Best of luck, fillhixx. You are probably opening up a can of worms with that stacked-knob preamp, but go for it, anyway. Over at the Facebook Ren-O-Ovation site, Steve McCormick has done electronics rebuilds, so there's a good source of info & expertise available. Congrats on the snag & great to hear from you, too! |
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Location: Campbell River, British Columbia | Okay, think I found the problem.... What I don't know is where the preamp is supposed to be wired in. Anyone got hints? I'm not an electrician but my soldering is darned good for a retired plumber!(not what I actually retired from, but was a plumber builder for a while in younger days.)
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Location: Campbell River, British Columbia | Thanks for the reminder seesquare! Forgot I joined that group...just to be a lookyloo as until right now I've never 'really' worked on my guitars. Will see what happens there. |
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Location: Denmark | Plumbing and analog electronics are more or less the same. Current is a flow and voltage is lifting height/pressure and connections are commonly soldered. You may find useful information at http://ovationtribute.com/Schematics.html as well.
And happy new guitar day. From this far it looks in good shape.
Edited by tpa 2024-04-26 12:20 AM
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Looks like the output jack is wired directly to the undersaddle pickup. The piezo should be plugged into the preamp can, and there should be a female minijack somewhere on it. There should be 3 wires in the preamp cable to the output jack. One for signal, one for ground, and the last for switching on the battery to power the preamp. The output jack has 3 connections, too (go figure). So, you have to determine which-is-which-wire. The shielding mesh is the ground. I'd bet the signal is probably white & the battery lead is probably red. I reiterate, best-of-luck. Someone appears to have taken some liberties with the integrity of this instrument. There may be issues inside that preamp. |
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Addendum: Just reviewed the discussion on Ren-O-Vation. They have covered the issue pretty well. Red & black, apparently- my bad. |
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Location: Campbell River, British Columbia | Hi guys. Yeah, they're a very helpful bunch at the Ren-O-Vation page. Reminds me of this place back when I first joined. (I mean, still a helpful bunch here and some very good friendships made) tpa, yes I've heard the plumbing >< electrical analogy before but, being a plumber forgot everything that wasn't 'solids go down, gases go up'. ;-) Not completely sure I'll do the wiring myself...though I may just do it just to finish wrecking everything so I have to buy new/rebuilt stuff.... I could use one of the pickup pins for my 1612 that got broken at a gig in the early 80s. . The guitar itself is pretty good as an acoustic. Which was the primary selling point.
Edited by fillhixx 2024-04-26 4:17 PM
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Phil, since you probably don't have a board-certified Ovation tech/luthier in your immediate neighborhood, I guess you dive in, or not. Your critter will always have the exemplary acoustics. Fortified sound output is the option. No guts, no glory. The BFLG will support whatever rehab you embark upon! Kinda like slowing down to view the car wreck...... ;-) |
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Location: Upper Left USA | We're behind you all the way! Please don't stop suddenly... |
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Location: Campbell River, British Columbia | After Some pondering.... I think it might be best to just buy the Op Pro, a new pickup and start fresh. I've developed a preference for onboard tuning... Cutting into the shell doesn't scare me TOO much. (I'll measure, ponder, and search YouTube videos for weeks before I start cutting) Any suggestions on where one should go shopping for that kind of thing? Pickups and preamp kits appear to be readily available on ebay....
Edited by fillhixx 2024-04-28 4:58 PM
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Location: Thredbo, NSW, Australia | This may be of help.
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Location: Campbell River, British Columbia | Why thank you so much BanjoJ. This will prove VERY useful when I get around to ordering parts....sooner than later. ?Is the hole the same size for all the different Op Pro series?
Edited by fillhixx 2024-05-01 3:15 PM
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Location: Thredbo, NSW, Australia | fillhixx - 2024-05-02 6:15 AM
Is the hole the same size for all the different Op Pro series?
Where's OMA when we need him? 
I know its the same size hole for Op Pro and Op Pro Studio, I have an OP 20 and it looks to me to be the same size as well. |
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Location: NW Washington State | Is the preamp still inside the black box with the volume/tone knobs on it? Maybe it could be fixed, or a little generic preamp board and control(s) put in its place. A lot of things like this can be fixed by touching up solder joints and cleaning the controls with a little spray of contact cleaner.
This is probably the schematic for the preamp: http://ovationfanclub.com/megabbs/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=12999
I have a 1624 with blue label hanging on the wall next to my desk. It's missing a string and is quite dusty, because I've been putting off restringing and checking out a little buzz in the preamp. I could look inside and see where the wires are supposed to go.
-Steve W. |
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Location: Campbell River, British Columbia | I’ve become rather enamoured of built-in tuners on my guitars, so that is my goal at this point. Barring some flash of alternate genius… the existing preamp I would likely trade with anyone here for stuff like an ovation case handle. (Replacement handle ordered online turned out to be too wide without severe modification. Still an option..)
I want to earn my bona fides within This subgroup…just ‘cause.
Still hoping to get an op pro with pickup from within this group, out of loyalty. :-) |
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Wish I could help you out, Phil- sorry, no preamps or handles. As to bonafides & membership, intent constitutes inductance (I got an electronic gizmo around here that does that, too!). No worries, someone will come to your aid, eventually. |
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Location: Denmark | You could try here: http://www.lostartvintage.com Mr Pepiak is one of the pillars of the Ovation fan club. |
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Location: moline,illinois | My dusty guitar has quite a few different preamps and is a good source for parts although a little slow from what I've heard recently https://www.mydustyguitar.com/product-page/ovation-oppro-preamp-kit
https://www.mydustyguitar.com/preamps?page=3
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Location: Campbell River, British Columbia | Well, thought I'd start with the easy part. The guitar came with a decent case but jury-rigged handle. Coated wire was tied to a 1/4" inch eyebolt and 1 remaining handle anchor. The handle I ordered online was a titch wider than I imagined, but two inner tube gaskets filled in the gap between the little rail-valley and everything worked pretty good...ish. Best part was, I had to make a tool to apply goop to keep the black tape back down. It had started to lift off, as seems to be common. I love inventing tools.
Edited by fillhixx 2024-05-13 1:22 PM
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Location: When?? | Nice job. Looks great! |
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Location: Campbell River, British Columbia | Thank you for saying so. It feels pretty sturdy anyway. Put washers on the inside to spread the load. |
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Good on yuh, Phil. Nice save. Pop rivets for securing the new handle? |
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Location: Campbell River, British Columbia | Yup! (A lifetime of tool collecting is finally paying off)
Edited by fillhixx 2024-05-20 2:29 PM
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Long time watcher-first time luthier..
