|
|
Joined: September 2006 Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | What is the difference between a 5-piece neck, and a one-piece neck? (Nobody bother to point-out that one has 5 pieces, and one doesn't, Please!) I am guessing that my Balladeer 4861 has only a one-piece. Or it looks that way to me. Please educate me... Spread the Knowledge! |
|
|
|
Joined: March 2002 Posts: 15664
Location: SoCal | Looks-wise, you can spot the 5 piece neck because of the 3 piece stripe going down the back of it and over the lip of the headstock.
The 5 piece neck was built when Ovation just used a standard truss rod in their necks. It gave them a great deal of stability. When Ovation went to the Kaman Bar in the neck, the 5 piece neck really wasn't needed, but it was something that was very much identified with Ovation. In the 80's, Ovation got away from the 5 piece necks with their lower cost guitars in order to save costs. But note that the Adamas guitars also had 2 piece necks.
Today, with the new LX neck bracing system, the 5 piece neck is again, just for looks. And if you look at the newer Ovations, the pieces making up the stripe are narrower than the guitars of old.
But the real difference, that which all of us who are really in the know, know, is that the 5 piece neck has 3 more pieces than the 2 piece neck. |
|
|
|
Joined: December 2004 Posts: 4394
Location: East Tennessee | Originally posted by moody, p.i.:
But the real difference, that which all of us who are really in the know, know, is that the 5 piece neck has 3 more pieces than the 2 piece neck. That's what I love about this site.
You can learn new something everyday. :D |
|
|
|
Joined: September 2006 Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Okay... So you've got, like, five pieces of wood glued together. And that way they don't shrink or warp all at once?
So the git-fiddles with the the stripes are the five piece. Thanx |
|
|
|
Joined: September 2006 Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Well Hell... Upon further inspection, I believe that my guitar has a two-piece neck! (I think) Looking really close, I think that I see a fine line down the length of the back. Also through the front of the head. Am I halluciating? |
|
|
|
Joined: May 2006 Posts: 25
Location: Long Island, NY | No, you're not hallucinating. The two piece neck is actually very stable. The grain in the two halves runs in opposite directions. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but all Ovations have either a five piece or a two piece neck. I've never heard of a one piece neck on an O. I used to have an old Guild acoustic with a one piece solid mahogany neck. Even Guild doesn't make them that way any more, but I think that Martin still does on the high end models. |
|
|
|
Joined: March 2006 Posts: 1634
Location: Chehalis, Washington | I've seen some with solid-piece necks, but not on higher-end guitars that I know of. The new Adamas models mostly have 2-piece necks, (at least the 1680 and 2080 do), but the W597 has a traditional Ovation 5-piece...
...really, who knows? |
|
|