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Joined:
January 2004
Posts: 338
Location: SE Michigan | Another member emailed me asking about my thoughts on the Longenck I sold last month. Since I took the time to write it up, I thought I would post it to share my opinions with the rest of you.
I just sold mine on Ebay last month, I got a $635 for it, I think I paid $750 for it (on Ebay), but I also got to play and enjoy it for over a year. It was a nice guitar, I really liked the on-board tuner. Mine was the DS-768, which means deep bowl (instead of medium on the ds-778), finished in the same made-in-USA fashion as the Elite line. Also had a low-Z XLR jack. Mine was in great shape with only a little scuffing around the sound hole and some light corrosion on the tuners.
I bought it to serve as an anti-capo, to allow me to play open chord fingerings while singing a full step lower. It did this very well and I had a lot of fun singing songs that previously had been outside my vocal range (I kept it tuned to D). Reaching the few extra inches with your left hand took a little getting used to, but it wasn't a big deal. The thing rumbled like a freight train, you could feel the bass in your gut, loudest guitar I have ever had. Overall sounded good but it was a different deeper tone being a step lower, sort of reminded me of a cello. The longer scale length also gives it a lot more sustain, adding a richness to the sound. You of course could throw on a capo and be back at concert pitch, but that kind of defeats the purpose of the Longneck. It messed with my friends minds, even with the capo on the 2nd fret, my buddy tends to follow my left hand when we perform together and he never got used to it. I have other normal pitch guitars, so I went back to those when jamming with friends.
The worst part about my Longneck was the action. I am a bit of a sissy and use light strings (12s). Strung with 12's you had to have fairly high action to avoid excessive buzzing. I set it up to Ovation factory specs and found the action too high for my taste. I tweaked the nut and made sure the truss rod had the correct neck deflection; I fiddled around with several saddle variations and could not get the action set to my liking without buzzing. As I understand the problem, the extra scale length means the strings will flop around more meaning the action has to be higher than a standard-pitch guitar to avoid buzzing. I am told heavier strings help resolve this issue, but I don't like heavy strings. Some people even go lower than D tuning with heavier strings. I can only imagine that with heavy strings it would blast out sound like a cannon!
The higher action, deep bowl, extra arm-reach, along with the extra weight required a little more effort to play it, which takes away part of the fun for me. It was kind of like holding a moose in your lap. I was going to keep mine for use with those certain songs that require a lower key for my vocals, but in the end it was taking up space and not getting played so I sold it along with a Strat I had and bought a new Martin OM-21 that I absolutely love. If you like lower tunings and can tolerate action a bit higher than the customary excellent Ovation action (I love the normal low Ovation action), go for it and pick up a Longneck. Keep watching Ebay, a Longneck shows up every month or so and they go for around $600-800 in decent condition, heck you might even see the one I just sold surface again. |
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Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | Actually the tension on the strings should be the same as a normal guitar (that's what all the engineers told me). Think about it, at the 2nd fret you are in E and it is a 25 1/2 " scale. Down 2 frets you're in D and it's 28something". Should be the same tension. Maybe one of our more resourseful engineers out there could analize this for us and we can get PaulT's slant on it (we're prayin for you Paul)
Not sure what else to say about your action problem, I've found them to be nice and low without buzz using the normal 12 acoustic set. |
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Joined:
January 2004
Posts: 338
Location: SE Michigan | I agree about the string tension being the same (in theory). But if you take two strings at the same tension and have one string longer than the other, the longer string will deflect more when struck. It is this lateral movement that results in the string hitting a fret and buzzing. Even the Ovation manual shows a higher action setting for the Longneck over standard models when measured at the twelve fret.
But again, I am a wimp when it comes to action, some people might actually find the normal Longneck action setting ideal. Overall I think it is a fine guitar that fills a niche. |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | basic physics suggests that if you increase the scale length the string gauge should get a little heavier accordingly otherwise the strings will tend to feel sloppy. My understanding of longer scale guitars is they have ability to use heavier guage stings with lower tunings but maintain a relatively "normal" string tension and set-up. |
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Joined:
December 2003
Posts: 13987
Location: Upper Left USA | The topic is too close to stay out. This is cool. I was on the phone this morning going over a custom order I have been thinking about (Ok, possessed and consumed!). It's a Longneck 12 string on a Full Deep bowl. There are some timing issues and choices I have yet to work out but this project will be awesome when it come's out.
Mark (name changed to protect identity?) was great to talk with and filled me in on my many technical gaps and options. With a little patience I will have an awesome sounding, beautiful piece of customized loveliness to play. I'll let on more when I get it tighter. Those going to the factory Tour will be able to hear/see some of the options coming up as well.
What an Adventure! |
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Thoughts on Longneck DS-768
