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Joined:
January 2004
Posts: 6
Location: Israel | Hello
I have an Ovation Celebrity Deluxe CS247,
Having wanted to lower the action on it, I've been looking for the shims under the pickup seddle. I found two transparent VERY THIN shims, and another, third, white less thin shim.
I removed the two transparent thin shims, but the action is still really bad and it hurts my hand.
should I removed the third shim aswell?
is there anyone here who removed all three shims of the guitar?
are there fretbuzzes if so?
please reply me, it's important for me.. i have my first gig in a few days ;D
thanks! |
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Joined:
January 2004
Posts: 1225
Location: Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey | You can remove all three shims, but if the action is that bad, the problem may be in the neck. To check the neck, hold down the 6th string at the first fret with one hand and the 13th fret with the other. Check the clearance between the bottom of the string and the top of the fifth fret. If the clearance is more than 1/23", your neck will need adjustment.
If you don't know what you are doing, I would leave the neck adjustment to a luthier, but many people do this adjustment themselves. |
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Joined:
January 2004
Posts: 648
Location: Florida | And really - 1/32 of an inch is a LOT of relief based only on 12 frets of distance (on an Ovation neck).
The heavier the strings, the more they tug on things lifting the top and pulling the neck. Check your string gauge - maybe get something less than bridge cables on there.
If you dont have any tall frets on there, something more like .005-.010 ought to be more like the proper amount of relief (depending on how hard you play too).
A little less relief can make a BIG effect on the overall action. So check that. Download the owners manual from the support section on Ovations web site. All of this is in there.... |
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Joined:
November 2002
Posts: 3603
Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Tristan, try this out. At least you will know what the luthier is doing:
http://webpages.charter.net/bricli/EasyAction/trussrod.html
Good luck,
Chris |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 1380
Location: Central Oregon | Seesquare- That was an excellent link. I read the entire thing & learned a lot! Thanks!
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Joined:
November 2002
Posts: 3603
Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Thanks Nils,
Glad it was helpful. I have been doing "shadetree" luthiery now for about 5 years, and have basically self-educated through my surfing expeditions. If you have some other questions, drop me a line! |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 1380
Location: Central Oregon | Thanks, I will. I find myself becoming more interested in luthiery all the time. I started doing minor setup work on my Ovations when my 1612 arrived with the truss rod nut & washer off. I was pretty much forced to learn to adjust the rod & have been very pleased with the results of my tinkering so far. Ease of adjustablity is one of the best things about Ovation guitars, imo. When my 1858 arrived with the special wrench for neck adjustment in the case it gave me some added confidence. I figured if they sent me a wrench I may as well try it out.
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Joined:
January 2004
Posts: 648
Location: Florida | Keep in mind SOME of the stuff in that link is total BS.
I especially cringed at the use of "tightly wrapped duct tape" to clamp high frets when supergluing in place. Ouch. I guess he never heard of using a clamp and cauls.
The liberal use of duct tape on laquer finishes too (like to protect the top from getting scratched) is quite disturbing. It can take off the finish - and maybe some wood - when you lift it.
Lastly... that fret leveling part.... is not realy the best or most accurate way, but, then again, I guess that piece is meant to be a primer. |
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Action Lowering
