Joined:
June 2002
Posts: 863
Location: Central Florida | My two oldest guitars (a '68 Deluxe Baladeer and a '71 Glen Campbell Artist) each have string action a little higher than my other Ovation's from the later seventies and early eighties. Both are in great shape and very playable. In fact, the GC could be considered "new old stock", as there are no signs of wear or blemishes anywhere on the guitar - including the frets and the gold tuners; and the necks each look straight, but the strings, from about the 8th fret up, sit about a third of an inch off the fingerboard; and I've already got the saddles set as low as they'll go.
A local repair guy told me that this was common to older, pre-Kaman Bar, Ovations and that the only way to fix them would be to send them back to the factory and have the necks reset. Is this guy for real? As I said, they're not bad now, but it would be cool if I could get their action a little bit lower - without having to have them completely overhauled. Has anyone else encountered this situation?
I've been playing and owning Ovation guitars for over thirty years and I've never heard of this, but then I've only been acquiring "vintage" instruments over the last couple of years. Any and all thoughts, suggestions and insights are very much appreciated.
Jeff |
Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | This is a problem that can happen with all flat-top guitars as they age. The top wil tend to rise over time & if the neck pitch is fairly shallow, or the neck-joint has moved & it has become shallow, the action can not then be adjusted by lowering the saddle. On a pinned bridge the short-term solution is to shave down the bridge itself, allowing the saddle to sit lower. I have not seen this done on an Ovation pinless bridge & suspect that the design may make this method impossible. The other solution is a neck-reset, but the unique construction of Ovation guitars makes a neck re-set more of a problem than a wooden instrument & the factory would be the best bet to do this. I've seen lots of bodged repairs to Ovations by well-meaning techs who don't understand thier construction.
Paul
[ July 15, 2002: Message edited by: Paul Templeman ] |
Question about the necks on older Ovations
