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Joined:
August 2002
Posts: 6
Location: Alabama/Georgia | My 1979 flat top acoustic electric Ovation top needs to be re-glued to its body.
What kind of glue does the Ovation factory use to attach tops? Do they use the same kind of glue to reattach those that have come apart?
Does this problem of detachment happen often?
How have other Ovation owners dealt with this problem?
My guitar seemed to begin coming apart when a small portion of the binding became lose. Later the whole top pulled out of the body.
Isn't this essentially a manufacturing or design defect?
Steve |
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Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | The glue is a type of epoxy. I've not heard of it ever coming loose without the introduction of some sort of force, ie a drop or bang on an amp or something like that. Contact the factory service on how to resolve this. |
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Joined:
September 2002
Posts: 1
Location: MA, formerly Torrington CT | As a part-time luthier offering free advice (and we all know what that's worth), if the body on your guitar is synthetic, then he's right...use a multi-bond type of epoxy, one that will bond wood to plastic composites. However, if the bonding surface on the body is wood, use the yellow horsehide carpenter's glue to bond the top to the body.
First thing you do is de-string the guitar, then...
Clean the old glue from both surfaces before you reattach, no matter what kind of glue, using fine steel wool or a fine finger nail file to get at get the obvious and reachable parts of the separation. Try to get back as far on the separation as possible without substanstially increasing the damage. Then, when you've applied the glue to both surfaces, keep them separated slightly for a few minutes ... I use oboe reeds as a spacer. Before the glue is fully set, take out the reeds unless you want bamboo sticking out og the guitar. You just want the glue to begin to set before you reattach the top to the body.
Now this part is gonna cost you a tad unless you're a home time carpenter. Used padded C-clamps (you can always pad the clamps with old dish towels) to slowly bring the top back down into position, wiping away the excess glue (use a wet towel for carpenter's glue, acetone for epoxy...and don't dare smoke around acetone). Be very, VERY careful with acetone...it'll chew off the finish on both the top and the body - Q-tips make a good applicator. Finally, before you completely tighten the C-clamps, you need to put a pair of long padded screw clamps (the kind Norm Abrams uses on the Yankee Workshop to join exotic planks from edge to edge) from the base of the body to the top, adjointing the neck, to keep everything aligned. Don't worry about the binding yet. Let the glue set and dry for 5-7 days. After that, put a SLIGHT bead of super glue (careful...this stuff is runny...Q-tips again to apply the glue, maybe) along the guitar's body where the binding will meet the body, and use padded clamps to hold the binding starting from the mid-point of the body working your way right up to the neck. You want to pull the binding to its max length by clamping from mid-body to neck. Let it set for a day or so, and voila...you're all set.
Be very careful with all of these glues and solvents...you don't want to trash your finish.
Any questions, email me at sgx@hotmail.com.
Mike M |
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Joined:
September 2002
Posts: 9
Location: WA. USA | Here's an additional "TECH TIP" for ya, in case you pull 'Stupid Human trick #711' while gluing. (Like I did_)
While working inside [via the soundhole], my 'Popeye' forearm got the best of me, and I cracked the bowl on my '94 collector's! About a 41/2" long seperation between the preamp and top. (Just at the edge of the purfling, where the bowl is thinnest).
Well, I do a lot of plastic fabricating, So I knew I'd use "Plastic Welder"(small bottle. says: "Bites into plastics" on th package). My only concern, (other than having to stick my arm BACK into the snd hole, just shy of the same position that caused this delimma!), was to make sure I didn't touch the finish when I removed my arm and hand after gluing!
But I did... :(
I still don't know just HOW, But there it was, right in the middle of the upper bout was a freshly melted spot in the finish, about the size of a dime!
Now friends n' neighbors, you can rest assured that I am a reasonably intellegent, and mature adult fully aware of every stupid mistake I'd made up to this point, and could probably rattle off 6 or 8 'wise ol' sayings' fitting enough to make anyone 'ELSE' stop and rethink their plans BEFORE the fact. But I was alone, sober, and overconfident. And those three things combined in anyone will cause a problem... For me, I became Superman, (juggling Kryptonite!).
Did you know that Ovation charges almost $700.00 [US] to refinish a guitar's top? Yup! Funny thing is; I'd only had mine back from the factory about 4 days. You see, I'd returned it for a warranty repair of a blemish, So they replaced the entire top!! (anyone else got a brain seizure story?).
OK, enough spilling my guts.. The magic cure for such an offence will run you about $30 -$40, it comes in aprox 28 different bottles, (But you'll only need 2), and they are:
1) "Maguire's" plastic cleaner #10
2) "Maguire's" clear plastic polish #17
I used a little rubbing compound to knock down the bad part first. Then after using the Maguire's system for about a week the spot was gone. (whew!)
Thanks for allowing me on this forum, (Sorry 'bout the novel), Take care, n' keep pickin'! |
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Joined:
May 2002
Posts: 3005
Location: Las Cruces, NM | Doc H.
I don't think anybody will complain about a lengthy post that might save them $700. That's the stuff that makes this a good site.
Bailey :) |
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Joined:
September 2002
Posts: 9
Location: WA. USA | Thanks Bailey!;
As Adrian Legg once said: "Nescessity is the mother of ineptitude." [hehe]
(And you're right, This IS a great site!)
Thanks again; |
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Joined:
October 2002
Posts: 61
| factory uses loctite 454 gel to attach the inner ring to the bowl and a hot urathane to attach the top to the ring\bowl assy. |
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What kind of glue is used to re-attach top?
