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March 2006
Posts: 1634
Location: Chehalis, Washington | Well, this is interesting (at least to me). I posted before on picking up a 12-string Storm model off ebay, and thanks to some sound advice and a perfect NOS electronics set from 'ol Toby, I'm underway tinkering with my first Ovation hollow body.
I pulled out the old electronics tonight, which were pretty corroded. The body label marks it as a Tornado, but it is a 12-string, which makes me think that someone either pieced it together themselves, or it was a mis-mark from the factory. Either way, I'm guessing it was one of the earlier 12-string necks at least, since it is a 1 11/16" nut width. It's a nice maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, and the frets are in so-so shape. I'll have to play with that at some point.
The body's pretty decent, though it's filthy dirty. Tomorrow evening I plan to see about wax potting the pickups and doing a very thorough cleaning on the body.
The only other thing I may have to play with is possibly replacing the trapeze tailpiece, since it's fairly corroded and a little warped. Anyone have a recommendation on an alternative that works for this part?
Some pics are in my ning album here. |
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June 2006
Posts: 7307
Location: South of most, North of few | Sweet Andrew! I'm no expert on these, but can't you add a Bigsby to it instead of the standard tailpiece? |
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February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | It's perfectly possible with a 6-string guitar, but Bigsby don't make a 12-string version. |
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December 2006
Posts: 6268
Location: Florida Central Gulf Coast | Andrew,
That should be a beaut when you're finished!
You could go with a hardtail. But if it was mine, I'd rework and replate the original tail piece. |
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March 2006
Posts: 1634
Location: Chehalis, Washington | Thanks guys. I'll probably just hit it with a good cleaner first and go from there. I like the Bigsby idea, but Paul's right, the 12-string limits the options quite a bit. |
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May 2008
Posts: 4996
Location: Phoenix AZ | Storm guitars have pretty flimsy neck attachments to begin with. Couple that with 12 strings AND a vibrato tailpiece ... oh the harrar. |
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August 2006
Posts: 3145
Location: Marlton, NJ | Iffy's on the right track - replate the original - it'll be beautiful. |
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March 2006
Posts: 1634
Location: Chehalis, Washington | I'll keep working on that one...I have to say I love the way the NOS electronics kit came. Should require no soldering on my part, which is awesome since I'm in new territory for me here. |
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March 2006
Posts: 1634
Location: Chehalis, Washington | Okay, so I've gotten it all put together, strung, and singing...I've got to say WOW. It still needs a few things, such as a new PG and I have to cut a new nut, but here it is as of now:
More pics are in my ning album here. |
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March 2005
Posts: 12750
Location: Boise, Idaho | It looks great, Andrew. I can't see the typical finish checking. |
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December 2003
Posts: 13984
Location: Upper Left USA | Lovely! |
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March 2006
Posts: 1634
Location: Chehalis, Washington | So, in a minor stroke of brilliance, I've decided to (for now) down-tune 1/2 step on all the strings, and use my G7 capo on the first fret to eliminate my fret buzz...at least until I can get a new nut cut.
Anyone else ever do anything crazy like that? |
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July 2005
Posts: 3408
Location: GA USA | That is just beautiful. I am thinking that Ovation bursts don't get any prettier than on a Tornado. |
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December 2003
Posts: 13984
Location: Upper Left USA | Um... maybe :rolleyes:
You can mix superglue and nut shavings/dust together to build up an over filed nut.
A small bit of Porcelin repair works too. |
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March 2006
Posts: 1634
Location: Chehalis, Washington | Essentially all I'd have to do is shim the nut, but I'm almost inclined to start from scratch and cut a new one. I've got a dozen or so corian blanks here anyway. |
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November 2002
Posts: 3603
Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Black buffalo. My $0.02, anyway. |
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Storm project update/pics:
