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1598 ME II has arrived…

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standing
Posted 2009-01-28 4:57 AM (#431374)
Subject: 1598 ME II has arrived…



Joined:
December 2008
Posts: 1453

Location: Texas		As promised, here is my initial report on my first Adamas guitar:

The "dirt cheap" 1598 ME II arrived at last, and it included the "dirt" part ;)

But the sound… WOW! I love the sound plugged or unplugged. It may have a little less acoustic volume and projection compared to some older deep bowl/center hole models, but it is still _plenty_ loud unplugged. Plugged-in, it's simply magnificent.

Now, the condition:

I don't think it has ever been cleaned or polished since it left the factory, but that will change very soon. (I wanted to get the "before" pictures shot and this post written first…)

As near as I can tell, it is no more than a couple of years old, but it's certainly been played quite a bit. The good news is that the neck/action/sound/electronics are all excellent, just the appearance needs some serious work.

Starting at the top:

The headstock has a few small nicks and scratches, most should buff out. The tuners are in reasonably good shape, I'll know better after a thorough cleaning. (Anybody have a favorite cleaner/polish for gold tuners?)

The frets are also in surprisingly good shape, but the fretboard needs a deep cleaning and oiling, too. The neck has some gross sticky crud on the back towards the nut, from sweat and/or nicotine, who knows? This is a "satin" neck, so, according to Ovation, it should be waxed (with Trewax) monthly. I don't think it was ever waxed… I will wax it after I figure out the best way to clean it. (again, I am open to suggestions) I may have to resort to "goo-gone" to get the stickiest residue off.

The soundboard is in pretty good shape, there are plenty of pick scratches that I think will buff out, a couple of very small dings and one that is maybe 1/16" that might be tougher to fix. I'm not sure how I could fill that to make it disappear, but I may try later on.

And, last but not least, the bowl. This is the biggest reason it was "cheap" (relatively.) It has some of the worst "Belt Rash" I have ever seen on an Ovation, but it is all superficial, the interior of the bowl is undamaged. As you can see from the photos, it is very high up on the bowl. Someone wore their belt really high or played this guitar really low for a 12 string acoustic…

I have read many of the suggestions for painting bowls. Krylon seems to be a popular choice. Krylon makes "textured", "plastic" and "regular" spray paint. This one may take some combination of those, and/or a little filler first. The bowl appears to be a satin black with glossy black "speckles." No colored speckles like some models. I think I can duplicate that. I 'll probably try to just fix the bad spot, but I may eventually have to repaint the entire bowl, although I am more nervous about tackling that. It will be a while before I stop playing it long enough for those kinds of repairs… ;)

The case is in good shape. As I said, I don't think it's very old at all. If I had to guess, I'd say it was mostly played in bars, based on the dirt and a telltale smoke odor.

Hopefully the photos will be properly added below, be gentle, it's my first attempt to include photos, and I am a lousy photographer.

In conclusion, I am one happy camper, thanks to the OFC (and PEZ in particular for finding and posting this one,) I was able to afford a much better guitar than I thought I would find (without permanently moving into the doghouse ;) ) and I think I can restore most of the cosmetic problems so she'll once again look as good as she sounds.

Back to playing…

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bauerhillboy
Posted 2009-01-28 5:13 AM (#431375 - in reply to #431374)
Subject: Re: 1598 ME II has arrived…


Joined:
February 2004
Posts: 1634

Location: Warren,Pa.		Gold Tuner Treatment: A tube of Flitz and a bunch of Q Tips.

Is that a 2pc Walnut neck?
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Trader Jim
Posted 2009-01-28 5:29 AM (#431376 - in reply to #431374)
Subject: Re: 1598 ME II has arrived…


Joined:
June 2006
Posts: 7307

Location: South of most, North of few		Pull the tuners off and do it right. Don't rub too hard, that "gold" isn't very forgiving.
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bauerhillboy
Posted 2009-01-28 8:25 AM (#431377 - in reply to #431374)
Subject: Re: 1598 ME II has arrived…


Joined:
February 2004
Posts: 1634

Location: Warren,Pa.		OK...since you got such a deal on this guitar...REALLY do it right; take those tuners off and put Schallers on.
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Mitzdawg
Posted 2009-01-28 10:15 AM (#431378 - in reply to #431374)
Subject: Re: 1598 ME II has arrived…
Joined:
July 2004
Posts: 766

Location: New Hampsha		IMHO, the 1598 is the underappreciated "sleeper" of the Adamas clan. I LOVE mine and wouldn't sell it. Good snag.
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standing
Posted 2009-01-28 11:04 AM (#431379 - in reply to #431374)
Subject: Re: 1598 ME II has arrived…



Joined:
December 2008
Posts: 1453

Location: Texas		TJ - Yes, that is good advice, I will pull the tuners off to clean them, which will also allow me to clean up the head the right way…

bauerhillboy - thanks for the "Flitz" suggestion, I never heard of it before… and as far as "put Schallers on" - thanks, I have had the guitar for less than 48 hours and you've found a way to wring a little more out of my wallet already ;) I think these will clean up pretty nicely without another investment just yet, but I do appreciate your enthusiasm…

…and Mitzdawg, since this is my first Adamas, I have little to compare it to, but I am floored by the sound and rich tone of this guitar, and I haven't even replaced the strings yet! I am enjoying it so much that some of the more time-consuming cosmetics will have to wait until I can put it down for a little while…
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Mark in Boise
Posted 2009-01-28 11:10 AM (#431380 - in reply to #431374)
Subject: Re: 1598 ME II has arrived…


Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 12750

Location: Boise, Idaho		They might already be Schallers. Ovation used to buy Schallers and put the Ovation logo on them. Later they decided the Schaller logo was fine.
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PEZ
Posted 2009-01-28 12:46 PM (#431381 - in reply to #431374)
Subject: Re: 1598 ME II has arrived…



Joined:
July 2003
Posts: 3111

Location: Nashville TN.		It looks ot worked out.
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Steve
Posted 2009-01-28 2:10 PM (#431382 - in reply to #431374)
Subject: Re: 1598 ME II has arrived…


Joined:
July 2002
Posts: 1900

Yes, they're already schallers.. Kim Keller sold me a set of special satin-nickle tuners with the Ovation logo.. they were schallers too..
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standing
Posted 2009-01-29 12:06 PM (#431383 - in reply to #431374)
Subject: Re: 1598 ME II has arrived…



Joined:
December 2008
Posts: 1453

Location: Texas		Bauerhillboy,

FYI, according to the Flitz web site their products are:

"Not suitable for: Electroplated Finishes."

I believe that would included gold-plated tuners…

I'll stick with something a little milder…
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2ifbyC
Posted 2009-01-29 1:06 PM (#431384 - in reply to #431374)
Subject: Re: 1598 ME II has arrived…
Joined:
December 2006
Posts: 6268

Location: Florida Central Gulf Coast
Originally posted by standing:
I'll stick with something a little milder…
Mother's spit and a soft cotton cloth. Worked on everything else!
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Miguel - BR
Posted 2009-01-29 1:13 PM (#431385 - in reply to #431374)
Subject: Re: 1598 ME II has arrived…


Joined:
January 2009
Posts: 379

Location: Alagoas, Brazil
Originally posted by standing:
[QB] As promised, here is my initial report on my first Adamas guitar:
...
And, last but not least, the bowl. This is the biggest reason it was "cheap" (relatively.) It has some of the worst "Belt Rash" I have ever seen on an Ovation, but it is all superficial, the interior of the bowl is undamaged. As you can see from the photos, it is very high up on the bowl. Someone wore their belt really high or played this guitar really low for a 12 string acoustic…
I was looking at the pictures and it seems to me that the previous player was left-handed, and played this guitar upside-down. That´s much more logical than the weird position to create this rash otherwise.
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Jonmark Stone
Posted 2009-01-29 3:04 PM (#431386 - in reply to #431374)
Subject: Re: 1598 ME II has arrived…


Joined:
May 2008
Posts: 1553

Location: Indiana		For tuners I use good old fashioned Crest toothpaste and a soft cloth (old tee).
It's a great mild polish plus it leaves everything minty fresh.
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standing
Posted 2009-01-30 1:40 AM (#431387 - in reply to #431374)
Subject: Re: 1598 ME II has arrived…



Joined:
December 2008
Posts: 1453

Location: Texas
Originally posted by Miguel - BR:

I was looking at the pictures and it seems to me that the previous player was left-handed, and played this guitar upside-down. That´s much more logical than the weird position to create this rash otherwise.
Miguel, that's very logical. Your powers of observation are amazing! I can't believe I didn't think of it being played left handed… A 12-string played upside down, that would be interesting. You'd have to flip it over to get to the pre-amp/tuner. There are some telltale nicks on the high E side of the fretboard around the second fret, too. I thought they were from a ring, but if it was played left-handed, they may be from a capo that was attached from above… I think you've solved part of the mystery…

…but who ever heard of a left handed guitarist playing a right handed guitar upside down? (oh yeah, there was some guy named Hendrix that did that… ) ;)

And here I thought maybe it was some strange sort of nerd band and they wore their pants really high. ;)


Meanwhile, I am still trying to get the crud off the back of the neck. "Goo-gone" helped, but I'm going to have to try steel wool and some other cleaner to try get out the black stuff that appears to have actually penetrated the grain. I'm making progress though…
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standing
Posted 2009-01-30 1:44 AM (#431388 - in reply to #431374)
Subject: Re: 1598 ME II has arrived…



Joined:
December 2008
Posts: 1453

Location: Texas
Originally posted by Jonmark Stone:
For tuners I use good old fashioned Crest toothpaste and a soft cloth (old tee).
It's a great mild polish plus it leaves everything minty fresh.
I'll try that, thanks Jonmark…
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wilblee
Posted 2009-01-30 2:03 AM (#431389 - in reply to #431374)
Subject: Re: 1598 ME II has arrived…


Joined:
June 2005
Posts: 1320

Location: Round Rock, TX		For cleaning the neck you might try Pledge Multi Surface Clean and Dust. I used it on an especially gunked up Les Paul and it worked beautifully. I have no idea how it will react, if at all, with Trewax.
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Jonmark Stone
Posted 2009-01-30 1:19 PM (#431390 - in reply to #431374)
Subject: Re: 1598 ME II has arrived…


Joined:
May 2008
Posts: 1553

Location: Indiana
Originally posted by standing:
Originally posted by Jonmark Stone:
For tuners I use good old fashioned Crest toothpaste and a soft cloth (old tee).
It's a great mild polish plus it leaves everything minty fresh.
I'll try that, thanks Jonmark…
Apply it just as you would car wax... slightly damp cloth, leaving a haze. Remove haze and buff it up with a clean cloth.
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