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198? 1528-9 Ultra...

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DanSavage
Posted 2017-01-10 1:55 PM (#531868 - in reply to #531529)
Subject: RE: 198? 1528-9 Ultra...



Joined:
June 2012
Posts: 2303

Location: Lake Forest, CA

I spent some time cleaning up the body in preparation for joining the new top.



I cleaned the glue out of the dovetail mortise in the neck block. This was actually the first job I did. I used a heat gun to warm the glue, then an Xacto razor chisel to get under the glue to separate it from the underlying wood. In areas where it didn't matter, such as the shallow channel in the middle of the neck block, I just left the glue as it didn't hurt anything.

I also used the heat gun to soften the glue holding the remnants of the old top to the kerfed lining and top of the neck block. It was definitely a lot easier and faster to do this job with a heat gun rather than cold chiseling.



I removed all the old glue from the neck. I could have removed it from the sides of the dovetail, but the glue was filling a shallow groove, so I decided to just leave it in place rather than having to re-fill it again later on.

I still need to remove the glue remnants from the underside of the fret board extension.

Now that all the glue is removed I tested the fit of the neck to the body. Not bad.

It's fit is a little sloppy, but all in all it should work just fine. I'll fine-tune the fit as I go.

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DarenSavage
Posted 2017-01-10 3:13 PM (#531872 - in reply to #531529)
Subject: RE: 198? 1528-9 Ultra...


Joined:
December 2016
Posts: 128

Wow! This guitar seems to be coming apart pretty cleanly. Definitely makes the retopping go easier. It's still a lot of work, but at least there's not more work on top of it. Pun intended.

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DanSavage
Posted 2017-01-10 6:41 PM (#531881 - in reply to #531529)
Subject: Re: 198? 1528-9 Ultra...



Joined:
June 2012
Posts: 2303

Location: Lake Forest, CA
Yeah, using the heat gun to get the old remnants off really made the job a lot easier. Had I done the job with Dremel, Xacto and scraper, it would have taken a lot longer, not to mention producing a whole lot more sanding dust. More importantly, the neck and top glue joints are back down to the original wood with no extra taken off.
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DarenSavage
Posted 2017-01-11 9:42 AM (#531899 - in reply to #531529)
Subject: Re: 198? 1528-9 Ultra...


Joined:
December 2016
Posts: 128

I'm all for easier. Everything looks like it's going to go back together great.

Edited by DarenSavage 2017-01-11 9:43 AM
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Love O Fair
Posted 2017-01-11 11:25 AM (#531904 - in reply to #531529)
Subject: Re: 198? 1528-9 Ultra...



Joined:
February 2016
Posts: 1768

Location: When??
Man, I'm going to have to amp up my caffeine intake to keep up with TWO Savage brothers. Welcome to the OFC, Daren!
(I'm pretty new here myself)
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DarenSavage
Posted 2017-01-11 7:19 PM (#531927 - in reply to #531529)
Subject: RE: 198? 1528-9 Ultra...


Joined:
December 2016
Posts: 128

Thanks LOF. Lucky for you I'm new to luthiering. Wood/fiber glass construction I know, guitar terms and especially, Ovation model numbers...I got a lot to learn!

Edited by DarenSavage 2017-01-11 7:20 PM
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DanSavage
Posted 2017-01-17 9:53 AM (#532050 - in reply to #531529)
Subject: RE: 198? 1528-9 Ultra...



Joined:
June 2012
Posts: 2303

Location: Lake Forest, CA

I was able to joint the top in preparation for joining. I also rough cut all the brace stock.

I'm planning to join the tops for all four guitars at the same time so that I can take them down to the sanders and have them all thickness sanded together.

While each top is drying I'll be cutting out the braces.

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DarenSavage
Posted 2017-01-19 11:01 AM (#532118 - in reply to #531529)
Subject: Re: 198? 1528-9 Ultra...


Joined:
December 2016
Posts: 128

That sure is a pretty top. I bet it will look better once it done.
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DanSavage
Posted 2017-01-19 2:54 PM (#532129 - in reply to #531529)
Subject: Re: 198? 1528-9 Ultra...



Joined:
June 2012
Posts: 2303

Location: Lake Forest, CA
Yeah, it does have nice grain pattern that flows with the shape of the guitar.
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tpa
Posted 2017-01-20 12:40 PM (#532166 - in reply to #531529)
Subject: Re: 198? 1528-9 Ultra...


Joined:
December 2004
Posts: 552

Location: Denmark
Is that threaded insert for a strap button original?
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DanSavage
Posted 2017-01-20 6:29 PM (#532180 - in reply to #531529)
Subject: RE: 198? 1528-9 Ultra...



Joined:
June 2012
Posts: 2303

Location: Lake Forest, CA

Yep. It's just a molly, or more properly a rivet or jack nut.

https://www.mcmaster.com/#anchor-nuts/=16001lz

They come in a number of sizes, but I believe that Ovation uses the 6/32 thread size.



Edited by DanSavage 2017-01-20 6:33 PM
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DarenSavage
Posted 2017-02-04 12:43 AM (#532536 - in reply to #531529)
Subject: RE: 198? 1528-9 Ultra...


Joined:
December 2016
Posts: 128

I worked the Joshua Bell concert tonight in Los Alamos. Here's a photo of him with his $5 million Stradivarius violin. He was nice enough to accommodate my request for a photo after his rehearsal.

Joshua Bell

He looked at me a little weird when I told him my bro rebuilt guitars and would love a photo of him with his Strad (Shhh! Don't tell Joshua I really just wanted a photo of his Strad).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Bell

Daren

 



Edited by DarenSavage 2017-02-04 12:51 AM
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DanSavage
Posted 2017-02-04 12:12 PM (#532547 - in reply to #531529)
Subject: Re: 198? 1528-9 Ultra...



Joined:
June 2012
Posts: 2303

Location: Lake Forest, CA
Kewl! Thanks for sharing. How was the concert?

Is that his Strad or one on loan?

I'll bet it would sound better with a torrefied top. LOL!

Edited by DanSavage 2017-02-04 12:14 PM
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DarenSavage
Posted 2017-02-06 3:04 PM (#532580 - in reply to #532547)
Subject: Re: 198? 1528-9 Ultra...


Joined:
December 2016
Posts: 128

Parts of the concert were really good (Carmen), parts were not really my cup of tea (atonal numbers).

He traded in his $2 milllion Strad for this one. He owns it and it never left his side. When you get tired of Ovations, you can switch to upgrading Strads with torrified tops!
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DetlefMichel
Posted 2017-02-07 11:52 AM (#532613 - in reply to #532580)
Subject: Re: 198? 1528-9 Ultra...



Joined:
May 2011
Posts: 751

Location: Muenster/Germany
DarenSavage - 2017-02-06 10:04 PM

He traded in his $2 milllion Strad for this one. He owns it and it never left his side. When you get tired of Ovations, you can switch to upgrading Strads with torrified tops!


Who knows? My new Ovation with a Dan Savage top is slowly going to become my favourite right after the 1688...
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DanSavage
Posted 2017-02-07 12:55 PM (#532618 - in reply to #532580)
Subject: Re: 198? 1528-9 Ultra...



Joined:
June 2012
Posts: 2303

Location: Lake Forest, CA
DarenSavage - 2017-02-06 1:04 PM

Parts of the concert were really good (Carmen), parts were not really my cup of tea (atonal numbers).

He traded in his $2 milllion Strad for this one. He owns it and it never left his side. When you get tired of Ovations, you can switch to upgrading Strads with torrified tops!


Yeah, if I owned an instrument worth that much and took it to a concert, it wouldn't be far from me, either.

I don't know that I'd be re-topping a Strad worth $5 million. I'd probably start with a Stewmac fiddle kit that costs only $199, then add a torrefied top for another $65.

Technically speaking, since the Strad is about 500 years old, it's top is pretty much the same thing as torrefied wood.

Edited by DanSavage 2017-02-07 12:56 PM
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DanSavage
Posted 2017-02-07 12:56 PM (#532619 - in reply to #532613)
Subject: Re: 198? 1528-9 Ultra...



Joined:
June 2012
Posts: 2303

Location: Lake Forest, CA
DetlefMichel - 2017-02-07 9:52 AM

Who knows? My new Ovation with a Dan Savage top is slowly going to become my favourite right after the 1688...


Yeah, that's a pretty sweet sounding guitar.
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Love O Fair
Posted 2017-02-07 4:07 PM (#532623 - in reply to #531529)
Subject: Re: 198? 1528-9 Ultra...



Joined:
February 2016
Posts: 1768

Location: When??
@Dan ->>Technically speaking, since the Strad is about 500 years old, it's top is pretty much the same thing as torrefied wood.<<-

At that age ya gotta wonder when they will finally turn to petrified rock!
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DanSavage
Posted 2017-02-07 10:42 PM (#532632 - in reply to #532623)
Subject: Re: 198? 1528-9 Ultra...



Joined:
June 2012
Posts: 2303

Location: Lake Forest, CA
Love O Fair - 2017-02-07 2:07 PM

At that age ya gotta wonder when they will finally turn to petrified rock!


From the studies I've read wood pretty much stops aging at ~400 years.

I've also read that musical instruments need to be exercised otherwise the wood 'goes to sleep'.

So, a museum-kept Strad is not going to sound as 'luscious' as one that is plated regularly.
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Old Man Arthur
Posted 2017-02-08 1:00 AM (#532637 - in reply to #532632)
Subject: Re: 198? 1528-9 Ultra...



Joined:
September 2006
Posts: 10777

Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR
DanSavage - 2017-02-07 8:42 PM

So, a museum-kept Strad is not going to sound as 'luscious' as one that is plated regularly.

Yup... As I have heard, a Museum-kept guitar, lute, violin, harp, is just OLD.

That is why all of those Strad violins are in the hands of concert violinists.
They don't OWN them... But the millionaires who do own them know that they have to be played.
Otherwise, you paid $15Million for a wall hanger.
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DarenSavage
Posted 2017-02-08 7:01 PM (#532657 - in reply to #532637)
Subject: Re: 198? 1528-9 Ultra...


Joined:
December 2016
Posts: 128

Old Man Arthur - 2017-02-08 1:00 M

That is why all of those Strad violins are in the hands of concert violinists.
They don't OWN them... But the millionaires who do own them know that they have to be played.
Otherwise, you paid $15Million for a wall hanger.
One of my dance students has a music teacher in Vienna with a $20 million Strad. I think hers is a player, not a looker (unless you're one of her music students).

Edited by DarenSavage 2017-02-08 7:03 PM
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DanSavage
Posted 2017-02-15 10:14 AM (#532775 - in reply to #531529)
Subject: RE: 198? 1528-9 Ultra...



Joined:
June 2012
Posts: 2303

Location: Lake Forest, CA

Got the top rough cut. (first cutaway re-top) Sound hole is cut. All braces are made and being glued down. I'll pull the top off the gobar deck this afternoon, then work on the 1612 top.

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moody, p.i.
Posted 2017-02-15 4:07 PM (#532779 - in reply to #531529)
Subject: Re: 198? 1528-9 Ultra...


Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 15651

Location: SoCal
Ok people. Gonna let you in on a little secret here. Dan and Daren are not just brothers. They are identical twins. I mean Patty Duke Show twins! Look alike, walk alike, at times they even talk alike. They only way, on first look, to distinguish them apart is the cut of their facial hair.

Really cool......
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DanSavage
Posted 2017-02-15 6:40 PM (#532786 - in reply to #532779)
Subject: Re: 198? 1528-9 Ultra...



Joined:
June 2012
Posts: 2303

Location: Lake Forest, CA

moody, p.i. - 2017-02-15 2:07 PM

Ok people. Gonna let you in on a little secret here. Dan and Daren are not just brothers. They are identical twins. I mean Patty Duke Show twins! Look alike, walk alike, at times they even talk alike. They only way, on first look, to distinguish them apart is the cut of their facial hair.

Really cool......


Technically, we're fraternal twins. The genes run strong in our family. Here's a pic of all of us taken Christmas Day 2016.

From left to right is Daren, Daren's dog Greta (she's shy) my daughter Rachel, my sister Tammy, my other daughter Rosalyn, wife Martine and me.



Edited by DanSavage 2017-02-15 6:41 PM
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DarenSavage
Posted 2017-02-15 6:54 PM (#532789 - in reply to #532775)
Subject: RE: 198? 1528-9 Ultra...


Joined:
December 2016
Posts: 128

DanSavage - 2017-02-15 10:14 AM

Got the top rough cut. (first cutaway re-top) Sound hole is cut. All braces are made and being glued down. I'll pull the top off the gobar deck this afternoon, then work on the 1612 top.

Wow! I'm proud to be your first cutaway re-top. I know its mine because the body is the background.
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