|
|
Joined:
September 2010
Posts: 2
Location: Florida | Hello to the Ovation Fan Club, and glad to be on-board. I have recently become the proud owner of a Balladeer 1111, serial No 168513 :) .
Never owned an Ovation before. I would love to know the date of manufacture, but more importantly, there is a situation that needs to be remedied in its tuning.
By the look of it, there is quite a bow in the neck, which is producing a very high action. I can tune the guitar correctly, (open strings) but the B string is sharp all the way up the fretboard. Just this one string is out (?)The others all stay in tune up the fretboard. What is going on? :confused:
My only conclusion is the neck needs correcting with the truss-rod adjustment. If this is the case, I aint touching it unless I know exactly what to do.
30 years ago I broke a truss rod on a brand new guitar, and won the 'Idiot of the Year' award. I've never touched a truss-rod since :( .
If you folks have any ideas about this, I would be very grateful. This guitar sounds lovely, if it wasn't for this odd B string, and the high action. I'd like to get this remedied without destroying another fine guitar. :rolleyes: |
|
| |
|
Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 10581
Location: NJ | depending on the neck angle you need a truss rod adjustment or a neck reset.
so take it to a pro and get it done. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
November 2006
Posts: 3969
| Welcome, Swampygit. The serial number decoder in the Reference Section linked at the top of this page shows a manufacture date of 1979 for your Balladeer. Those are very nice guitars, and I bet yours is a tone monster.
The neck bow may or may not be reparable by a truss rod tweak, depending on how severe it is. Take a look at this diagram, and it'll give you an idea of how to turn the truss rod to correct relief (excessive bow or cup).
If it's beyond correction, you might need a neck reset or new neck. The good thing is, Ovation is the only major US guitar maker that does such work on their guitars, and they know better than anybody (never mind having the right tooling for the bowl backs) to do the job right. Look thru the board here and you'll see many, many testimonials to the fantastic repair/restoration work the folks at the Mothership do.
The bad thing is, a neck reset/new neck ain't cheap, might even be more than you paid for the guitar. If it's too much for you to spend, you could always use the guitar for slide.
BTW, I'm in FL, too. At The Swamp. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
September 2010
Posts: 2
Location: Florida | My Goodness, that was a very prompt reply, and much appreciated to you guys for taking the time and interest.
Ok,so it would appear truss-rod or neck adjustment may be needed. I'm willing to try-truss rod first.
First I need to know where the adjuster nut is on my guitar. There is a removable cover at the tuning-peg end of the neck. Is it in here?
I have looked with a mirror and flashlight inside the body of the guitar, and there appears to be no sign of an adjuster in there.
Next question is do I need to loosen the strings to adjust the truss-rod?
Once I locate the adjuster, I'm a bit confused about what the graphic in G8r's reply is saying, as in the diagram it looks like the adjuster is assumed to be inside the main body.
I'd love to post a picture, but how?
Step-by-step, I'll get there with your help. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
November 2006
Posts: 3969
| The removable cover is called a truss rod cover (TRC). Unscrew it to remove & you'll see the truss rod nut. It doesn't matter whether you have the nut on the inside of the guitar (at the neck block), or on the peghead like you do. The direction you turn the nut for the desired effect is the same - just follow the diagram arrows.
Do loosen the strings, and don't turn the nut more than 1/8th turn in any direction, then re-tighten the strings and let the neck adjust overnight-24 hr before making any more adjustments. Depending on how much relief you need or need to remove, the whole process could take a week.
There are step-by-step instructions for posting picture in the FAQ (near the bottom). |
|
| |
|
Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | Originally posted by G8r:
Do loosen the strings Nope. Neck rod adjustments should be made with the strings at normal pitch. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
November 2006
Posts: 3969
| Why is that, Paul? |
|
| |
|
Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | The neck rod is a means to correct over-bow as a result of string tension, therefore the neck should be under normal tension when adjustments are made. You can make the adjustments with the tension off if you wish, but then you're guessing, and creating more work for yourself. Loosening the strings is absolutely unnecessary
Also, the diagram you posted is misleading. A standard single action rod is designed to counteract string tension and correct a bow or dip around the middle of the fingerboard only, it cannot correct a neck warp where the middle of the fingeboard rises. Double-action rods can sometimes correct this, but usually that type of problem involves either major surgery or a neck replacement. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
November 2006
Posts: 3969
| Makes sense, thanks. Oh, the diagram was deliberately exaggerated to show the overall effect of truss rod adjustment. It's not meant to imply that a TR tweak will overcome bow or cup from excessive warping. Sorry for any confusion. |
|
| |
Balladeer with a tuning problem
