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January 2022
Posts: 13
| I bought a Mint 1987 ovation legend 1767 deep Bowl - 6 string Acoustic Electric
Not a scratch on it and looks like it was never played. No Fret wear at all.
No luthiers seem to know much about the Bridge on this guitar and
Whether under the bridge , inside the guitar - it is simply fanned bracing
Or some type of “Bridge Plate”
Ovation customer service mentioned there may or may not be Screws that need
To be “Snugged” on the inside of the bridge.
Also I want the Action lowered , as much as possible and this would involve the bridge saddle
That the strings sit on . Is there anything important to know about doing
That ? Are there some kind of Pins involved ? - it’s my understanding that
That saddle came stock with some Shims underneath it .
The Serial number inside is 363### - 6 digits
Would there be a ‘schematic’ anywhere of this legend 1767 bridge ?
Would it be possible to buy an old saddle like this one if the repair guy screws the current one Up ?
I would like to have this information to take to the luthier type guy who is going to lower the action
And it seems a lot of them don’t have a lot of knowledge about these guitars.I have put Ernie ball
Extra light aluminum bronze strings on the guitar and there is no buzzing at all .
Thanks for any help .
 (bridge 2.jpg)
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 bridge 2.jpg (17KB - 0 downloads)
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Posts: 15652
Location: SoCal | When you next take the strings off, reach into the guitar to the area under the bridge. You'll find the wire that goes from the bridge to the preamp. Just inch it up gently and you can see one side of the saddle come up. Gently pull up the whole saddle. Underneath, you'll find 3-5 shims. Take out one or two and put the bridge back down. You've officially lowered the action.
On page 3 of this 1999 owner's manuel you'll see what it looks like. Just about as simple as can be. Your wife or girlfriend will be impressed that you did it yourself and saved money. Don't tell her how easy it was...... http://ovationtribute.com/Catalogues/1999_Ovation_Owner_Manual/1999...
Edited by moody, p.i. 2022-01-18 3:36 PM
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Posts: 2303
Location: Lake Forest, CA | Liteblueskies - 2022-01-18 12:49 PM
I bought a Mint 1987 ovation legend 1767 deep Bowl - 6 string Acoustic Electric
Not a scratch on it and looks like it was never played. No Fret wear at all.
No luthiers seem to know much about the Bridge on this guitar and
Whether under the bridge , inside the guitar - it is simply fanned bracing
Or some type of “Bridge Plate”
Ovation customer service mentioned there may or may not be Screws that need
To be “Snugged” on the inside of the bridge.
The 1987 1767 Legend used what's known as Ovation A-bracing. Here's a pic of what it looks like inside.
With this brace pattern there is no bridge plate.
If your bridge was secured by screws you'd see small pearl dots on the bridge that cover the screw heads. |
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January 2022
Posts: 13
| Thank you for your help . |
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Joined:
January 2022
Posts: 13
| Thank you for your help. |
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Joined:
January 2022
Posts: 13
| Thanks for all your help. |
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Joined:
October 2005
Posts: 4025
Location: Utah | When you're ready to sacrifice the set of strings already on it, do as Moody described above. The saddle assembly has the pickup integrated into it, with one wire coming out of the bottom through to the inside of the guitar, which then goes to the preamp. With the strings off the guitar you can gently push up on that wire to get the saddle to poke out of its slot, and then you can grab it and pull it out. There are usually 3 shims in there from the factory. You can pretty much always pull one out without causing any fret buzzing - they seem to set the action a tad too high at the factory. I would try pulling out 2 shims and then tuning it back up with the old strings. Play it some and see if you're getting buzzing on higher frets, at or above the 10th fret. If it buzzes, put one shim back in and try again. When good, put on new strings and enjoy!
A setup absolutely involves 3 sections of the neck: nut, truss rod, and saddle. All guitar manufacturers seem to set the nut a bit too high, making the action in the first 3 or 4 frets too high. This causes intonation problems plus makes it feel "stiff" when you play in that part of the neck. Carefully making the slots deeper in the nut is something your luthier can easily and quickly do. It is part of a good setup. DIY is possible but if you overdo it then the nut is ruined and needs to be replaced. The truss rod is something you can adjust easily. "Righty Tighty", meaning turning the adjuster to the right will tighten the rod, causing less forward bow in the neck. In the 4th-9th fret area the truss rod adjustment makes a big difference. Lots of tutorials on the internet on assessing the truss rod relief and making the adjustment.
I don't see the typical dots on the bridge which indicate there are bolts, so most likely it is a glued on bridge.
There's nothing wrong with taking your guitar to a good luthier, but also nothing wrong with you making (careful) truss rod tweaks and experimenting with the shims.
That's one of the great Ovation models you have! The A bracing is, imho, the very best sounding of all Ovation designs. |
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Posts: 15652
Location: SoCal | I was just thinking. If you decide that you don't want to do the surgery yourself, send it to me and I'll do it. Then, just because I'm a really nice guy, I'll play it for a while and then get it back to you. Couple of years, max...... |
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Posts: 2303
Location: Lake Forest, CA | Here's a little trick for adding/removing shims without having to completely remove the strings.
1) Place a capo at the 5th fret.
2) Slacken the strings, one at a time. As you slacken the string, pull on it so the string loosens below the capo.
3) When all string are sufficiently slackened, you should be able lift the saddle clear of the bridge slot.
4) Add/remove shims.
5) Tighten the strings, remove the capo. Tune to concert pitch and check the 12th fret action.
6) If the action is not to your liking, start over at Step 1 and repeat until you achieve the desired 12th fret action.
The capo keeps the strings wound around the tuners with sufficient tension so they stay in place.
Edited by DanSavage 2022-01-19 6:51 PM
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Posts: 2303
Location: Lake Forest, CA | FlySig - 2022-01-19 1:29 PM
...they seem to set the action a tad too high at the factory....
...All guitar manufacturers seem to set the nut a bit too high, making the action in the first 3 or 4 frets too high. This causes intonation problems plus makes it feel "stiff" when you play in that part of the neck...
Manufacturers do this because everyone has their personal preference and playing style. Some like high action, others prefer low action.
So that everyone can 'tune' the guitar's action to their own preference manufacturers send out the guitars with high action at both the nut and saddle. Once the buyer gets their new guitar they can fine-tune the action to their own playing style. |
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Posts: 1769
Location: When?? | @DanSavage - >>>The capo keeps the strings wound around the tuners with sufficient tension so they stay in place..<<<
I've needed to do that around, oh, maybe 30 times in life-- and you just made #31 quite convenient. Thank you (for being smarter than me). |
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Posts: 13
| That helps , thanks for your reply |
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Joined:
January 2022
Posts: 13
| Thanks for your reply ,
The Guitar is in the MAIL  |
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Joined:
January 2022
Posts: 13
| Thanks for your reply . Another helpful person |
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1767 bridge/Saddle Question & Lowering Action
