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October 2005
Posts: 52
Location: Orlando, FL | I've been looking for a nylon string guitar for awhile and finally walked into a music store that had a nylon string ovation on the wall. A 6773 LX. It was a beautiful guitar, but I was surprised how high the action was, even for a nylon string guitar. It was about 7/32 to to the top of the strings at the 12th fret.
Question: Do these guitars have shims under the saddle that can be removed, like most Ovations? If so, how much of a difference would it make? It seemed that the compensated saddle wasn't much higher than the bridge itself, so it didn't look like there was much room for improvement. |
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Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | If it the shims have not been removed by prior owner or the like, it should still have a few under the saddle...
something sounds a little off if the action was that high and the saddle sitting that low in the bridge. Sounds like someone may have screwed around with the neck adjustment.
These are nice guitars. |
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October 2005
Posts: 52
Location: Orlando, FL | Well the guitar was just recently put on display at the Guitar Center. The saddle was only about a guarter of an inch above the bridge, which doesn't seem abnormal. I didn't really check to see if the neck was messed with, but it seemed pretty straight. |
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Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | What are they asking for it? These are very nice guitars. It sounds like the action just might be a bit high for your taste and it sounds also like there are still some shims under the saddle.
Get it then get it set up.
BTW, I re-read your post again and noticed you said 7/32 to the top of the string at the 12th. The action is usually measured to the bottom of the (low E) string which, would put you in the 5/32 ball park, which is normal. |
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Posts: 52
Location: Orlando, FL | They want $1299 for it. I intend to play stuff that regularly goes beyond the 12th fret, so I'd like the action lower. My question on the shims mentioned that the saddle didn't seem very much higher than the bridge on this particular guitar. My concern was that even removing the shims might cause the saddle to be almost down to the bridge, and might cause the strings to "ride" over the bridge from the back, going up to the saddle, which I thought wasn't desireable. So I was concerned that trying to set it up lower might not be possible.
On a related note, I had posted a question on the S773 nylon Balladeer recently. I realize that the 6773LX is a "better" guitar (better tuners, 5-piece neck, etc), but since I haven't been able to put my hands on the more affordable S773, I was wondering if the feel, action etc of the S773 would be similar to what I've experienced with the 6773LX, since the S773 would be closer to my desired price range. |
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November 2003
Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | It sounds like it still has the factory setup. Removing a shim or two should not cause the strings to ride on the bridge.
I can't advise on similarities or differences in the S773 |
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October 2005
Posts: 52
Location: Orlando, FL | I went back to Guitar Center to check the guitar out again. The tech adjusted the truss rod and improved the action a bit, but he said that as far as he knew, Ovations with "active pickups" don't have shims under them, just the cheaper guitars, so you can't lower them.
I also took a closer look and the guitar and was disappointed to see that it appeared that the neck was put on crooked. I would expect that the curved bottom of the finger board would mirror the curve of the top of the sound hole, but on this guitar, one bottom tip of the fretboard touched the sound hole on the left side, and the right side had about a quarter inch gap between it and the soundhole, so it appeared that the neck wasn't centered above the hole. Not something I would expect from a high end Ovation. |
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Posts: 4619
Location: SoCal | from OvationGuitars.com
6773 LX
if it doesn't match the picture, take it back and let GC worry about it.
the higher end O's have shims contrary to what "tech" said; as to this model, not sure but I don't think the nylon string saddles have shims. |
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October 2005
Posts: 52
Location: Orlando, FL | Another thing I noticed was that the nut is listed as 1 7/8 on the web site. But when I measured it with a ruler myself today at the store nut was actually 1 3/4". An eighth of an inch difference is noteworthy. |
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February 2005
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Location: France | 6773 has shims for sure, don't know about the LX version of it.
Tom |
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April 2003
Posts: 65
Location: Connecticut | It should definitely have shims under the pickup nylon strings or not. |
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October 2005
Posts: 52
Location: Orlando, FL | Thanks for the replys, guys. I also emailed John Budny at Ovation yesterday and he responded to me early this morning, saying that it should have "a shim or two". Good to know. |
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October 2005
Posts: 52
Location: Orlando, FL | Here's John's reply to the nut width discrepancy and number of shim issues:
"The LX had a few spec changes and one of them was the width to 1-3/4". The web site is not correct..."
"There could be anywhere from 1-4 shims depends on the top arch." |
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Any shims in the 6773 LX?
