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Ovation pickup repair
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Author:  Chris Pile [ Thu Jan 24, 2019 11:13 am ]
Post subject:  Ovation pickup repair
I don't usually handle electronics... my partner in crime does that. We have an Ovation that only the wound strings work when plugged in. Has anyone here experienced this? Is this repairable? It's a classical about 30 years old....
Author:  DanKirkland [ Thu Jan 24, 2019 1:49 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Ovation pickup repair
Chris Pile wrote:
I don't usually handle electronics... my partner in crime does that. We have an Ovation that only the wound strings work when plugged in. Has anyone here experienced this? Is this repairable? It's a classical about 30 years old....


Old Ovation tech is really not something that I choose to mess with in my shop. But if you're sure you want to tackle the job I'd just call ovation and see if they can send you a replacement pickup. It's possible that the pickup is just decaying?
Author:  B. Howard [ Thu Jan 24, 2019 4:58 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Ovation pickup repair
You can replace the transducer, that is usually the problem. Ovation used a strange UST with a matching saddle that has ears to trap the UST. That is not available any more that I am aware of so I either modify the original saddle or make a new one and use a generic UST replacement.
Author:  DanSavage [ Wed Jan 30, 2019 12:45 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Ovation pickup repair
Chris Pile wrote:
I don't usually handle electronics... my partner in crime does that. We have an Ovation that only the wound strings work when plugged in. Has anyone here experienced this? Is this repairable? It's a classical about 30 years old....


Sounds like the pick-up/saddle is the old wide one? (OCP-1K)

Here's what they look like on the inside. They're actually pretty simple. The individual piezos have wires soldered across top and bottom. These rest on two bone rails and all of this is held in place with white silicone.

This construction renders these pick-ups pretty much un-serviceable, but there's not too much to go wrong.

The only way these get damaged is if someone has peeled the saddle off the pick-up and tried to remove the silicone, which is what happened in the last pic below.

Image

Image

Image

You might consider posting this question to the OFC.
Author:  DanSavage [ Wed Jan 30, 2019 12:51 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Ovation pickup repair
B. Howard wrote:
You can replace the transducer, that is usually the problem. Ovation used a strange UST with a matching saddle that has ears to trap the UST. That is not available any more that I am aware of so I either modify the original saddle or make a new one and use a generic UST replacement.


Ovation's original pick-up/saddle was the OCP-1K. (wide)

You're describing the latter slimline saddle. The slimline use a standard 1/8" (3mm) slot and can accept pretty much any generic saddle/UST.
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