Official Luthiers Forum!

Owned and operated by Lance Kragenbrink
It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 3:42 am


All times are UTC - 5 hours





Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 5 posts ] 
Author Message
 Post subject: Ovation pickup repair
PostPosted: Thu Jan 24, 2019 11:13 am 
Offline
Contributing Member
Contributing Member
User avatar

Joined: Sun Mar 06, 2011 12:04 am
Posts: 5743
First name: Chris
Last Name: Pile
City: Wichita
State: Kansas
Country: Good old US of A
Focus: Repair
Status: Professional
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....

_________________
"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Thu Jan 24, 2019 1:49 pm 
Offline
Koa
Koa

Joined: Wed Feb 17, 2016 8:54 am
Posts: 854
State: Texas
Country: United States
Focus: 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?


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Thu Jan 24, 2019 4:58 pm 
Offline
Brazilian Rosewood
Brazilian Rosewood
User avatar

Joined: Mon Dec 27, 2010 9:06 pm
Posts: 2739
Location: Magnolia DE
First name: Brian
Last Name: Howard
City: Magnolia
State: Delaware
Zip/Postal Code: 19962
Country: United States
Focus: Repair
Status: Professional
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.

_________________
Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Wed Jan 30, 2019 12:45 pm 
Offline
Cocobolo
Cocobolo

Joined: Tue May 01, 2012 12:54 pm
Posts: 132
Location: Trabuco Canyon, CA
First name: Dan
Last Name: Savage
City: Trabuco Canyon
State: CA
Zip/Postal Code: 92679
Country: USA
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.


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Wed Jan 30, 2019 12:51 pm 
Offline
Cocobolo
Cocobolo

Joined: Tue May 01, 2012 12:54 pm
Posts: 132
Location: Trabuco Canyon, CA
First name: Dan
Last Name: Savage
City: Trabuco Canyon
State: CA
Zip/Postal Code: 92679
Country: USA
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.


Top
 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 5 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 5 hours


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 11 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Jump to:  
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group
phpBB customization services by 2by2host.com