Enter The Matrix
seesquare
Posted 2022-07-08 11:33 AM (#557457)
Subject: Enter The Matrix


Joined:
November 2002
Posts: 3598

Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire
Preparing for a new project. I have acquired a Matrix 1137, in fair-but-sound condition, and intend to replace the top. So, for the opening gambit, does anyone know what adhesive was used to glue the raised binding on the body. I would really like to salvage it & reuse after the top is replaced.
And, furthermore, what is the recommended removal protocol? I would imagine the binding is pretty brittle after all these years, speculatively about 40, I'm guessing.

Edited by seesquare 2022-07-08 11:43 AM




(body- smaller image.jpg)



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seesquare
Posted 2022-07-08 5:40 PM (#557459 - in reply to #557457)
Subject: Re: Enter The Matrix


Joined:
November 2002
Posts: 3598

Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire
BTW, the stickers are from the Towne & Country Surf Shop, originally in Pearl City, HI & Gotcha, a surfwear company that folded about 1990. This critter has had a lot of beach time logged- it had about the worst corroded strings I ever saw. Rescued from the Goodwill store in Honolulu.
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Love O Fair
Posted 2022-07-08 7:57 PM (#557468 - in reply to #557457)
Subject: Re: Enter The Matrix



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Location: When??
Does it have a name yet?
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seesquare
Posted 2022-07-08 10:28 PM (#557469 - in reply to #557457)
Subject: Re: Enter The Matrix


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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire
Nope, but that's a valid concern. Probably needs to be something Polynesian, and pronounceable by haoles.
So far, got the tuning machines cleaned & relubricated.
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Love O Fair
Posted 2022-07-09 3:39 AM (#557470 - in reply to #557457)
Subject: Re: Enter The Matrix



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We're sure you will ding on a fitting name when it comes to you. Is that binding anything that you can infuse any type of moisture into to soften it before removing? It would be great if you can save it in its original continuity. Did all the Matrix Ovations have that raised binding?




Edited by Love O Fair 2022-07-09 3:44 AM
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seesquare
Posted 2022-07-09 9:03 AM (#557471 - in reply to #557470)
Subject: Re: Enter The Matrix


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November 2002
Posts: 3598

Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire
Pretty sure they did have raised bindings. I have some ideas for a moniker, already. And, I'm thinking both heat & moisture to remove the binding.
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MWoody
Posted 2022-07-09 10:11 AM (#557472 - in reply to #557457)
Subject: Re: Enter The Matrix



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Location: Upper Left USA
Great back story on your beach bum guitar!

Try a little acetone first.
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2wheeldrummer
Posted 2022-07-09 11:29 AM (#557473 - in reply to #557471)
Subject: Re: Enter The Matrix



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seesquare - 2022-07-09 9:03 AM

Pretty sure they did have raised bindings. I have some ideas for a moniker, already. And, I'm thinking both heat & moisture to remove the binding.


I think if you try to remove the binding it will not be savable.You should consider retopping it like Dan did with A Custom Legend where he left the binding and purfling intact and fitted a new top within it...just my 2 cents

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seesquare
Posted 2022-07-09 5:58 PM (#557474 - in reply to #557457)
Subject: RE: Enter The Matrix


Joined:
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Posts: 3598

Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire
Took the neck off. Appears this instrument's birthdate was Oct. 5, 1981.
Serial #012374, so that contributes to the dating charts in establishing manufacturing timeframes. So, the Matrix models had a different numbering sequence than the Ovation models.

Edited by seesquare 2022-07-09 6:05 PM




(date 2- smaller image.jpg)



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Mark in Boise
Posted 2022-07-09 7:24 PM (#557475 - in reply to #557457)
Subject: Re: Enter The Matrix


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Location: Boise, Idaho
My 1976 Matrix is 083628, which follows the Ovation serial numbering system. Maybe they changed when they started making them overseas. Mine has a very narrow binding that broke when my daughter knocked it off the stand about 25 years ago. I found the pieces and glued it back on. I can't remember what glue I used, but it's barely noticeable.
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Love O Fair
Posted 2022-07-10 12:58 AM (#557476 - in reply to #557457)
Subject: Re: Enter The Matrix



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I believe 1981 was the birth of the K bar (?). Does this guitar have one? And what is the purpose of the hole in the block?
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seesquare
Posted 2022-07-10 10:52 AM (#557477 - in reply to #557476)
Subject: Re: Enter The Matrix


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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire
It has a foam neck and rosewood fretboard, so it is not adjustable. The hole is in the top, not the block. Probably for alignment issues for the neck to the body.
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BCam
Posted 2022-07-10 11:51 AM (#557478 - in reply to #557457)
Subject: Re: Enter The Matrix


Joined:
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Posts: 266

Since it has a shell back, how about Honu?
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seesquare
Posted 2022-07-10 10:23 PM (#557485 - in reply to #557457)
Subject: Re: Enter The Matrix


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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire
“Honu”. Great!! That one will be in the running for the christening.
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Love O Fair
Posted 2022-07-10 10:39 PM (#557486 - in reply to #557457)
Subject: Re: Enter The Matrix



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I didn't know you were taking name suggestions.. so I will enter "Oloha".
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seesquare
Posted 2022-07-11 8:16 AM (#557494 - in reply to #557486)
Subject: Re: Enter The Matrix


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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire
I will take that one under advisement, also! Thanks.
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seesquare
Posted 2022-07-14 1:25 PM (#557496 - in reply to #557494)
Subject: Re: Enter The Matrix


Joined:
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire
Roundback- po'ai hope
Roundbelly- poepoe opu
Deepbowl- ipu hohonu
Goodwill- manao maikai
Vagabond- hele wale
Minstrel- mea kani
Beach bum- kahakai kahakai
Goofyfoot- pu'upu'u
Surf bum- he'e nalu
Interesting list of monikers, eh wot? I am still noodling around- nothing set in concrete, yet.................
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seesquare
Posted 2022-07-14 1:33 PM (#557497 - in reply to #557457)
Subject: Re: Enter The Matrix


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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire
Leveled the frets, recrowned & used the Stew-Mac Fret-Rocker tool on the frets. Interested to see how accurate it actually is, when restrung. Filling a couple of dents in the foam on the back of the neck by the nut. Nasty nuisance, since I don't usually play past the 5th-fret!
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Love O Fair
Posted 2022-07-15 8:44 PM (#557500 - in reply to #557457)
Subject: Re: Enter The Matrix



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I am totally lost on the concept of a foam neck.. so I ask.. What? How? Why?
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seesquare
Posted 2022-07-16 8:33 AM (#557502 - in reply to #557500)
Subject: Re: Enter The Matrix


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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire
On this Matrix model, the back of the neck is a closed-cell-type of expansive foam, molded to an aluminum, nonadjustable trussrod. The fretboard is rosewood, with replaceable fretwires, as different from the all-aluminum necks. I would surmise the marketing folks discovered people were not replacing the aluminum-fret necks when they wore out, so they upgraded to wood fretboards & removable frets. I actually replaced the 1-to-5 fretwires on an aluminum fretboard. Wasn't easy, either. Precision work with a hacksaw blade.
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Love O Fair
Posted 2022-07-16 2:53 PM (#557503 - in reply to #557457)
Subject: Re: Enter The Matrix



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Thanks for the description. I've never played one.. or an aluminum fretboard either (at least that I was aware of). The Matrix I will assume is the 'revolutionary' Ovation model like so many innovative products were back then, to wow the consumer. Like maybe Charlie took it from the helicopter level to the space shuttle level. And as this one goes, probably the best model to have in a beach-bum-type environment.
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seesquare
Posted 2022-07-16 5:31 PM (#557504 - in reply to #557503)
Subject: Re: Enter The Matrix


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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire
The Academy would be the ideal beach-bum-type. No wood anywhere on the Model 14. There is a rosewood fretboard on the 17, though. Don't know how it will stand up to high temperatures in the sun, at concert pitch. Got one, but I am not going to test it.

Edited by seesquare 2022-07-16 5:32 PM
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tpa
Posted 2022-07-17 3:02 PM (#557506 - in reply to #557457)
Subject: Re: Enter The Matrix


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Posts: 552

Location: Denmark
pahu ?onaehana or pahu ?apana. Which is some kind of matrix, isn't it?
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seesquare
Posted 2022-07-28 9:45 PM (#557545 - in reply to #557457)
Subject: RE: Enter The Matrix


Joined:
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Posts: 3598

Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire
Meet Manao Maikai, the newest member to Your Humble Servant's BFLG stable. The christening is in honor of this critter's foundling status and adoption site. It means "goodwill". I bought the guitar from the Honolulu Goodwill Store, and I want to believe it sang many a song & brought mirth & happiness to many in its journeys & adventures.
I'm working on the action & playability- still a bit arduous for my taste. You get spoiled with the easy action on Ovations, really. I rehabbed the tuners & they are a bit stiff, also. Cleaned them out & re-lubed all of them. They weren't high-end to begin with, anyway. Installed Martin Marquis 80/20 Bronze Light (12-54) strings. Intonation is pretty dead-on with the compensated saddle.
So, Manao Maikai didn't end up as a resonator project. It just had too much mojo.




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(manao maikai surf sticker 2- smaller image.jpg)



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(manao maikai back- smaller image.jpg)



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Love O Fair
Posted 2022-07-29 7:27 PM (#557546 - in reply to #557457)
Subject: Re: Enter The Matrix



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@seesquare - >>>So, Manao Maikai didn't end up as a resonator project. It just had too much mojo.<<<

And that's it? I mean, I invited all those people over and cut up all those pineapples for us to chow on while we watched the restoration project.. and here we sit. waiting.. acid eating through the enamel on our teeth.. salt from macadamia nuts parching the skin on our handful palms.. eyes bugging wildly from Kona coffee caffeine.. floral shirts drenched in perspiration of anticipation. What a situation. Thankfully I still have my Don Ho CD collection, so I will pass those out as consolation gifts.. but I must say that this is a sad, sad day.
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seesquare
Posted 2022-07-29 8:03 PM (#557547 - in reply to #557546)
Subject: Re: Enter The Matrix


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Posts: 3598

Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire
Sometimes, less is more. I just couldn't cut it up. And it didn't need that much restoration. Hope you have good healthcare coverage- that diet is lethal!
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