Hi! I am new to this forum and new to Ovation. Actually I do not own an Ovation but have one that belongs to my son-in-laws dad. I am hoping that someone who knows Ovations can look at the guitar and give me some advice about repairs and setup.  I got the guitar in spite of objections about my lack of knowledge of Ovations.

From my research it looks like the guitar is a 1977 Ovation Pacemaker 12-string, model 1115-4.  The finish has lots of cracks but they do not look like they extend into the wood.  Wood looks solid.  The sound hole rosette is loose and damaged and I would like to replace it but cannot find a source for an "authentic" replacement.  The neck is almost flat, just a slight relief and looks good. String height at the nut is .03 and looks good.  The frets show some signs of wear and a little sprouting on the sides but nothing that screams FIX ME!  

The biggest issue is that the action above the 7th fret is almost unplayable.  I measure 12/64th on both E strings at the 12th fret. The top is reasonably flat and the bridge is not pulling up.  A straight edge across the frets hits the bridge almost 3/8" below the top of the saddle which makes me think that the guitar needs a neck reset BUT that is way above my paygrade and I don't think the owner can pay for a professional reset by a real luthier.

I would like to make the guitar as playable as possible without resetting the neck.  My plan is to remove the saddle, check for shims and remove any if they exist.  Shave the saddle as much as possible and maybe even remove some wood from the front of the bridge to accomodate a lower saddle.  I think I can get the action at the 12th fret down to about 8/64th to 9/64th by working on the bridge.  Not great but better.  I have light steel/silk strings ordered in hopes of reducing stress on the body.

It would be very helpful if someone who knows Ovation guitars could look at the situation and give me some guidance in at least two areas: 1. Am I anywhere near a solution on improving the action by lowering the bridge? 2. Where can I find a replacement sound hole rosette?

Here are a few images of the guitar.  Thanks for looking!!

 Oh well...this is not ebay and I cannot just load images.  If I can figure out what a URL is all about I will add some images later.