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Location: Canada | Oh so shiny! Looking forward to the sound sample m |
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Location: When?? | Chris.. what you have there is an over-the-top awesome guitar! Given what you had to start with it is the difference between a Conestoga wagon and a custom Corvette. The bowl finish looks downright fabulous (especially since you had clothes on), and the rustic finish on the top is absolutely perfecto. Great label, too! Can't wait to hear reports on how that old wood sounds when you string it up. I predict it will vibe rich and full. So congratulations on your project!! And finally... wanna sell it? |
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Location: SoCal | What strings are you gonna put on it?
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | RE: strings
Since this has been essentially a community project, I am open to suggestion. I think I should proceed somewhat conservatively with lighter-gauge strings, though I feel confident in my repair work to structural integrity. I have been doing more fingerpicking lately, so that is a consideration. May not need coated strings, as my hands don't sweat much & live in a relatively dry climate.
So, Ladies & Gentlemen, cast a vote. You know the basic age, size, construction & dynamics of this instrument.
Sorry LOF, not (currently) for sale. But thanks for the sterling review of the project! I really need to devote the next year into determining how I bond to this critter. I do the same thing with my tennis racquets. It's the vessel that carries the magic, but you still need to learn the ingredients & incantations. |
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Location: SoCal | Everybody has their own opinion on this. Just get a set of your favorite strings and see how they sound..... |
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Ray Davies, from "A Well-Respected Man": "His own sweat smells the best."
Thanks, Paul. That is the way I shall proceed. |
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Location: When?? | I got all hung up on D'Addario EXP-16s for a while. Extended play coated. Worked as advertised and kept accurate tone for substantially longer than the standard EJ-16s which are of the same stock, just not coated. I think they stopped making them since the only ones I can find anymore are on Ebay and other obscure places, and those are typically the older issue packaging. Anyway, I still have one pack left. If you'd like to try them on Pandora II let me know and I will shoot them up your way.
Edited by Love O Fair 2022-04-10 6:38 PM
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Gee, thanks for the offer! I appreciate the generosity. I think I will just dash down to The Olde Minstrel Shoppe and secure a set of Silk & Steel. They are the most familiar, and will provide a reference for this initial trial. |
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Location: When?? | @seesquare - >>>secure a set of Silk & Steel<<<
I have never tried those before, so I went and did some research upon your mention. If I play 1,000 times, I use a pick, maybe, twice-- and even then it is the thinnest pick possible. Always a bare flesh thumb strummer and finger plucker. Rarely using fingernails to pick either, but rather just various callouses that always seem to naturally maintain to my daily playing all on their own (though I sometimes file on them for different touches and tones). So I think I will join you in the Silk & Steel endeavor, and shall experiment upon what may come of it. I see D'Addario EJ40 in the online ads. Are those the ones you use??
Edited by Love O Fair 2022-04-11 7:02 AM
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | I kinda like the Ernie Ball version. Yeah, I'm pretty old. They seem to be pretty dependable- "what you hear is what you get". Being functionally tone-deaf, I really can't discriminate real well, anyway. Guitar tuner- never leave home without it. Or, misplace it. |
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Just a quick update. The refurbished incarnation is sounding magnificent & enjoying it a lot. The 1st hardshell case scenario from Guitar Center was a total flop (they said it would fit- wasn't even close). I have another model on backorder, due to arrive about mid-June. Hopefully will be an improvement & more accommodating. I am currently using an old Worcester T&S chipboard that housed the Academy blue-top. It's flexible enough to allow the latches to work. Looked for another Worcester case from different sources. Geez, those critters are worth some serious bucks! I tried out my other Ovation cases. The 1115 case is too shallow, believe-it-or-not. The C2C4 case is for a classical guitar & not deep-enough, either. The GCDB apparently had a really deep bowl. I measured it at 6-1/2", not including the bridge & saddle. Fat-bottom-girls, eh wot? |
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Location: SoCal | I did a thread, about 4 years ago on bowl depths. The deep bowls were deeper in the 60's and lost depth over time. I'll try to find the thread.....
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Location: SoCal | Back in Sept 2018, I posted this about deep bowls
"Just as a note, researching old catalogs showed that the artist depth bowl were originally 5 1/8" deep. By 1984, the GC model was 5 1/4" deep, which is what the mid depth bowls became. So the 06 model was based on the mid 80's models, the 2018 model on the 70's models.
1/4 inch difference really made a difference. Deep bowls started out as 5 13/16" depth and evolved to to 5 3/4". 1/16" difference. Maybe one of the reasons why old O's sound a little better?" |
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Location: SoCal | The complete thread is here....
http://ovationfanclub.com/megabbs/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=48497&...
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Thanks for the posting, Paul.
So, this poses an interesting question for me. When the Mothership was constructing these various iterations of roundback guitars, did they use the same mold for deep bowls, then a different mold for mid-bowls, then another for shallow-bowls (sounds logical), then vary the relative depth within those models. So, the GCDB would have been, essentially, an "untrimmed" deep-bowl, straight from the mold. Given back then, they were handlaid fiberglass, there could have been greater latitude & options for bowl depth?
And, I would guess old O's sound better because they're old- top is aged & "opened up". That's why Dan uses torrefied tops on his creations. And, I will place a bet that all those engineering types at The Mothership were testing out soundboard vibrational dynamics of differing bowl depths pretty extensively. So perhaps, bringing something new to the market was the driving force for choosing the combination of components. So, do you want the '70 Boss 302, or the '69 Mach 1? As they say, YMMV. |
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Location: Lake Forest, CA | moody, p.i. - 2022-05-11 7:02 PM
I did a thread, about 4 years ago on bowl depths. The deep bowls were deeper in the 60's and lost depth over time. I'll try to find the thread.....
Also, the older bowls were smaller back then. This is an older bowl inside a newer bowl. The the newer bowl is the one I got from TJR and used it for my Black Pearl.
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Location: Canada | I was not aware of those subtle bowl changes over time figured that Ovations were very consistent. Did this also include Adamas, i.e. did a 1687 change bowl size in its 20 year production history, and how did the RIs fit in that came almost 10 years after production stopped? |
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Location: SoCal | I think things changed as they better learned to make the bowls and then in the early 80's when they started using the molded bowls, not the hand laid bowls.
Just a guess...... |
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Location: When?? | I agree with Paul. The early hand-laid method left a bit of wiggle room per bowl or model, but the latter fixed molds did not wiggle or lie and just kept on coming. |
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | So, in a relative sense, a trifle less "handmade", then. |
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Location: Lake Forest, CA | Yeah, nah!
A 'molded' part comes out the exact size of the mold that produced it.
There is no wiggle room unless the molds were changed from one production run to the next. |
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Location: Yokohama, Japan | Hey seesquare, been away for nearly an year and re-read through this whole thread. Just great information all around. Thanks again for sharing your journey. I noticed that the airbrush didn't work out for you. Sorry about the bad advice! Hope the investment in the equipment wasn't a total loss... Was surprised to see that you settled on a rattle can lacquer with no clear coat? Just amazed at the level of gloss you achieved with that! Must of spent an enormous amount of time with the cut and polish process - a real labor of love. How does she sound with the Silk & Steel? |
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Location: SoCal | Chris, still enjoying the GCDB? |
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | You betcha! It's a great instrument. I find myself grabbing the GCDB about as often as the 1111 I got from Dave. They both have some serious mojo for me. I'm blessed with having "normal" humidity in my baliwick, so they just hang on the wall for easy access. Gotta put in a plug for Dennis Anthonis on YouTube. He's older than me, anyway, and keeps on truckin', despite some serious hand issues over the past few years. Very inspiring & reaffirming.
And, Paul, thanks for asking! |
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Oh, and I still haven't found a case for the GCDB. Just too deep. I will eventually construct one, I guess. |
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Pandora II- The GCDB Restoration
