Replacing tuners on 77 Ovation 1117-4

Hamad Rajab · #1 07-17-2016, 08:16 AM

Greetings friends,

Hi guys, i have a 1977 ovation acoustic that needs new tuners, i thought of replacing the machine heads with gotoh,grover or schaller for more stable and reliable tuning. anyone has any experience with ovations? i'm trying to find a direct fit and would locking tuners be better?

The reason i want to change the tuners is because it lacks smoothness and i just cant get it perfectly in tune on one take, most ovation guys say Grovers fit...

Here's me playing the ovation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lCdyC4j8oE

Yours sincerely,
Hamad

murrmac123 · #2 07-18-2016, 07:01 AM

Hi Hamad, you might find more expertise regarding Ovations over at http://www.ovationfanclub.com/

I would imagine there are bound to be others there who have experienced and solved the same problems as you are currently experiencing.

Nice playing btw.

JonWint · #3 07-18-2016, 10:15 AM

Make sure that the tuning problem, "because it lacks smoothness", is not caused by the strings not sliding through the nut slots. When you state "modded with Tusq" does that mean you changed the nut? Lube the nut slots or adjust them to match your string diameters before you change tuners.

Hamad Rajab · #4 07-19-2016, 09:04 AM

Thanks bro, i somehow cant post a new thread on the ovationfalclub forum, i'm pretty sure thats theres a direct fit aftermarket model, just to need to ask around and than you for the kind words.

Bill Yellow · #5 07-20-2016, 01:55 AM

I think you'll find the tuners on these early Ovation Legends are Schaller M6. Take a look HERE

Under the 'versions' tab you can hover over each line to see which best match yours.

The thing you will not be able to get now is the Ovation endcaps for these - but that's fine if you are replacing the whole set.

And yes, after many years the gears on these can become 'notchy'.

Hamad Rajab · #6 07-22-2016, 01:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill Yellow

I think you'll find the tuners on these early Ovation Legends are Schaller M6. Take a look HERE

Under the 'versions' tab you can hover over each line to see which best match yours.

The thing you will not be able to get now is the Ovation endcaps for these - but that's fine if you are replacing the whole set.

And yes, after many years the gears on these can become 'notchy'.

Thank you very much, i'll be putting a new set of those pretty soon. Thanks again buddy