Ovation Matrix 1632-4 Headstock Repair

[Picton]

A day later, and things look pretty okay!

I've got it strung up with a lightweight set of 10-27, just to see whether the D and G tuners budge. If all goes well, I'll slap on a set of 12-53 in a couple days and see how it goes.

[Picton]

Alrighty; we're all strung up at full tension. This sucker is LOUD.

We'll call it a success story. And the 'verb came through with about a 60% refund, so if the price was right before, it's even righter now.

To sum up? This kind of break is well worth fixing, and relatively easy to do, provided the aluminum inside is undamaged.

[David Eastwood]

Originally Posted by Picton

Alrighty; we're all strung up at full tension. This sucker is LOUD.

We'll call it a success story. And the 'verb came through with about a 60% refund, so if the price was right before, it's even righter now.

To sum up? This kind of break is well worth fixing, and relatively easy to do, provided the aluminum inside is undamaged.

Well done!

[jricc]

Originally Posted by Picton

Alrighty; we're all strung up at full tension. This sucker is LOUD.

We'll call it a success story. And the 'verb came through with about a 60% refund, so if the price was right before, it's even righter now.

To sum up? This kind of break is well worth fixing, and relatively easy to do, provided the aluminum inside is undamaged.

First, welcome to the forum Picton. Thanks for documenting this unusual Ovation. I enjoyed following the repair progress. Glad it all went well for you.

[DDW]

Originally Posted by Earl49

The one thing that I do know from many tales is that the molded-in aluminum frets cannot be replaced, without replacing the entire fretboard. And the guitar is probably not worth that level of effort. When the frets are worn, your guitar is effectively done.

With access to a CNC milling machine, it would be relatively simple to mill grooves for new pressed in frets. Worth it or not depends on the relative value of your time vs how you value the guitar.

[Earl49]

You wouldn't necessarily need a milling machine. File or sand the frets flat and use the old fret "slots" as a template for sawing new grooves. You would have to find a fret saw intended for -- or tough enough -- aluminum instead of ebony. And you might only need to re-do the first few frets depending on the wear pattern.

[SpruceTop]

Originally Posted by Picton

Alrighty; we're all strung up at full tension. This sucker is LOUD.

We'll call it a success story. And the 'verb came through with about a 60% refund, so if the price was right before, it's even righter now.

To sum up? This kind of break is well worth fixing, and relatively easy to do, provided the aluminum inside is undamaged.

Picton, I'm so glad the Ovation Matrix is now working out for you--Nice Job!

[Picton]

Originally Posted by jricc

First, welcome to the forum Picton. Thanks for documenting this unusual Ovation. I enjoyed following the repair progress. Glad it all went well for you.

Originally Posted by SpruceTop

Picton, I'm so glad the Ovation Matrix is now working out for you--Nice Job!

Thank you! It's a fun one. My Legend just arrived today also, so I'll be heavily into acoustics for the next little while.