Action too high on Applause AE128 - suggestions?

hondaman900 · #1 November 24th, 2007

I have an Applause AE128 (by Ovation). It's a nice guitar for the price, and my knock-around one. However, the action on it was way too high. I brought it to my local guitar tech, who said it wasn't adjustable and that it needed humidification, and I bought a $20 humidification kit. Well, weeks later, that made no difference at all. I read that the action on these guitars is adjusted via shims under the bridge, and I found the previous owner had made his own shim from a piece of cable tiewrap. Even after removing the "shim" the action is way high. The neck/fretboard is straight.

Anyone familiar with these guitars and who has had a similar issue? I love the guitar and it's sound, but with the high action it's too much work.

Thanks in advance for the help.

allthumbs · #2 November 24th, 2007

That is amazing that it has no truss rod unless it is a classical. The only thing I can think of is to have the saddle shaved down. This is assuming that the face of the guitar under and around the saddle has not been humped up by string tension. You have to look at the cost of having that done on a cheap instrument like yours.

Live Stone · #3 November 24th, 2007

I'd say for sure the tech did not know what he was doing. You sure do not need to shim. That would only make the strings higher. Ask a reputable guitar luthier or go on line and check to see who will sell you some different thickness bridge saddles. Some music stores have them. Take yours out for comparison.

If you are mecanically inclined and can be gentle you could file yours lower. Be carefull to support it in a vise between two pieces of wood. If you file a little too much in a spot then you can shim.

It is doable. Just take your time. If the neck is straight and not warped your in business without paying a high priced luthier. It really is as simple as that.

Are you sure there is not a truss rod?

Danny

starsailor · #4 November 24th, 2007

I checked one of these out and the review said it was Truss adjustable

but I assume the tech would have noticed a truss rod if it had one?

hondaman900 · #5 November 25th, 2007

Thanks for all the feedback - great forum!

This guitar has the pickup built into the saddle, so I'm not inclined to mess with that too much. Also, when I let the string tension off to remove the bridge, I felt inside at the base of the neck, and there is a recessed hole with a hex hole for an allen key, so I'm guessing the truss rod could be adjusted here, but not at the headstock like I'm used to. There is a slight bowing in the face around the saddle (saddle tilts a little forward), which would account for my problem I guess.

So now my question is can the bowing be rectified and/or compensated for by adjusting the truss rod? Or is the guitar a basket case?

Thanks for all the assistance.

allthumbs · #6 November 25th, 2007

The bridge pulled towards the neck is the number one guitar killer. Depending how bad it is, the truss rod might help but, it is more common to remove the bridge and sand it down to make the strings lower. Sometime a guitar is too far gone even for that. In that case you have yourself a slide guitar.