Picks Heavy Plectrums
January 22nd, 2011 | 
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Electro/Acoustic string gauge/tension.?
I recently bought an ovation electro/acoustic. The strings that are on it seem very thick. I find the string tension is to hard espcially up around the nut, which is basically were you play an acoustic. I prefer to play without a plectrum but the only way to get any volume is by striking the strings hard with a pick. Finger tips just dont work. The neck is very slim like an electric and with such a heavy string it is very hard to play anything on it. I'm not a beginer, I've been playing for ten years, my old acoustic was very easy to play (and a third of the price).
Is this a common problem with ovation guitars?, would a lighter string gauge cause me problems with the neck tension.
Electrics are more my thing so any help would be apppreciated.
Thanks.
I suspect that heavy strings are not the cause of your problem but it wont hurt to try lighter strings. Go ahead and put light gauge strings on and then check the neck as follows. With both hands fret the low E string at the first and twelfth fret and look for a gap between the string and the sixth fret. A neck properly adjusted will show about .010 inch of clearance (about the thickness of the high E string). This gap is adjusted with what is called a truss rod. A truss rod is a long metal rod inside the neck that puts reverse tension on the neck that compensates for the strings tensions tendency to pull the neck into a bow. If you see less gap than this or no gap the neck needs a looser truss rod adjustment. If you see a larger gap than this the truss rod needs to be tightened, but be careful. The truss rod will break if over tightened. If it starts to get hard to turn stop and get professional help. Most Ovations have the truss rod adjustment nut located at the heel end of the neck (where it joins the body). It is accessed through a hole in the transverse brace just inside the sound hole. With the proper Allen key turn the nut counter clockwise to loosen and clockwise to tighten. Turn the adjustment nut a little at a time (1/4 turn max) and recheck often untill you get the desired clearance. With this accomplished recheck the guitar for playability. If it still seems hard to play in the first position (by the nut) you will need to have the nut grooves deepened. To check, fret the strings individually at the third fret and look at the gaps between the string and the first fret. The plain strings should have almost no gap (0.001-0.005). The wound strings gaps should get progressively larger from G to E with the low E strings gap being about the diameter of the B string. If the gaps are larger than described it will make the guitar very uncomfortable to play reguardless of string gauge. If the nut needs to be recut I strongly suggest seeking a professional. A well cut nut is just on the threshold of being too low which will cause the strings to rattle on the first fret when open notes are played, The grooves are also best cut with special gauged files so the groove widths match the string diameter. I know it's dismaying to spend good money on a guitar only to have it need repair right away but thats how it goes sometimes. Mass produced guitars are only given a nominal set up. The molded plastic nuts tend to be too high probably because you can always cut them deeper but if they are too deep it's time for a new nut. New guitars almost allways need fine tuning to play at their best. A set up (at least in my shop) includes the truss rod adjustment. cutting the nut grooves to optimal depth, setting the action (individual and overall) by triming and or shimming the saddle and fret work if needed. Having this work done should get your Ovation playing as good or better than your old acoustic.
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