Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I don't want this to be a heretical question, but ...............but can anyone tell me what the factory clearcoat finish of choice would have been in 1975 for an Ovation Custom Balladeer. (for the top and for the back of the neck) It was the first guitar I ever bought and I'm trying to bring it back to life.

Any help???

divots

Wrong Forum! Here usually the Brand begins with a "R".

Hey, divots. Welcome to the RRF! Do you have a Rick or maybe ten?

The Ovation would have had a conversion varnish finish; to renew the top finish it would have to be resprayed. You didn;t say what exactly the problem is, and procedures do vary depending upon exactly what the issues are with the factory job.

Also, have you tried ovationfanclub.com? I don't know how much tech info they typically have there, but if there isn't much, you're welcome to write me offline and I'll try to help!

Thank you for your response Paul. I was mainly interested in what clear coats were used in the 70's. My guess for this guitar would have been polyacrylic or polyurethane since it is so thick before getting to the spruce. (I wasn't sure since, after all, it is a 30 yr old guitar. I want to clean up some dings/scratches in the clearcoat and was looking for some compatible treatments. I'm going to try Scratch-X and zymol.

Apologies if this was off-forum, off-topic. I've seen topics from oxymorons to Fenders to Line 6 to Britney Spears discussed here. Ovations=anathema?

divots

Nah, Lee, you asked an okay question and got an answer from one of the two experts here. Peter must have had gas!

Welcome aboard.

Divots:

Conversion varnish is a generic term for catalyzing polyurethane, usually applied in furniture or architectural uses. The Ovation does have polyurethane, but it's not the air-dry type, due to production imitations and evidenced by the thickness of the finish that you observe.

Nicks in this sort of varnish can be repaired in two ways: You can fill the nick with gap-filling super glue, then after it cures, you can wet-sand back to flat using a small hard block (plexiglas is what I use for my own hard blocks) and #1000 grit wet or dry sandpaper, then rubbing compound to restore the gloss, followed by Scratch-X and Zymol. Second way is to use small drops of catalyzed conversion varnish, wait for it to cure, and then flat and buff as above.

Scratches can be wet-sanded and buffed out, but you really need a pedestal buffer with a sewn muslin wheel of large diameter (12" or greater) to do an efficient job of it.

John, did you mean "gas" or "grass"?
Thanx to Paul we even have expert knowledge for outside forum guys!
Never mind, I like stangers! Usually I'm one myself most everywhere!

...especially the last couple of days, Peter!!!

Paul, I did not get that one, sorry

I'm restoring a 1975 Ovation as we speak. The top was cracked down one side and the strings were left on. That made the crack open up unevenly. I'm just a-waitin' for the transparent blue to get here so I could finish it. Unbelievably, I got the split nearly invisible. I'm proud of this one as it was ready for the trash. When I got it, (ebay $100.00) I thought I was gonna trash it because the pictures were a bad representation. Luckily It's gonna be alright.
Now back to Ric talk... Boy, do I love my 325v63.

I own two Ovations, both with serious top cracking, and both repaired by myself. Everyone I have spoken to says that the word "Ovation" and term "top crack" is the same thing!