Ovation Neck break

OVATION NECK BREAK REPAIR

BY
BRIAN HOWARD LUTHIER

This Ovation 12 string suffered some severe trauma. 18 years ago an angry wife smashed some guitars and this was one of the victims. It has been in its case all these years until the owner decided to bring it in and see what could be done.

Along with Gibsons, Ovations suffer a high rate of broken necks. While Gibsons usually crack, Ovations are very prone to breaking completely off just like this one. Usually a laminated neck like this is much stronger than a plain mahogany neck. But when you combine the slim neck profiles these guitars are known for with the big cast aluminum truss rods they used there is just not much wood holding it all together.
The owner made it clear from the start that he was not concerned with how the repair looked. He simply wanted the neck repaired so the guitar was playable again and felt good in the hand. While I would have been happy to make some cosmetic touch ups to conceal the repair I was just as happy to simply make the repair. I have been using a structural epoxy for these types of repairs. I have also developed a clamping and alignment tool for doing these jobs which allows me to do these types of repairs quickly and accurately. Here we see the neck being glued back together in the fixture.

And after a bit of scraping and sanding followed by a bit of finish work and a good buffing here we have the finished product. Plays as good as it ever did and it has a battle scar with a story to tell.

Hope you enjoyed this article.  No matter how big or small your guitar needs are, I can help so please feel free to contact me.

Brian Howard, luthier
Magnolia Delaware.