need help with my acoustic guitar

Betterman77

Have a question hopefully someone can give me an idea whats wrong, I bought an Ovation Acoustic guitar, im from out of town so the store i bought it at is 4 hours away, and ways its playability is horrible, strings buzz alot, also if I play bar chords closer to the first fret (like an F) the high end strings stay muted when I strum them, no matter how i turn my hand they won't sound, this is really pissing me off, does anyone know if its a defective guitar, or maybe just in need of an adjustment?

mca47

Betterman77 wrote:

Have a question hopefully someone can give me an idea whats wrong, I bought an Ovation Acoustic guitar, im from out of town so the store i bought it at is 4 hours away, and ways its playability is horrible, strings buzz alot, also if I play bar chords closer to the first fret (like an F) the high end strings stay muted when I strum them, no matter how i turn my hand they won't sound, this is really pissing me off, does anyone know if its a defective guitar, or maybe just in need of an adjustment?

Hmmm, that's a tough one. First of all, is the guitar new or used? Secondly, are you an experienced guitar player?...Can you play on other acoustics, just not this one?
I got a cheap Fender acoustic about 2 years ago and I had a problem with the strings buzzing all the time. I replaced the strings that I originally got on it with some better quality 12s and it sounded 100x better. A buddy of mine got a used guitar not too long ago and had some buzzing problems. I looked at it and noticed that the strings were sitting kinda far off the fretboard. I played it and had the same problem. It took a lot of effort to hold down notes without buzzing...especially barr chords. He took it in and had it adjusted so the stings set closer to the board. It works and sounds much, much better now.

MetalGod75

Betterman77 wrote:

Have a question hopefully someone can give me an idea whats wrong, I bought an Ovation Acoustic guitar, im from out of town so the store i bought it at is 4 hours away, and ways its playability is horrible, strings buzz alot, also if I play bar chords closer to the first fret (like an F) the high end strings stay muted when I strum them, no matter how i turn my hand they won't sound, this is really pissing me off, does anyone know if its a defective guitar, or maybe just in need of an adjustment?

take the guitar to your local shop and get it set up properly.I would tell that to anyone that buys a guitar new or 2nd hand.The truss rod may need adjusting?

Pacomc79

MetalGod75 wrote:

take the guitar to your local shop and get it set up properly.I would tell that to anyone that buys a guitar new or 2nd hand.The truss rod may need adjusting?

probably. I don't know how that all works on an Ovation because of the lyracord body. I'd assume it's similar to a metal body dobro. I agree on the setup definately. Should be about 30 bucks. Makes a huge difference.

likepilateihaveadog

humidity can mees up the truss rod too...it might get better over time.

Betterman77

Yeah my guitar is like 2 weeks old so pretty damn new, but never played right from the start, the guy at the shop (who claims to be a tech said it just needed new strings so gave me a pack and i changed them when I got home (which is 4 hours away), but damn thing sounds just as bad if not worse with the buzzing and muted notes especially with bar chords, and yes I can play other acoustics just fine, just this one not good playablity at all, I love Ovation my buddy has one and it is an old classic and it plays beautifully amazing. but i hope theres nothing seriously wrong with the guitar.

mca47

Betterman77 wrote:

Yeah my guitar is like 2 weeks old so pretty damn new, but never played right from the start, the guy at the shop (who claims to be a tech said it just needed new strings so gave me a pack and i changed them when I got home (which is 4 hours away), but damn thing sounds just as bad if not worse with the buzzing and muted notes especially with bar chords, and yes I can play other acoustics just fine, just this one not good playablity at all, I love Ovation my buddy has one and it is an old classic and it plays beautifully amazing. but i hope theres nothing seriously wrong with the guitar.

The only thing I can think of then is adjusting the setup. Ovation makes quality guitars, so I can't imagine there is something physically wrong with it. Hope you get it worked out. That is too nice of a guitar not to enjoy.

JofZ

String buzzing on an acoustic is more then likely due to a poorly cut nut. All guitars need to be set up, new, used and over time.
Can you do some troubleshooting?
Where are the buzzing strings? if you hold down the string at the first fret does it stop? You will fine if you just bring it in to a tech and drop 25-50 bucks. I do not suggest adjusting anything if you don't know what you are doing and you could possibly make your problem much, much worse.

All guitars are set up, from a 100 dollar POS to a 10K Gibson and the 10K Gibsons need a lot more work

who's_pearljam?

No worries, I don't think
Is it new?

If it's buzzing when you're fretting the F,, it's not the nut, but could very well be a the neck bowed back a little bit too far. Sight down the neck and see if it's straight.
If it is slightly bowed back, then the truss rod nut needs to be loosened, which will cause the neck to bow forward. It's a simple adjustment, but if you don't have the wrench, or the knowledge, take it to a tech who knows Ovations. They're easy to set up,, but I think the adjusting wrench is this proprietary thing that only fits Ovations.
It's a pain that the seller is so far away, but I bet your problem is simple.

Good luck!