Ovation Transformation... Breadwinner to Harp Guitar?

[pipemaker]

A good friend of mine builds custom electric guitars. We have been knocking around some ideas on taking an old ovation breadwinner that I have had since the mid 70's and building a harp guitar with 7 sub bass strings. I am looking to achieve very clean tones on both sub bass and guitar. The electrics in the Ovation are completely scrapped so I'm starting from scratch here. I'm guessing that Fender Jazz bass style pups for the sub bass(set on an angle?) and some clean humbuckers with a single coil in the mid position on the guitar? Anyone have any experience with Ghost saddles? Any help or advice is greatly appreciated.

[WRGKMC]

Is this an acoustic you're looking to convert? If so adding a bunch of sub strings is going to add several hundred pounds pull on the top of the guitar and warp the thing up in no time unless you add the additional bracing needed. For pickups, unless you know the exact spacing of the strings, I'd either stick with a rail type pickop vs a individual poles like a jazz pickup uses, Or I'd think about a Piezo setup with a preamp.

[pipemaker]

 

Is this an acoustic you're looking to convert? If so adding a bunch of sub strings is going to add several hundred pounds pull on the top of the guitar and warp the thing up in no time unless you add the additional bracing needed. For pickups, unless you know the exact spacing of the strings, I'd either stick with a rail type pickop vs a individual poles like a jazz pickup uses, Or I'd think about a Piezo setup with a preamp.

 

 

no, it's a solid body but even then i'm thinking about a tailpiece, i'd rather over engineer it than the alternative. string spacing can be pretty much whatever it needs to be for the purpose of p-ups. i'm still considering the ghost saddle pick ups in combination with a magnetic type so i see what you mean about the rails... 7 strings and all i guess it would have to be individual( wouldnt that be a nightmare?) or rails... ghost saddles are magtech piezo type individual pickups with a custom pre amp thats supposed believably achieve acoustic sounds... i've never used them and have no point of reference on them...

and thank you!

[MahaloVision]

Here's a reasonably good reference picture of an Ovation Breadwinner:

 

 

Also a reference pic of a Klein Electric Harp guitar:

 

 

My first impression is that it's a very good candidate for such a transformation, with the body shape and the space for the additional neck. Something like a Carbon Fiber tube might help keep the weight down. You could run it deep into the body for additional support.

 

Electronics-wise, I'd probably think about getting individual string bridges, perhaps with a Piezo fitted and a pre-amp for the bass strings. That way you have some freedom to splay the strings a bit. Since they're not being fretted, you could also go with some kind of zero downforce setup like normally done on harps instead of using a typical guitar bridge. If you lay out the strings creatively, you could probably get by with a 6 string bass pickup, perhaps an EMG 45CS or a similar blade type passive. You could also wind your own individual string pickups if you're into it.

[pipemaker]

yeah, that looks like micheal hedges electric harp guitar... i think that one has three aluminum tubes? the carbon fiber may be a good idea... i was thinking of possibly attaching one side of the top of the "harp" to the top of the guitar head stock so maybe one carbon fiber tube would work... keeping the thing from being head heavy is probably going to be a battle... and thanks for the idea! this thing may fly after all!

[musicdog400]

Anyone have any experience with Ghost saddles?

I put a ghost bridge on a bass, it worked well. I built a simple preamp, you probably want one for piezos.

 

 

If you go with a magnetic pickup, instead of a piezo, placement will affect the tone, as with a guitar or bass. Since you are working with a solid body guitar, I don't think you will need to worry about the extra ~200lbs of tension.

 

Ask yourself if you want the sub bass strings on the same plane as the normal strings, and how much space you want between the two sets of strings. Stewart McDonald sells carbon fiber rods which you may want to embed in the sub bass supports.

 

I am a big fan of the Kleins and the Breadwinner. I am actually making a Klein inspired hollow body now. I hope you do it and post pics. Following a neat idea in your head is a great way to learn.