Posted: 2/28/2009 5:06:20 AM EDT
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I just noticed that the intonation is slightly off on my Larrivee D-03R. It isn't off much, but it bugs me a bit.
How much should it cost to have a luthier fix it? Are there any other easy/cheap mods that I could have them do at the same time? - is something like upgrading the string pegs or bridge worth it? Should I bling the guitar by having an inlay of a naked woman holding an AR over her head put on the headstock? |
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Take it to your local guitar technician and let him deal with it.
Larrivees are fine guitars, and there's absolutely no need to even consider "upgrading" the bridge or tuning machines. They're fine. The tuners probably are good Gotohs at the very least, which are as smooth and accurate as any. CJ |
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I took one of my guitars in to have it worked over, it was in a world of hurt. It ended up costing me $40 total to have the neck adjusted, the intonation set, new strings, get my tremolo blocked out and adjusted, and a total clean up and polish on the guitar. I couldn't believe the difference in playability and sound. It'd have been a bargain at twice the price. Let an expert work it over for you; just doing the intonation should only be $20 bucks or so.
ETA - whoops... just noticed that's an acoustic. not sure how that would change the cost for the intonation. i still vote for seeing your guitar tech, though. good luck! |
| Maybe the neck just needs to be adjusted a little bit? Seems to me that if the truss rod is a little loose, the neck might bend up enough under tension to effectively shorten the distance between the nut and the bridge. Of course if this is the case, it shouldn't cost much for a pro to do it, particularly if you don't know how to do it yourself. |
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Fine tuning your intonation on your Laravee is basically going to be at the saddle. Your nut should be glued in place and your truss rod will need to be set to the proper relief according to the strings your using. Adjustment to the saddle can go either way that a luthier is going to do. He's either going to bring your Graphtec TUSQ saddle down by sanding it, bring it up by using bone or artifial pieces (not likely) or want you to replace it with a new custom fit bone or artical saddle by him which will cost you more money and put more in his pocket. You can bring it to a luthier to do it or if your comfortable when your looking to do a string change like many of us, just very carefully and evenly sand the bottom of the saddle a tiny little bit and I do mean tiny little bit and restring it from there to see where it's at. If it's not perfect than you can rework it more next string change. You can take some off, but you can't put it back to the same effect in tone so be careful. That's all he's going to do while setting your action height because you really can't test/adjust the intonation as you go on an acoustic without restringing it and he's not going to blow through strings. He's just going to set it, adjust the truss rod if needed and hope for the best. Than charge you. If you do end up taking off too much than you can buy another saddle and start over. MusiciansFriend sells replacements TUSQ's. |
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Quoted:
Doh! I just noticed that the pegs for the three strings the intonation is off on sit higher than the other pegs. Could this cause the intonation to be off slightly? Not really. Your last point of contact from the bridge to the nut is the saddle and where it's set at is what mainly controls intonation. Get the pegs as far in and even as possible, but your saddle still needs adjustment. |