larivee frets

[David Reilly]

Does anyone know how Larivee installs their frets? Hammer? Press? Do they use glue? If so, what kind?
I have on my bench an L-03R Model. It seems relatively new and in decent condition. The second one i have seen this year and the second one with too many loose fret ends.
I live in Auckland where there are many damp houses; still, i do not see that many loose frets in general.
Ideas? Comments?
thanks,
David

[unclrob]

I pretty sure there taped but they could be pressed,no glue.

I gotta go with there having some issue's.I hope that they are reading these post,it coming up a lot lately.

[leerichards]

Uncle, you are one of the most experienced on this subject of fret seating which seems to have blown up a bit lately. And you recently said that you've found problems to be pretty common in many brands of guitars including top ones.  Because of this, I have just tested my L03R and my Larri classical, a Yammy 12 and my Epi 00 (soon to sell, I hope), and on every guitar, I could get the rounded end of a 2 thou feeler gauge under most frets down the centre of the board. We are near sea level here and the RH in Dunedin is pretty stable. I should also add that they are all well set up and play beautifully with no buzzing. So is there always going to be an "acceptable tolerance" for fret seating? Or is it just that all of my guitars (except the Larri classical when new - I bought it used) retail at less than $US1k. I hope you can throw some light on this. Cheers, Rick. ps Jim H, if you are tuning into this one, your knowledge would be greatly appreciated also.

[unclrob]

Lee first you have to know that frets are almost always just visually inspected,no guage's are harmed or used.Even if they are fully seated when leaving the factory in the heat of the truck the wood around the fret will move,this is one of the reason so many glue there frets down.Once the guitar has arrived at the store the wood will move a bit more,then when you get it home it has to adjust to its new enviroment.I don't touch a guitar for at least 4 weeks after purchase and sometime's longer.As for "acceptable tolerance" I'm not sure if there is any,most want the best they can get.Price has nothing to do with it,as I don't think any company would purposely do bad work because its a less expensive guitar.

[leerichards]

Thanks, Uncle.  Personally I'm not at all concerned that there are miniscule gaps under the frets - I've been working with wood for most of my working life and know only too well how a hairline gap around a cupboard door (1/16) when it leaves the workshop can easily double (or more) after time in a new environment. Wood is always moving in response to the moisture content in the air. But you have answered my query perfectly and I hope it helps to put some of this recent concern about fret seating into perspective. Which is not to excuse the very poor workmanship that has been described elsewhere on this forum. I've been playing guitar longer than I have worked with wood and imagine..... all this time there have been gaps under my frets aaaaagh.   But I'll tell you what, Uncle, my recently completed guitar project has not and never will have problems with gaps under the frets - a fretless guitar: no frets, no problems.     So thanks again for the shared wisdom. Have one    on me. Rick (was Lee, now Rick cos of the other two Lees).

[unclrob]

Sorry about that Rick.


Installing frets is a timely art and the one thing lacking in most companies is the time to do it right.Me I take anywhere from 15 to 20 hours doing a refret{thank goodness I don't charge by the hour}.Its one fret out,one fret in.


I also want to add that Larrivee is still my favorite guitars,yes Older Guild Jumbo's and Jumbo 12 strings and alrite there was that Gibson Vintage AJ but in this case I have yet to find another AJ that even come's close to the one I own.

Also I'm not excusing what seems to be an ongoing problem and once again I hope someone from Larrivee reads these post and works to solving the problem.

[maliberd]

Hello from France,
I haven't been logged in for a long time, just a little tour to look at some news from the Larrivée world...This post drew my attention...Today, the frets job is a real problem at the Larrivée factory, all has been said about it ! Unclrob perfectly resume the situation with few words. I also hope that some guys from the Larrivée shop will read all the posts and solve the problem !
Bernard

[Michael T]

When I went shopping for my Collings and fell in love with my DV09 back in late '03/early'04 fret gap and sharp ends were coming up a lot in threads too. The same were a concern when I bought my '08 12er Larry. I got strange looks and the why comment on both when I told the shop on both (different ones) I wanted a fret crowning and end file as part of the set up. Just to be sure none were excessively loose and I didn't care if it too a little life off them I wanted no fret problems. I ended up paying for one of them and then Jim Holler took care of the other as part of the set up, thanks you sir if you see this. Never looked back and I have no issues. I want to mention that this came up as a wear problem with another brand that was in my final 4 considerations when I went shopping for the '04 model.