000-60 is playable again!!!!

[GA-ME]

Well, it was finally time to do some surgery to the 000-60. The guitar has well over 5000 hours of play time on her and the fingerboard was severely divot-ed from the first to fifth frets and heavily divot-ed on high E and B and G strings up to about the 9th/10th frets.  The frets were worn out and flattened and the intonation was finally more than I could take any longer! This was the first bound fingerboard that I have attempted to re-fret, so I went to a friend's shop and had him watch over me and give me some help and pointers.

Recently, Matthew Larrivee posted that Larrivee made their bridges from a max of about 10.5mm down to about 7mm. I figured that since the fingerboard was going to need planing to deal with the divots, along with a complete re-fret, that now was the time to try and get the best set up I could without having to reset the neck quite yet. Since Larrivee had already shaved the bridge once,  and I had taken a bit more off a little later, I figured that I might as well take the bridge down some more since I still had well over 7mm left. I also cleaned up the saddle slot while I was at it. I took care of the bridge shaving at home before I headed to my friend's shop for some learning.

Today, I removed the frets and my buddy and I planed the finger board and re set the compound radius a bit sharper. I hated the Larrivee fingerboard profile when I first got the guitar, but it eventually really grew on me, and I quite like it now, except that I wished it was just a skoosh less flat.  So, I took care of that today. I was able to get just about all the divots planed out except for a few small spots on the first three frets that were just too deep to take out completely. They were filled with CA and ebony dust and are just barely noticeable. My buddy re-fretted the fingerboard extension, to show me the proper way to trim the tang back from the binding, and then I took it from there. My buddy also taught me a lot of cool little techniques today that I think are really going to help me improve my fretwork quality and efficiency.

When the re-fret was complete she got a new bone nut and a new bone saddle as well. Between fretboard planing and re-raduising, and the shaving of the bridge, I do believe I am finally going to be able to achieve a proper string height and break angle with plenty of saddle left showing. I have the set-up a little high yet, to see if any frets move over the next few days. I'll dial in the final set-up in a few days, but I do believe I'll be able to get 5/64" low E and 4/64 high E with plenty of saddle left exposed.

For all the issues I have had with this 000-60, and we have a love hate relationship for sure, I have never been able to bring myself to sell her. The action has always been a bit higher than I wanted it to be, but we came to enough of a begrudging respect for one another that I whiled several thousand hours away on her over the past 5 1/2 years and wore out the frets along the way. She has given me many original songs I am proud to have written and I have to say I believe she will always stay with me.  And finally, I can have the action and playability that she has always lacked!

[L07 Shooting Star]

Very interesting and informative post.  I learned a lot from it.

Thanks

[killerteddybear]

Five thousand hours over 5-1/2 years works out to 2-1/2 hours a day, every day.
That's not mutual grudging respect - you two are a married couple!
Better stop pretending.

[Danny]

    Very cool indeed. You described a situation that I had with my F-IV as well, only mine was much more moderate. And easier to fix in the long run.

   Your history with this 000 is well known to many of us and my first posts with you regarding it were a bit testy (if I remember right). The hi"story" from there is quite colorful to say the least and definitely a chapter of this forum that has a fine ending to it.

    It's kind of funny to me that I know so much about this 000 Larrivee and yet I never have seen it, other than pictures. Though I had the opportunity to meet you and experience firsthand the energy level you generate even when you're sitting still in a cafe. (Though you never seemed to be really still )
    And when you played my F-III in that hotel lobby there should have been a film crew on hand. Lot's of expression from talented hands and a soul with depth that shines when you play and sing.

     It's good to see you have also been developing your luthier skills. And I use the word correctly I believe. Apprentice though you are, you have tackled many more projects than any of us who practice guitar maintenance and sometimes butchery as a hobby.

     Remember my post about wanting to deal with divots in my OM-21 neck and also making a more Gibson like radius? I would hope you have some pics of some of this process.

         "Today, I removed the frets and my buddy and I planed the finger board and re set the compound radius a bit sharper."

Especially this part.

     Here's to you Jon . Next time I want to see your guitars.

[Danny]

  I just noticed this thread is in "technical" and though it fit's here just fine it seems that it belongs in "Larrivee Guitars" even more. Since this is all about a Larrivee 000-60.

[GA-ME]

Five thousand hours over 5-1/2 years works out to 2-1/2 hours a day, every day.
That's not mutual grudging respect - you two are a married couple!
Better stop pretending.

I do play an awful lot of guitar a day. Usually from 2-4 hours a day and most of those hours are on the 000-60. I use guitar playing as a form of focused attention to help me manage chronic neuropathic pain from a spinal cord injury.

[GA-ME]

 I just noticed this thread is in "technical" and though it fit's here just fine it seems that it belongs in "Larrivee Guitars" even more. Since this is all about a Larrivee 000-60.

Hey Dan, I am putting a couple of pics in this post to make it a bit more technical! I couldn't get a clear enough shot of the string height with the scale at the 12th because my camera isn't capable of that much of a closeup while still being able to read a scale in 64ths of an inch. In the first pic you can see the CA and ebony dust fills where the divots were to deep to come out completely when we planed and re-profiled the fingerboard. Right now, I have a 12th fret low E height of just above 4/32" with plenty of saddle showing. When I bring the action down the rest of the way, in a couple of days, I'll lower the action to just under 3/32", on low E at the 12th, and it looks like I'll end up with just a skoosh below 3/16" saddle left showing.

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[ffinke]

I couldn't find "sKoosh" so this will have to do: (This is a 'technical' discussion after all.  )

scoosh [skʊʃ] Scot
vb
1. to squirt
2. (intr) (of liquid) to rush
n
1. a squirt or rush of liquid
2. (Cookery) any fizzy drink
[of imitative origin]


GA-ME! My back would be a bowl of mush if I played that much guitar per day. Good for you and you two BELONG together. Take good care of her!

f

[GA-ME]

I couldn't find "sKoosh" so this will have to do: (This is a 'technical' discussion after all.  )

scoosh [skʊʃ] Scot
vb
1. to squirt
2. (intr) (of liquid) to rush
n
1. a squirt or rush of liquid
2. (Cookery) any fizzy drink
[of imitative origin]


GA-ME! My back would be a bowl of mush if I played that much guitar per day. Good for you and you two BELONG together. Take good care of her!

f

Operational definition of skoosh: a wee bit! As far as the back thing goes, my back is well, trashed. I incurred a compression injury to the Cauda Equina about 6 years ago and it left me with a condition known as Cauda Equina Syndrome which basically translates into constant neuropathic pain. I wanted to avoid becoming dependent on opiates, and other drugs, to manage my condition. So, I learned to deal with the pain mostly through cognitive restructuring therapy and one of the pleasing things is that playing an instrument forces me to stay in the present moment which is one of the best ways to deal with chronic pain. Mindfulness is a powerful mediator between the brain and the rest of the body.

I don't play all at once for 2-4 hours. I usually do multiple 1/2 hour sessions throughout the day. I have a great deal of trouble standing or sitting for any longer than about an hour at a time, so I alternate between standing and sitting and walking throughout the day. When pain starts to get the better of me, and I start feeling angry and acting like an -CENSORED-, I play guitar and try to stay completely focused on the moment and executing the guitar passages I am working on or writing. At one point in my life, just after the injury, I was extremely angry all the time and just maladapted to dealing with my new reality of being permanently disabled. Over the last 6 years, I have slowly, very slowly, tried to learn to appreciate life for what it is instead of what I want it to be.

[Zohn]

  Hey GA-ME
What an inspiring tread, and delivered with the same amount of passion I've grown to know you by.
Thanks for this, and I certainly can relate. I was at the point of attempting a reset on my prized Larrivee myself because of a feeling of helplessness this side of the pond. I never got there though because someone else liked her just the way she was, and I let her go last Saturday.

[GA-ME]

So Zohn, ya gonna order yourself a Robert's Minstrel with the cash from the Larry sale?

[JOYCEfromNS]

I have slowly, very slowly, tried to learn to appreciate life for what it is instead of what I want it to be.

We all could take a lesson in that Friend

[GA-ME]

We all could take a lesson in that Friend

Yeah Joyce, it looks so simple in writing. But, it is so dang hard in practice!!!