Guitar Store Disappointment

[Walkerman]

Factory setups generally vary a lot from guitar to guitar, and too frequently are lacking. I would suggest Martin, Taylor, Gibson, and Larrivee are no different.

In my experience, Larrivees frequently suffer from marginal setups, maybe 50% have spotty fretwork, and a small-but-noticeable percentage have bad neck sets. The reality is the Larrivee factory has a daily production quota, in the low 20s if memory serves. That means the neck setter has a few minutes (making a few assumptions, 480 minutes/22 guitars = about 22 minutes per guitar, time multiplied by the number of neck setters) to set a neck, the two setup techs have a limited amount of time to do their thing. All production facilities are this way, the variable being the amount of time allocated to each guitar. Time = money.

In my view, guitar shops have a responsibility to make guitars "presentable" prior to sale. In addition to the issue of production standards, guitars are not static. Wood moves. Tops gain their initial belly after being strung up, environmental conditions cause movement. There is no way to eliminate this. Thus no production techniques or process can relieve shops of the responsibility of inspecting and setting up their stock. A good guitar shop will do an initial inspection and setup on each and every guitar before putting it on the floor. Sadly many shops don't, relying on the factory setup.

When I go to a shop, I check for three things on any guitar in which I'm interested:

(1) Basic Tone: This is, of course, personal reference. In my opinion, most factory guitars...even high-end brands...are overbuilt, and the finish applied too heavily (especially on gloss models, loving the new trend to open pore oil finishes). Granted I'm a picky consumer.

(2) Construction: Neck set, glue joints, neck/fretboard "trueness", fret seating, finish etc.. A good shop will send back guitars with any of these issues. A lesser shop will often hang it for sale, essentially passing the issue(s) to the buyer (often to be dealt with under warranty).

(3) Setup: Nut, saddle, action height, neck relief, fret work, etc. A good shop will correct these issues as part of the initial setup. A lesser shop will hang it for sale, essentially passing the issue(s) to the buyer.


There is a local Larrivee dealer here in the Reno area (the Reno GC does not stock Larrivee) which does not do initial setups. They have an impressive stock of Larrivees, and these guitars present with the typical assortment of issues described above. So do their Martins, BTW. GC's Martins, Taylors and Gibsons are the same way. Though not Larrivee dealers, three examples of shops which do the initial work needed are Gryphon Strings, Harried Music (a local in Chico and Redding, Ca), and Nicholson Music (Folsom, Ca). Rarely a fret buzz, poor action, or construction issue to be found among their stock. If there is an issue found by a customer taking a test drive, they pull it off the floor.

Caveat emptor, YMMV.  

You may want to check your numbers.

[broKen]

South of Superstition     www.youtube.com/watch?v=k10aF5odsOk&feature=share

[Gordo in OZ]

A proper set up on a brand new guitar is not uncommon. Makers have to manufacture to a common denominator that possibly suits most but in reality probably pleases none. I am usually happy to play as bought for a couple of months before deciding exactly what would make it better. Everybody wants something a little different to suit their personal style. If possible I just factor the setup cost into my haggling with the shop. If the shop agrees to do the setup I expect no cost or very low cost, otherwise I have great luthier who can work magic. The frets on my brand new old stock OM-19 needed work immediately. My brand new Taylor just needed real frets instead of whatever unplayable stuff was on it.

[mattwood]

It also depends on what part of the country the stores are located in.  I played some different brands of guitars in a Houston store this past year during all of the torrential rains and there were Martins and Gibsons so far out of tune and playability that it was unbelievable.  And according to a salesman, they tuned them up every morning, which I was suspect of.  Lot of varying factors can result in the setup not being good on the store end.

[Walkerman]

It also depends on what part of the country the stores are located in.  I played some different brands of guitars in a Houston store this past year during all of the torrential rains and there were Martins and Gibsons so far out of tune and playability that it was unbelievable.  And according to a salesman, they tuned them up every morning, which I was suspect of.  Lot of varying factors can result in the setup not being good on the store end.

Wonder what the rains did to humidity.

[George]

Wonder what the rains did to humidity.

I lived in Houston for 5 years.  Depending on the outside temperature, rains can make it more or less humid.  In very hot weather, the AC units run more and will remove more moisture.  In winter, the heating will run more resulting in very dry air.  In moderate temperature conditions the humidity just increases, and depending on how long those conditions last, and can become well above where you want it to be...  GC does not always have ideal temperature and humidity control...