Larrivee volume / shaving braces

[OdiePiker]

Wow - I love the look of those Waverlies!! Looks like a rather interesting SD-50.. The "Paw print" sound port is most intriguing - can you describe the difference in sound before and after?

Zohn, some guitars "wash" over you, enveloping you in the sound, where others project more "outward".  My SD was definitely an "outward" guitar.  In the right room I would get plenty of aural feedback, but in the wrong room I would be slamming the axe just to hear myself.  The soundport makes a big difference.  Interestingly, the sound doesn't seem to come out of the port per se, but envelopes me as I play.  It's just louder to in my ear.  If I cover the port and strum the box is noticeably quieter.

Oh, yeah - one more tweak:  I installed a new bone nut, narrowing the string spacing to be more like 1-3/4".  My hands aren't quite big enough to handle 1-7/8 all night..


[attachment deleted by admin]

[GA-ME]

OdiePicker, looks nice! It's nice to know I'm not the only wack-job altering one of the Traditional Series guitars. I have been mucking about with the bracing on my 000-60 with pretty good results. I am in the process of deciding whether to reduce the tone bars, at the intersection with the X brace, a bit more right now. I just changed to the third set of strings since I first reduced it and decided not to remove more yet.

It's been about a month and change since I shaved the tonebars, so I'm letting it settle in for a bit more before I decide. I will say the reduction at the intersections seems to have improved the volume from the low E, to my ears, as well as, my trio mates and my fiance, so I'm thinking it might be more than confirmation bias. Last weekend, I played the Kipona Festival in Harrisburg Pa. and a couple of the Susquehanna Folk Music Society members really thought the guitar sounded good, both plugged in and acoustically.

[Zohn]

Zohn, some guitars "wash" over you, enveloping you in the sound, where others project more "outward".  My SD was definitely an "outward" guitar.  In the right room I would get plenty of aural feedback, but in the wrong room I would be slamming the axe just to hear myself.  The soundport makes a big difference.  Interestingly, the sound doesn't seem to come out of the port per se, but envelopes me as I play.  It's just louder to in my ear.  If I cover the port and strum the box is noticeably quieter.

Oh, yeah - one more tweak:  I installed a new bone nut, narrowing the string spacing to be more like 1-3/4".  My hands aren't quite big enough to handle 1-7/8 all night..

The room-thing is most important to consider when listening to a guitar - it definitely sounds different in different environments. About the nut - seems like that SD is tuned to your perfection, and I'm glad for you. Thanx for sharing your experience!