New D-03R! (+2 questions)

[swaino]

Hi there!

I've been spending a lot of time on this forum ever since I decided to buy a Larrivee. And now I'm a Larrivee owner! I bought the D-03R from Melodee Music in Sterling, VA. They ordered it for me and had it shipped from the factory to their store. I got to open the box and everything. They gave me a competitive price on the guitar and the iMix pickup which I'll have installed locally (I'm in Richmond, VA).

Now that I've had it for an entire day :) I do have a couple of questions. I'll also run these by the luthier that's going to install my pickup. The guitar was shipped tuned down a whole step to D. I noticed that it sounded REALLY full...and once I got my tuner out, I realized why. I'm surprised by this because even the Larrivee site recommends shipping guitars with the strings at full tension. Any ideas about this?

Also, I really expected the intonation to be dead on, considering Larrivee's reputation in this area. But when my low E is in perfect tune...and I fret a G on the same string (being extremely careful to not bend the string), my tuner shows it as being about 10 cents sharp. And it's noticeable when I strum a G chord. It might make more sense to me if it was a discrepancy at the 12th fret, but I'm surprised to see it at the 3rd. When the A string is in perfect tune...and I fret a D at the 5th fret, the D is about 7 cents flat. I haven't systematically gone through all of the strings to see if there are any other intonation issues. I wanted to get some thoughts from the forum before I freak out about it.

Overall, I'm really happy with my new Larrivee...but of course I'm going to nit pick while it's still brand new.

Thanks!
Dave

[jimmyp]

Play it 2 weeks then have it set up. Sounds as if your nut needs adjustment, or neck needs relief adjusted or strings are wrong gauge. i wouldn' "fret" yet! Jp

[carruth]

Do not fret...Sure to be a set up problem. Let her settle in for two weeks then take it to your guitar tech. Any real problems and Jean Larrivee will honour your warranty. I love my DO3R, but it too needed a tweak when she first arrived.

[swaino]

That makes me feel better...thanks for the advice. The funny thing is that with most purchases I let imperfections stress me out...but since this guitar is so perfect in most ways, I know that the rest will be resolved.

Anyone have thoughts on why it would be shipped tuned down to D? Pretty much a non-issue...just curious if there's a known reason.

Thanks!

[L07 Shooting Star]

That makes me feel better...thanks for the advice. The funny thing is that with most purchases I let imperfections stress me out...but since this guitar is so perfect in most ways, I know that the rest will be resolved.

Anyone have thoughts on why it would be shipped tuned down to D? Pretty much a non-issue...just curious if there's a known reason.

Thanks!

Only reason I can see is maybe better to err on the side of caution in case some condition they can't control happens during shipping like sitting in the sun for hours or something like that.  Or maybe it was tuned to pitch when it left the factory and the strings stretched since then or some change in humidity or something occurred.  Just a stab in the dark.  Anyways, it's not an issue at all.  Like others have said, let it settle for awhile then get it set up.

Kurt

[leftync]

The D-03R is one of the best-sounding guitars out there. I think the satin finish helps let the sound out.

[magictwanger]

Don't worry about the low tuning.My Custom Bourgeois dread had string stretch for a good while,until they settled in.No problems after a while.

  Btw,I too have a D-O3R.I've had it 22 months,and aside from the fact that it is in flawless shape,though played,it "really" does get better with age,or play,or whatever

  This model is truly a superb instrument...Enjoy the ride!

[swaino]

I appreciate all the feedback! I've seen so many posts where guys talk about their perfect setup out of the box, I got a little worried. But I guess perfect for someone else may not be perfect for me. I think a few tweaks from a skilled luthier or guitar tech and I'll be good to go.

Thanks again!

[Pickering_Picker]

The guitar was shipped tuned down a whole step to D.

Could be a change in policy or could be that they ship new guitars down the whole step since the glue is still drying but ship matured guitars at full pitch or could be a new employee or their tuner had accidentally been set to the lower pitch or of course any number of other reasons.

But when my low E is in perfect tune...and I fret a G on the same string (being extremely careful to not bend the string), my tuner shows it as being about 10 cents sharp.

This is an interesting idea to use an electronic tuner to check fretted string intonation. Just checked my L-09 with week-old strings. The 6th string G does indeed register slightly sharp. Same with the G at the 5th fret on the D string. Many other notes are smack on, including other strings fretted at the 3rd fret. This tells us that the 3rd fret is properly placed. Other notes on the 6th string are dead on which tells us the saddle is in the right place.

Equal temperament is a system of compromises; it's not necessarily the case that there is *any* arrangement of straight line frets that will yield perfect results.

There's also the issue that the string gauges change the math involved. Notice how the saddle is filed to accept the B string at a different distance than the other strings. I don't know why that's necessary; but it could well have to do with string thickness not increasing/decreasing evenly from string to string.

I'll also run these by the luthier that's going to install my pickup.

I agree that your guitar will very likely need a good set-up, although I don't see that helping for the particular intonation problem you've described. Assuming an experienced luthier, this should be an excellent person to make the set-up adjustments for you.

The limited number of new Larrivees I've played in various music stores have all had too high an action. Same with just about any of the good-name guitars: Martin, Taylor, etc. On the Larrivee web site they say that various guitarists have various tastes in string height and action so they have to err on the conservative side. What they don't want is a guitar coming back to the factory with a buzz complaint because of some combination of truss rod adjustment, humidity, string gauge etc. So guitars are shipped with action that's too high and any buzzing resulting from lowering the action becomes the responsibility of the set-up technician.

Hopefully, this puts your mind fully at ease and leaves you free to bask in the sheer glory of that incredible Larrivee sound. ;)

[swaino]

Pickering_Picker...thanks for the detailed reply! I really appreciate it...and it (along with the other replies) does help set my mind at ease regarding those things. I've noticed another potential problem with a slight gap where the heel of the neck joins the body of the guitar. Not sure if it could be impacting some of the other things I was wondering about. I'm about to post photos of that in hopes of getting more good advice and feedback. My guess is that the consensus will be to take it back to the dealer. We'll see.

Thanks again!

[teh]

The nice thing about pulling the guitar out of the box to discover it tuned down a step is that is showed you the benefits of Altered/Open Tunings and your Larrivee D-03R will handle everything just fine.

I have a Martin Rosewood Dread that I routinely tune down to D or to Dropped D, Double Dropped D, DADGAD, Open D, Open G or Open C.

I keep my LV-03MT 12 string down to D not because I have to but becaue I want too. The larger bodies (D and L) seem to like the lower register.

[OutWithTheBlue]

The nice thing about pulling the guitar out of the box to discover it tuned down a step is that is showed you the benefits of Altered/Open Tunings and your Larrivee D-03R will handle everything just fine.

I have a Martin Rosewood Dread that I routinely tune down to D or to Dropped D, Double Dropped D, DADGAD, Open D, Open G or Open C.

I keep my LV-03MT 12 string down to D not because I have to but becaue I want too. The larger bodies (D and L) seem to like the lower register.

Agreed. My Larrivees are NEVER in standard.