Members Magpel Posted January 9, 2006 Members Share Posted January 9, 2006 Hello, as was documented in another threat I bought a Larrivee L-05 last week, which I love more every day. Needless to say, I've been playing it alot. Yesterday, for the first time, I noticed that the action appears to be rising a bit. It certainly seems to be more difficult to play above the 7th fret than it was a few days before that. Is this normal? Could it be a NY Winter response, now that the axe is out of its humidity-controled showroom? I like action medium--not super low--so I'm reluctant to make any major adjustements, but I'm not sure how to proceed. Any guidance appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tiger roach Posted January 9, 2006 Members Share Posted January 9, 2006 It is not unheard of for a new guitar to change a little bit in the first few weeks of regular use, as it "settles in." And the humidity could also be a factor as you suggest, particularly since it is winter. My approach would be to give it a little more time to stabilize before any adjustments. You might need to consider taking some action to prevent the guitar from becoming too dry - new guitars are at risk. Might be a good idea for you to look up some old threads on this topic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Magpel Posted January 9, 2006 Author Members Share Posted January 9, 2006 Thanks, Brian. Yes I already searched some appropriate keywords here, and last week I ordered the Planet Waves humidifier thingy (I believe "thingy" is actually the technical term for it.) Hope it arrives today. But your point on exrcising patience and restraint is well taken. Incidentally, the literature that comes with a Larrivee is the absolute paragon of paranoia-inducing fear mongering. It's essentially a 15 page treatise on the horrid and irreperable things that can happen to your Larrivee if ideal, lab-like conditions are not maintained at all times. It's a perpectual code orange Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members t60 fan Posted January 9, 2006 Members Share Posted January 9, 2006 Perhaps we should investigate further. You could ship it to me in Ohio and I'll pay specific attention to the string height for a year or so... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Highway_61 Posted January 10, 2006 Members Share Posted January 10, 2006 There are so many humidifiers going in the GC Quiet Room that one is almost prone to blame the deadness of all the guitars there on their being waterlogged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cldplytkmn Posted January 10, 2006 Members Share Posted January 10, 2006 another side... if you've just plain worn out the strings (their elixirs, so its not likely) but at some point they'll "feel" harder to play... could be a factor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JasmineTea Posted January 10, 2006 Members Share Posted January 10, 2006 Did you put some heavier strings on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Highway_61 Posted January 10, 2006 Members Share Posted January 10, 2006 Originally posted by JasmineTea Did you put some heavier strings on? In addition--building on JasmineTea's comment--did you change brand of strings. Wound strings of the same gauges can have different amounts of tension, depending on the type and size of the core around which the outer wire is wound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Magpel Posted January 10, 2006 Author Members Share Posted January 10, 2006 No string change yet, and the elixirs hardly feel worn out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gonzoid Posted January 11, 2006 Members Share Posted January 11, 2006 Regarding the winter dry air: If the guitar is drying out, that would _lower_ the action. Check neck relief (sight down the neck, from the body, so that your gaze is almost parralel with the edge of the fingerboard) The neck should be pointing away from you. See if the neck has a bow to it. If it deviates much from strait, it may need a truss rod adjustment. An alternative method is to simultaneously fret a string at the 14th and 1st frets, and check the action at the 7th. If you have a bow, you will have noticeable action hght at the 7th. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Magpel Posted January 22, 2006 Author Members Share Posted January 22, 2006 Hi folks, update: action remains a little higher than I'd like up above the 6th or 7th fret, and, as I'm about to make the move from 12s to 12.5s. I'm afeart that it might go higher.... Eyeyballing it, the neck seems pretty darn straight and the 1st fret--14th fret test reveals no significant relief. So what are the possible courses of action at this point? I'm loathe to grind the saddle or mess with the guitar structurally (although, frankly, there's plenty of saddle to grind--it rises pretty high) because, as I mentioned before, I like a little relief in my action and I don't want to start a seesaw situation: "now it's too low, now it's too high." Basic circumstances. I'ver had it just about three weeks now. For two of those weeks, it has sl;ept at night with the Planery Waves guitar humidifier. It has plenty of playing every day. TIA for the wisdom... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cldplytkmn Posted January 22, 2006 Members Share Posted January 22, 2006 wouldn't hurt anything to shave the saddle... if the relief looks good and its a touch high, i'd say just sand the saddle down a bit. sidenote: are you switching to Martin SP 12.5s? my new favorite string and the only half size strings i know of... just curious Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JasmineTea Posted January 22, 2006 Members Share Posted January 22, 2006 Frets.com Your gonna have to sand the bottem of the saddle and mabey adjust the truss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Magpel Posted January 22, 2006 Author Members Share Posted January 22, 2006 Originally posted by Cldplytkmn sidenote: are you switching to Martin SP 12.5s? my new favorite string and the only half size strings i know of... just curious Yep, that's the plan. Glad to hear you like them. I played them on my friend's Martin D-15 and they were just right. You use them on your LV-03, is it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nylon rock Posted January 22, 2006 Members Share Posted January 22, 2006 New guitars get played a lot. Could be that your fingers are bruised, and that's why it seems a little harder to play. Give it some more time since the action will change anyway early on. I had my new guitar set up nine months into ownership, knowing full well that the action should have been lowered, and after the set up, raised my saddle up midway between the lowest it was set to, and the highest it was to begin with. Too low and you can't work the strings with bends all that well; too high and you can't put a chord on without too much muting on some of the strings. In the end you need to find out what "your" height really is. So play it high for a while till you "know" what that's all about, then get it lowered as low as possible, and see what that's all about, and then you will know what you really want because you will have visited the extremes. Technically, my guitar is a tad higher than Martin specs, but that's the way I like it. I never would have guessed this to be the case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thirdstone Posted January 28, 2006 Members Share Posted January 28, 2006 I got a new Gibson j-45 for Christmas. I think I'm experiencing the same thing (action seems to have raised a bit since I brought it home). I talked to my local guitar tech. He said I probably have to re-humidify the guitar. He was adamant that I should not make any adjustments to the truss rod or saddles until I try this first. The humidity in the store is much different than in my house and that will affect the guitar. He said it will take a few weeks for things to even out again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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