I recently installed a set of Avids on a friends bike...he is complaining about the brakes pulsating whenever he uses his front brake...is this due to the rim being a tad out of true?? Any suggestions on how to get rid of this problem??

The rims not being true are actually hard to "feel" when breaking because the break mounting will move with the flow a bit.

More likely is that your friend has some damage to his rim. Check carefully to see if there is some damage to the wall(s) of the rim that rides against the brake pad.

If you can't see it with your eyes, Give the wheel a spin and sloooowly apply the brakes. If there is some damage or if the rim is not true, it will hit one of the pads and slow or stop the wheel from spinning.

Mike

front brakes
 

Did you "toe-in" the brake pads?
If not: Adjust the pads so that the back edge has about .5 to 1 mm clearance when the front edge touches.
I've found the easiest way to do this is to loosen the pad and then hold it tight to the rim with the brake lever with a piece of brake/derailleur cable or a small zip tie under the back edge of the pad. Spmetime it helps to squeeze and release a few times to let the pad self adjust. When it looks good tighten it up!