Warmoth stuff...any good?

spacecadet

So I love the look of Guthrie's new Charvel. It's for the most part the guitar I've had in my head for a while. Now I can wait and buy the signature model or I could have one built. I've just been looking at the Warmoth site and can build the exact spec body and neck I want for not that much money. Certainly a lot less than what the Charvel will be. So has anyone actually had a custom order from Warmoth? Are they any good?

TTony

I bought a Warmoth neck a few months back.

It's very nice, no complaints at all.

Pricey though, and you have to add another c20% of the total price you pay Warmoth to cover UK import duties, VAT and parcelfarce charges.

octatonic

They make excellent stuff but think about any purchase carefully.

You may end up spending over a grand by the time you get it shipped in and tax paid etc.

A large portion of that is dead money if you decide not to keep it.

Expect a £1000 warmoth build to be worth £400 used- less if you go for something *REALLY* weird.

Many people have found this to be the case, including me.

Considering you can get a secondhand Fender USA for around £500, IMHO Warmoth are just not worth taking the chance that you might not like it.

Remember these is no guarantee that a Warmoth build will be what you want- I've put a few together now and found them to be quit different from what I imagined they would be.

If you're ok with all of this, then go for it.

JookyChap

I've had a few necks and they have been excellent - though I've known people complain that the Pro ones (with the fancy double truss rod) are heavy. Never tried their bodies mind, but I had a couple of partsacasters made with their parts and they were really top quality. Musikraft are worth a look too

Octatonic is bang on about the resale values though..

spacecadet

Cheers gents. It's not totally out of the ordinary. See below. I know I would potentially lose money if I ever wanted to re sell but fortunately I'm not like I am with pedals with my guitars. I have used the same ones for 10+ years. I'm more concerned with the quality. If I'm right in thinking it's Custom Shop quality for the right money I'd be a happy bunny. This is my body creation. The neck would be fairly simple flame maple with a rosewood board.

dindude

I would definately also consider Musikraft for a Charvel type build, they do a specific Charvel body with deeper contours and you can select the wider neck pocket so it would likely be more authentic (if that's what Guthrie has, don't know).

Headphones

I'd echo much of the above, but one point to add is that the fingerboards often come with VERY SHARP edges.

They seem to build the necks very well (bodies are faultless in my experience) and in all other aspects they are excellent, but where most manufacturers round the corner between fingerboard face and the side/back of the neck to some extent, several I've had you could shave with.

While this is easy to rectify on a rosewood or similar board, with a little work, on a maple neck this is a real challenge to resolve without damage to the finish.

Even so, once dressed and built, my Warmoth Strat is by far the best guitar I've ever owned, and better than nearly all I've played.

Andyjr1515

I think I echo most of the above.  In my experience, they are superb quality, good choice of styles and finishes and reliable delivery (and I find a lot that comes from USA isn't).  However, they are top whack for price and you won't be able to sell on without a very significant drop.

If it's for yourself, though, go for it :-)

Handsome_Chris

Be careful what you ask for, as you may well not get it.  I believe that Tony McKenzie got tucked up by them quite nicely.

Handsome_Chris

How about asking a British luthier for parts? Someone like Sims Custom?  Not only do they play by our trading rules,they can do stuff like this - 

http://1.2.3.12/bmi/www.simscustom.com/images/gallery/mar2005_updates/chrome_zone/large/21.jpg

GuitarMonkey

Handsome_Chris said:

How about asking a British luthier for parts? Someone like Sims Custom?  Not only do they play by our trading rules,they can do stuff like this - 

You'd never get a Warmoth body with such untidy routs.  :P

axisus

I bought a Warmoth neck off of ebay and it is superb. I guess the edges were maybe tidied up by the previous owner?

Not too impressed with Sims. My neck from them was expensive and had scratchy fret ends. Had to get the ever helpful Feline guitars to tidy it up, but it added to the overall cost.

Body above must have been spray only as Sims use CNC.

breadfan

I've been meaning to open a similar Warmoth thread for the past week.

(Spacecadet, I hope you don't mind me jumping in on this - I was going to open my own thread but I figure it would be more useful to have the Warmoth info in one. Let me know if you disagree & I'll open a new thread )

I'm just looking for a neck myself, for a MIM 60s Tele - I intend to purchase a body further down the line. 

I'm undecided between a Pro & a Vintage Modern. I was leaning towards the Pro as I'd read they're very stable but JookyChap's comment above about their weight is somewhat off-putting. What do you guys reckon?

I've my eye on a '59 Roundback style, as I prefer playing LPs over anything else. Has anyone here tried this shape? I've read lots of positive reviews on other forums. I was thinking about a 12" radius fretboard, rosewood, & medium jumbo frets. Basically as close as I can get to an LP but with the longer scale length.

Should I expect to have to do some work on the heel / neck pocket in order to get it to fit? Do I need to be concerned about screws not lining up here too?

How is Warmoth's fretwork?

Is it worth getting them to install a nut?

I'll be getting it finished too so it's working out very expensive. I'm hoping to avoid regrets!

Headphones

My experience is that they are a direct fit with no fettling beyond basic set up work, no pocket sanding, filing, etc, merely align and fit.

The fret work was excellent, the RW's didn't need anything at all to play very well, while the maples have needed a scrape to remove the finish, then a polish.

If you get one with a fitted nut it is every bit as good as a production guitar; perfectly playable, but can be improved by a knowledgeable expert (but not a thirteen year old...).

The real joy of Warmoth (and the others) is you can get what you want - I wanted a Clapton profile, with a flatter radius and Rosewood - which isn't out there, and even though it was bespoke, it's cheaper than a real Clapton neck second hand.  It's really a question of choice Vs price.

hywelg

Warmoths fretwork is good but not perfect. If you like an ultralow action you will have to factor in a fret dress. I have two of their necks and three bodies and the standard is very good, though the neck pocket on one strat was a tiny amount out of line and had to be sanded to get the neck in.

I will buy from them again simply because you can get what you want (well for Fenders anyway, they stopped doing LP style bodies) and I like wide necks which you can't get anywhere else unless you go custom. The custom made Tele neck I have was about on a par with the Warmoths quality wise.

The finish on the tele body was excellent, my two strats I sprayed myself. It took far too long and I learnt a lot but I should have paid them to do it.

WezV

they do claim to be playable from the box... and about 90% of the time they are, which i think is pretty reasonable considering the neck has just been shipped half way round the world to get to you.

but there is a difference between "playable" and "plays the best it possible can".   10% will require extra fretwork to get them playable, the other 90% will still benefit from the same work to really make them shine.   for me, like all new necks, the edges are too sharp and fret ends too defined

spacecadet

To be fair, I have played some very expensive guitars that needed lots of setting up, dressing etc. I think for the price they are for a totally custom designed neck a bit of work my end wouldn't be too much hassle. Thanks very much for all the feedback.

@breadfan no problem at all. Join the party!

matone

Have had a few Warmoth necks/bodies,all good quality but agree about fretboard edges being sharp.
If you go for anything with figuring it starts to rack the price up steeply.
Only have one Musikraft neck which was superb out of the box,MUCH more comfortable to play as well.
HTH.

ThePrettyDamned

I love my warmoth jazzmaster. I got a bare body and wudtoned it, then loaded it with oil cities finest. Sounds beautiful. Doesn't play great, really, but it's a jazzmaster - 12s and a high action means loads of overtones from the bridge but a little tougher to play. Had to shim the neck, but it wasn't a warmoth one.

Going to do another one in the next year, either a warmoth strat or tele (but high output pickups and fancy switching) or a precision guitar kit lp, or a UK made prs style. Again, I'll wudtone.

If you don't mind me asking, what's different about Guthrie guitar? From your mockup it just looks like... Well, a superstrat, and charvel, Jackson, ibanez etc have pretty much perfected that art, and are reasonably priced used. Or new.

Edit: despite import duty, I found warmoth to be among the cheapest *quality* bodies with a range of wood choices. Usacg were definitely more expensive. Look on the ready made body and neck sections and, trust me, you'll find bargains. I'm using a wenge or maple and ebony neck next time.

breadfan

spacecadet said:

@breadfan no problem at all. Join the party! 

Cheers matey

matone said:

Have had a few Warmoth necks/bodies,all good quality but agree about fretboard edges being sharp.
If you go for anything with figuring it starts to rack the price up steeply.
Only have one Musikraft neck which was superb out of the box,MUCH more comfortable to play as well.
HTH.

Thanks for this, I've done some more research & I'm leaning towards a Musikraft neck instead.

I can't decide which truss rod to get though - Dual Action or Single Action. 

I've read the Dual can be quite heavy and it makes the guitar sound different. How different, I don't know. I'm after a vintage Tele sound! Could you guys help me out?

Lixarto

Well, no vintage Tele has a dual action rod.