Why are second hand Warmoth necks so expensive in the UK?

ToneControl

They used to be £100-£250, now they all seem to be asking more than £300. I saw one unused one for over £600 today

Buying new starts at $177, so I'd assume around £200 after delivery, duty and taxes

stickyfiddle

ToneControl said:

They used to be £100-£250, now they all seem to be asking more than £300. I saw one unused one for over £600 today

Buying new starts at $177, so I'd assume around £200 after delivery, duty and taxes

Noone buys a 177 neck from Warmoth, and the options get expensive. You can easily spec up to $500 before finishing if you want fancy woods, stainless fret, binding, etc etc

With lead times being several weeks I'm not surprised if selling prices for used are similar to new prices

hywelg

Yes people can be sucked in by all the options and lovely woods available and end up spending more than intended, I know I did!. However if those options aren't what a buyer is looking for then the second hand value will look optimistic or inflated. 

For instance I have a superwide strat neck with ebony board and stainless frets. Cost a bit, but I'd struggle to get anything decent for it secondhand because most people would find it far too big. And having had it Plek'd at Charlie Chandlers I'd not get that cost back but it has the best frets of any guitar I've ever owned. 

Funkfingers

ToneControl said:

Buying new starts at $177, so I'd assume around £200 after delivery, duty and taxes

… and administration charges for sending you a Duty Owing form before your item(s) will be released.

LordBucketHead

I ordered one during lockdown when boredom got the better of me. By the time it arrived on the doorstep from the US it had cost me about £460 ! Even though I've never really used it I wouldn't expect to recoup half of that if I tried to sell it.

gavin_axecaster

ToneControl said:

Buying new starts at $177, so I'd assume around £200 after delivery, duty and taxes

The Warmoth website shows shipping of $132 to UK.

Ridiculously expensive but tells you why second hand necks have gone up now. A new bog standard neck is £251 before duty, VAT and handling at today's exchange rate.

ToneControl

gavin_axecaster said:

ToneControl said:

Buying new starts at $177, so I'd assume around £200 after delivery, duty and taxes

The Warmoth website shows shipping of $132 to UK.

Ridiculously expensive but tells you why second hand necks have gone up now. A new bog standard neck is £251 before duty, VAT and handling at today's exchange rate.

today's exchange rate is around the same as it was in 2016

I think that  UK buyers of second hand necks won't be prepared to compensate the original buyer for inflated shipping fees 
In any case there are cheaper ways to import a neck

Anyway UK prices of used USA-made guitars are not generally derived from the RRP + postage and tax, there is some reality (i.e. what else is available) and brand recognition factored in


btw I found this, could be useful for someone possibly?
https://www.airfoyle.co.uk/warmoth-international-shipping-to-uk/

Lebarque

Lack of UK (quality) neck builders willing to provide Fender headstocks?

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

I didn't really know much about Warmoth necks before reading this thread. For shits and giggles I just went on the Warmoth site and specced a Strat neck to be as tricked out as I would ever dare going. 

Came to $897 + $132 shipping (and presumably some kind of import/customs tax on top)! 

prowla

I have a Warmoth neck on a partscaster; it is rather good.

It cost me £150 s/h six years ago, which is equivalent to about £15k in current prices...

YellowLedBetterMan

Allparts make a most *cromulent* guitar neck for the £150-200 mark, I don't know why you'd need anything else

stickyfiddle

YellowLedBetterMan said:

Allparts make a most *cromulent* guitar neck for the £150-200 mark, I don't know why you'd need anything else

Is it inconceivable that someone might want something a bit more tailored than a boggo allparts? 

impmann

stickyfiddle said:

YellowLedBetterMan said:

Allparts make a most *cromulent* guitar neck for the £150-200 mark, I don't know why you'd need anything else

Is it inconceivable that someone might want something a bit more tailored than a boggo allparts? 

TBH, the boggo Allparts is so bloody good, unless you're after a tarts handbag with shedloads of flame/birdseye or other figuring there's not much point in the uplift (other than the side access truss rods) IMHO.

All the Warmoths that I have worked on had dreadfully 'hard edges' to the fingerboard edge. The rosewood ones weren't too bad to add a rolled edge to, but the maple boarded (and Warmoth finished) ones were impossible to improve. Thankfully their owners seemed to like that feel. Personally, I wasn't a fan... and all of them seemed to have soft frets that wore out quickly (not stainless). Therefore, I'm ambivalent about them - I certainly wouldn't pay a premium to own one.

ToneControl

Dontgiveupyourdayjob said:

I didn't really know much about Warmoth necks before reading this thread. For shits and giggles I just went on the Warmoth site and specced a Strat neck to be as tricked out as I would ever dare going. 

Came to $897 + $132 shipping (and presumably some kind of import/customs tax on top)! 

LOL
what was the spec?

stickyfiddle

To be fair I've never had a Warmoth neck but have multiple from Musikraft. Allparts stuff is fine but you get bugger all choice of fret size or neck profile beyond big or small. And nothing if you don't want trad maple/rosewood combinations. 

I'm not saying Allparts isn't fine, just that some folks want something else. That's where Warmoth & Musikraft come in. 

ToneControl

prowla said:

I have a Warmoth neck on a partscaster; it is rather good.

It cost me £150 s/h six years ago, which is equivalent to about £15k in current prices...

Yeah, asking price often used to be around £200, with some of them cheaper like that

ToneControl

impmann said:

stickyfiddle said:

YellowLedBetterMan said:

Allparts make a most *cromulent* guitar neck for the £150-200 mark, I don't know why you'd need anything else

Is it inconceivable that someone might want something a bit more tailored than a boggo allparts? 

TBH, the boggo Allparts is so bloody good, unless you're after a tarts handbag with shedloads of flame/birdseye or other figuring there's not much point in the uplift (other than the side access truss rods) IMHO.

All the Warmoths that I have worked on had dreadfully 'hard edges' to the fingerboard edge. The rosewood ones weren't too bad to add a rolled edge to, but the maple boarded (and Warmoth finished) ones were impossible to improve. Thankfully their owners seemed to like that feel. Personally, I wasn't a fan... and all of them seemed to have soft frets that wore out quickly (not stainless). Therefore, I'm ambivalent about them - I certainly wouldn't pay a premium to own one.

And surely they are all just CNC machined anyway, how can one be worth nearly £1k?

RocknRollDave

GuitarGuitar Birmingham had official Fender Strat and Tele necks in stock when I went in ladt week,
£279, but of course that’s for off-the-shelf not custom spec.

ToneControl

RocknRollDave said:

GuitarGuitar Birmingham had official Fender Strat and Tele necks in stock when I went in ladt week,
£279, but of course that’s for off-the-shelf not custom spec.

Fender Roasted Maple Stratocaster Neck, 22 Jumbo Frets, 12 Inch Radius, Pau Ferro, Flat Oval Shape | guitarguitar

Mexican made, brand new

ToneControl

ooooh 
baritone necks for £300
Fender Sub Sonic Baritone Stratocaster Neck 22 Medium Jumbo Frets Pau Ferro Fingerboard | guitarguitar

Tim Lerch knows about these

GSPBASSES

Lebarque said:

Lack of UK (quality) neck builders willing to provide Fender headstocks?

I disagree with you completely there, there are quite a few UK builders who will make a neck to whatever specification you want at sensible prices, although it must be said because of the high price of neck's coming in from America, some UK Builders are matching the high prices.

 This is not trying to drum up business for myself, as most of you will know my workshop is closed and may not open again. However, I thought it would be worth mentioning if you want to custom neck search UK Builders I'm sure you'll find one who will do the job.

  If I manage to get well enough to open up my workshop again, I will be offering neck's as I have always done in the past. The photo below shows you what I was offering about a year ago. The 3 Maple/Rosewood neck's sold for £180 + P&P, the Roasted Maple/Rosewood neck sold for £210 + P&P. The neck on the extreme left is the conversion neck, scale length, 24.75" that fits a stander Strat neck pocket.