Warmoth question, custom tele build!

[Wolfhorsky]

Which is how a lot of Warmoth necks come out.

But, even on new guitars, it's not like Ibanez necks are without fault occasionally.

What neck did you get that was all quartersawn by the way? I don't recall anything current being so. Was it NOS?

They are not specified as quatersawn ones. They are 5 pc maple - thin walnut strip - qs maple - thin walnut - maple. It is more probable that Ibby made flatsawn-into-qaurtersawn trick. The point is, both necks gave really nice and melodic tone under percussion right out of the box. They are stable: one is 2 years and another is 3 years without neccessity for any adjustment. And they are genuine, with finished black headstock (which i like). No ripoffs

 

[spudmunkey]

Meinlshop minus SS frets. Frets are levelled and crowned. Plus rounded fretboard and fret edges. Only not polished. Shipping to Poland 10-20 Euro.

Link?

Seriously:
https://www.meinlshop.de/en/ibanez/spare-parts/e-guitars/necks?page=5
Now, they don’t have the ones i bought in stock..

For what it's worth, this is what I get when I follow that link:

Product not found!
Sorry, we did not find a product matching your search request.
Try again?

 

[Wolfhorsky]

For what it's worth, this is what I get when I follow that link:

I guess i have proven my point perfectly

 

[spudmunkey]

Ahh, I thought your "seriously" was like a "Seriously? I'm incredulous that you would ask for a link for something so easily found on your own.".

 

[Wolfhorsky]

Ahh, I thought your "seriously" was like a "Seriously? I'm incredulous that you would ask for a link for something so easily found on your own.".

All cool. They don't have in stock the ones i have bought. BTW Ibby raised their prices quite a bit
My point is: if You want Warmoth neck - buy it. If You want better price-quality ratio then maybe look elsewhere.
My perspective is/was: EU (shipping and taxes/duties), flat superstar maple neck with maple board. And at that time i looked at Warmoth neck in the first place.

 

[wannabguitarist]

All cool. They don't have in stock the ones i have bought. BTW Ibby raised their prices quite a bit
My point is: if You want Warmoth neck - buy it. If You want better price-quality ratio then maybe look elsewhere.
My perspective is/was: EU (shipping and taxes/duties), flat superstar maple neck with maple board. And at that time i looked at Warmoth neck in the first place.

You can buy brand new Ibanez necks in the EU? Or is this a reseller that's taking apart used guitars?

If it's the former I'd love to find something like that in the US.

 

[Wolfhorsky]

You can buy brand new Ibanez necks in the EU? Or is this a reseller that's taking apart used guitars?

If it's the former I'd love to find something like that in the US.

It is legal company that sells merchandise, spare parts parts of Ibanez, TAMA, Mesa/Boogie etc.
www.meinlshop.de

 

[MaxOfMetal]

You can buy brand new Ibanez necks in the EU? Or is this a reseller that's taking apart used guitars?

If it's the former I'd love to find something like that in the US.

It's the German Ibanez distributor. Their equivalent to Hoshino USA or Efkay (Canada).

 

[Musiscience]

Warmoth seems to be very polarizing. Some people swear by them, saying the quality and price are stellar. Others say they are pretty meh. I am trying to see if this is a consistency issue or just differences in opinion.

Also, from a price perspective, their in-stock is always much cheaper for the same part than their builder. A strat body in the color I want is 342$ in the in-stock. The same body from the builder is upwards of 500$. I assume that if you want something not too specific their in-stock is a great quality/price. Or you can always wait for the part you come to appear in the in-stock to buy.

As for the Ibanez neck debate, I want to build a Tele and not an Ibanez, so this option is off the table from the start. But I do agree that Prestige necks are usually great, so if you can get one for cheap as the starting point of a superstrat project, it might be the way to go. It's nice that Ibanez distributors offer the option at least.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

warmoth makes quite good quality bodies and necks (i own several of each). I've had to do barely any leveling/dressing on the necks, other than slightly rounding the fret ends (which is just personal preference).
in stock is definitely the way to go unless you have very particular specs and need a custom neck.

 

[dmlinger]

I've built 3 Warmoth projects. All great quality parts.

Necks were:
- Roasted flame maple neck/roasted flame maple fretboard
- Wenge neck/ebony fretboard
- Flame maple neck/flame maple fretboard

Warmoth just files and bevels the fret ends, so you'll need to level and dress them no mater what.

As someone stated before, it is all in how skilled the person is in assembling and setting it up. I had to learn, but ended up getting mine to play as well as my Suhr and Regius.

FWIW, Warmoth knows how to do a finish!

 

[MaxOfMetal]

Warmoth seems to be very polarizing. Some people swear by them, saying the quality and price are stellar. Others say they are pretty meh. I am trying to see if this is a consistency issue or just differences in opinion.

Also, from a price perspective, their in-stock is always much cheaper for the same part than their builder. A strat body in the color I want is 342$ in the in-stock. The same body from the builder is upwards of 500$. I assume that if you want something not too specific their in-stock is a great quality/price. Or you can always wait for the part you come to appear in the in-stock to buy.

As for the Ibanez neck debate, I want to build a Tele and not an Ibanez, so this option is off the table from the start. But I do agree that Prestige necks are usually great, so if you can get one for cheap as the starting point of a superstrat project, it might be the way to go. It's nice that Ibanez distributors offer the option at least.

Warmoth parts are not bad, and tend to be really good. There's always going to be a certain level of inconsistency, especially on parts like these that don't get the TLC a complete guitar gets.

I think a lot of people have very high expectations, especially when some Warmoth builds can easily get into the $2k+ range. Folks think they're LEGO sets, and they're not. You're not going to magically get a $6k Suhr/Anderson.

Honestly, Warmoth is best for those who like the journey and project aspects over those who want a "custom" guitar for "cheaper".

 

[Musiscience]

Thanks again for the opinions everybody, that gives me a lot to think about. My other options would be:
-go with a used fender and customize some aspects to my taste.

-go with a Suhr (I love Suhr to bits) and learn to get along with the "classic" specs. I don't have the budget to go custom.

 

[MaxOfMetal]

Thanks again for the opinions everybody, that gives me a lot to think about. My other options would be:
-go with a used fender and customize some aspects to my taste.

-go with a Suhr (I love Suhr to bits) and learn to get along with the "classic" specs. I don't have the budget to go custom.

None of your specs can't be applied later on to a used Suhr, or perhaps a G&L, minus stuff like the roasted neck which will probably be the hardest spec to find if you want to keep the budget lower. If you fall in love with something, get it refinished down the road.

By all means though, Warmoth builds are fun, but if you're more interested in the end result, perhaps take a look at something used that's 90% of the way there and mod it later.

 

[Musiscience]

None of your specs can't be applied later on to a used Suhr, or perhaps a G&L, minus stuff like the roasted neck which will probably be the hardest spec to find if you want to keep the budget lower. If you fall in love with something, get it refinished down the road.

By all means though, Warmoth builds are fun, but if you're more interested in the end result, perhaps take a look at something used that's 90% of the way there and mod it later.

Suhr classic T would definitely be the closest to what I have in mind except for neck shape/pickups/fret size and finish. If money was not an object, I would definitely go the Suhr Custom route. I still keep Warmoth in mind though, if I find a good luthier I’m sure I could make it work.

 

[Jeff]

Hey all!

For the last few days, I have been thinking about building myself my dream Telecaster from Warmoth parts.

There really seems to be nothing on the market at the moment meeting all the checkboxes of what would be my "perfect tele".

Has any of you had previous experience with Warmoth and/or their parts? What kind of quality can I expect from them? How is their Wizard profile? It seem to be rounder than a typical Wizard from the profile pictures.

For anyone curious, here are the specs planned. It would keep the classic tele setup/sound, but with modern appointments, playability and a little hotter pickups for high gain with a tele sound.

Roasted alder body with heel contour.
Goblin Flake finish
All gold gotoh hardware
Pickups: unsure, but leaning toward SD Quarter Pound tele set or Fishman Gristle Tone
White pickguard
Roaster maple flame neck/fretboard with no inlays and side glow dots.
(I will finish the neck myself with tru oil and gunstock wax like EBMM does.)
22 SS 6100 Frets
LSR roller nut.

Here's a pic of the finish:

that's not far off from what I literally ordered yesterday. I did:

• Roasted Ash tele body, belly cut, arm contour, contoured heel
• Roasted flamed maple neck/fretboard
• reversed Tele headstock
• Black pickguard
• Satin trans-red
• Fishman GristleTone pickups

Pretty geeked about it; really don't want to wait 8-10 weeks though!

 

[Musiscience]

that's not far off from what I literally ordered yesterday. I did:

• Roasted Ash tele body, belly cut, arm contour, contoured heel
• Roasted flamed maple neck/fretboard
• reversed Tele headstock
• Black pickguard
• Satin trans-red
• Fishman GristleTone pickups

Pretty geeked about it; really don't want to wait 8-10 weeks though!

Wow that is so similar to what I had in mind except for the color! Please keep me updated, I really want to take the plunge but still a bit hesitant about it.

 

[Jeff]

Wow that is so similar to what I had in mind except for the color! Please keep me updated, I really want to take the plunge but still a bit hesitant about it.

Yeah, I'll post up when I get it. I'm having my tech assemble and wire it, so it really is about getting a custom guitar for less. When you have some that knows how to really set up a guitar, roll the frets, etc, I think there are diminishing returns when you're spending $5000-$6000 on a flat top, bolt on guitar.

 

[USMarine75]

I’ve posted in other threads already... I’m a huge fan of Warmoth. I included a photo of the matching case just because.

All praise to @Randy for the assembly and finishing! 10/10

 

[Musiscience]

Yeah, I'll post up when I get it. I'm having my tech assemble and wire it, so it really is about getting a custom guitar for less. When you have some that knows how to really set up a guitar, roll the frets, etc, I think there are diminishing returns when you're spending $5000-$6000 on a flat top, bolt on guitar.

I'm also planning on finding someone in Montreal who is very experienced in fret work to do the job. Can't wait to see the final result of your order!!!

I’ve posted in other threads already... I’m a huge fan of Warmoth. I included a photo of the matching case just because.

This is sick! What work needed to be done when you received all the parts? Only fret dress, installation of parts and wiring? I guess my biggest worry was that the neck wouldn't fit the body exactly for some reason and need work/shim and etc.