How good is good? (guitar bodies)

[UCSDBoy]

I've had it in my head for the longest time to build a mahogony hardtail strat or tele. I was so into it that today I bought a strip of mahogony (doubles as new shims for my trem block) and some red dye and I was really pleased with how the stain turned out...

Next stop is a body, right? On the cheap side, I could get a Carvin bolt+ kit for about 400 and change. Not the best name, but I think their quality is actually pretty excellent. Or I could get just a warmoth body right now for about 175 and get the rest of the parts later. Or I could say screw it all and buy that new Ibanez Hardtail for about 260 bucks finished, or just buy a nice Fender special...

My question is, how good is good, guys? Are the korean guitars still sub-par wood wise? Or is it just that the labor is cheaper? Is the Carvin just as good as the Warmoth, or probably not as good... Is Warmoth all it's cracked up to be? And is one of their bodies really better than an American Fender? I'm just not sure anymore...

[ArtieToo]

Re: How good is good? (guitar bodies)

You sound like your trying to make some of the same decisions that I am.
With a wife, kids, cats, dogs, and a mortgage, I have to watch every penny.
Folks will probably get tired of me waving the Peavey flag, but if you're trying to save money, its really hard to beat those early-to-mid '80's MIA Peavey's on eBay. T-60's, T-15's, Predator's and Patriots go for $100 to $200 all the time, and they're pretty decent guitars. (IMHO)

I just scored a Patriot for $150, and it plays great. (Needs "Duncanized", of course.)

If price isn't an object, its hard to beat a USACG or Warmoth.

Edit: One last thing. I'm actually thinking of upgrading the body of this Patriot to a USACG mahogany or Swamp Ash. It wouldn't be too difficult to duplicate this one, and the Peavey neck is great. Just another thought.