How much does a custom neck usually cost?

M

marvelous_seven

New member
Specs:
Quartersawn Maple back
Ebony fingerboard
Stainless steel 6100 frets
Dual action truss rod w/ spoke nut wheel adjustment
No inlay,just side dots

Warmoth quotes me around >$300,while a famous luthier Gilles DeNeve in my place charge me around $200-250 for the exact same specs.
I could easily save a little bit for the price Gilles offered me,but still too much for a Warmoth neck,even Warmoth doesn't offer the headstock that I want (Jackson Broderick sig headstock that is).
So I just wanna ask you guys,are those prices reasonable? :scratchch
I'm not in hurry,though,so feel free to give some thoughts and insights
 
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Re: How much does a custom neck usually cost?

Warmoth is where you want to go IMO. You can order that neck with a paddle headstock, and then cut the style you want.
 
Re: How much does a custom neck usually cost?

I'd say go with the luthier. From what I've heard, most Warmoth necks need a bit of work put into them - fret dressing and such - and I presume your local luthier would include that. Plus, although they're both American businesses, supporting your local luthier is always a plus.
 
Re: How much does a custom neck usually cost?

Agileguy_101 said:
I'd say go with the luthier. From what I've heard, most Warmoth necks need a bit of work put into them - fret dressing and such - and I presume your local luthier would include that. Plus, although they're both American businesses, supporting your local luthier is always a plus.
Click to expand...

The luthier is Dutch,he's not American,and I'm Indonesian. :D
Yeah that pricing he gave me also include fretwork and setup,so I guess I'm a bit on his price than Warmoth's. :thanks:
 
Re: How much does a custom neck usually cost?

marvelous_seven said:
The luthier is Dutch,he's not American,and I'm Indonesian. :D
Yeah that pricing he gave me also include fretwork and setup,so I guess I'm a bit on his price than Warmoth's. :thanks:
Click to expand...

Whoops, missed that lol.
Then there's another thing you'll have to take into consideration - international shipping, import duties, and any other fees I may be missing.
 
Re: How much does a custom neck usually cost?

Yeah,I thought about that too. It seems I could get two custom necks from my luthier for the price of a complete neck from Warmoth. :D
Cheers man
 
Re: How much does a custom neck usually cost?

I would check out some of this luthier's work before making a decision. If it's good quality then I'd go with him for the low price and other reasons mentioned above. I wouldn't trust him if I hadn't at least heard some opinions of it from his past customers or preferably tried it out myself. If the quality is questionable then I'd look into other local luthiers or just go with Warmoth.
 
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Re: How much does a custom neck usually cost?

Kam makes a good point, not all luthiers are created equal. I'd add that you really want to find very very recent opinions of his work. A few years back I ordered some custom parts from a guy on the old eddievanhalen.com forums (an unofficial site, now just halen.com iirc) who had a reputation for making amazing replicas of evh guitars that other forumites had bought from him. I wanted something based on 5150, but with a few tweaks of my own, and what I got from him was ok, but not the level of perfection that his reputation implied and it had some small but significant issues that I ended up needing to get a localish luthier to sort out for me. A year or two later and the same guy has his name smeared across the forums with people who's orders hadn't been fulfilled long after he took their money, the few who did receive their gear got shoddy crap, and there were various posts about getting lawyers and police involved.
 
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Re: How much does a custom neck usually cost?

No idea about international duties, shipping and taxes, but I bought a neck from Soulmate guitars that I couldn't have been happier with and it ran about $300.
Exactly what I wanted, including my own custom headstock shape and stainless steel frets perfectly dressed.

I've also purchased a couple of used Warmoth necks and had no complaints about them.

MM
 
Re: How much does a custom neck usually cost?

Think about it... you get it from warmoth, and something is a bit off or you want it a little thinner etc. what do you do? call send it back and wait. IF they agree to correcting it.

A luthier, you can go into his shop and try it and give him feedback. plus he could measure your guitar body's neck pocket EXACTLY, to insure a secure fit. I find working with luthiers in person to be a very rewarding experience, and with a low price like $250 you can't go wrong.

I bought up a handful of necks from ebay and practiced shaping them. Used a 25 inch PVC pipe that i cut into a quarter circle and a half circle and used that( with sand paper glued to the inside) for the big rough work and did some on a piece of sandpaper adheared to a work bench for some flattening/angle work. Just make sure you tape off the fretboard!

After a big long time of being picky and such, I started getting consistent in this crude technique. So I bit my lip and shaped my own #1 guitars neck. Its a 2007 melodymaker with SD JB and duckbucker. I went with an asymmetrical profile that gets thinner toward the body/high frets. It was a set neck so, i had to shorten my PVC pieces to make them a bit more maneuverable to avoid hitting the body.

I only advise this IF you have some confidence in yourself. Otherwise GO TO A LUTHIER.
 
Re: How much does a custom neck usually cost?

Agileguy_101 said:
From what I've heard, most Warmoth necks need a bit of work put into them - fret dressing and such
Click to expand...

This would be not true. I have purchased several Warmoth necks over the years, and the worst one only needed the fret ends touched up.

I would only go with the local guy if I had 100% confidence in his work.
 
Re: How much does a custom neck usually cost?

marvelous_seven said:
Specs:
Quartersawn Maple back
Ebony fingerboard
Stainless steel 6100 frets
Dual action truss rod w/ spoke nut wheel adjustment
No inlay,just side dots

Warmoth quotes me around >$300,while a famous luthier Gilles DeNeve in my place charge me around $200-250 for the exact same specs.
I could easily save a little bit for the price Gilles offered me,but still too much for a Warmoth neck,even Warmoth doesn't offer the headstock that I want (Jackson Broderick sig headstock that is).
So I just wanna ask you guys,are those prices reasonable? :scratchch
I'm not in hurry,though,so feel free to give some thoughts and insights
Click to expand...

Yeah, those are great prices.

I am expecting to shell out about $400 for the neck I need made. I am going with USACG, though, because I read on the internet that they are the best.
 
Re: How much does a custom neck usually cost?

Ayrton said:
This would be not true. I have purchased several Warmoth necks over the years, and the worst one only needed the fret ends touched up.

I would only go with the local guy if I had 100% confidence in his work.
Click to expand...

I've bought a few necks. Warmoth I've never had issues with. I've had necks built by unknown outgrows, and had problems, namely the wood wasn't properly dried causing problems down the line. War moths wood is kiln dried
 
Re: How much does a custom neck usually cost?

For the record I've known his works are professionally done because I've seen it myself. He was doing a full setup order for my friend's guitar, which I recommend him to,so it's like my friend's guitar is my test lab rat to see how the luthier do his job LOL :D
And the guitar's back to my friend's arm just like you'd see a new guitar. There isn't any shoddy job at least from what I recall yesterday.
So I take my mahogany strat to him to get repainted and some major curing process because the body didn't dried properly. He then took the body to a kiln drying and a week later the body feels much lighter.
At first I'm a bit skeptical (just as many of you who have experienced dealing with a "luthier"),but I can't be much happier. The guitar hasn't back to me yet,because it's in finishing process but I always try to check him up to see what he is doing with my baby (just around 45 min-1 hour driving from my place).

Even so,I'm asking your opinion about pricing because when he quoted me that price I'm shocked because I never order any custom neck before.
But I guess I'm in the right hand now :)
 
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Re: How much does a custom neck usually cost?

Well there you go then!

Post up some pics when it is finished.
 
Re: How much does a custom neck usually cost?

Go with Warmouth...so far all of the necks from them have been wonderful including a reverse headstock exotic wood neck
 
Re: How much does a custom neck usually cost?

I have 2 Warmoth necks on 2 different Strats. They are both solid as a rock. I have a 3rd neck that was purchased through Mucicraft and it is ok but not as good as the Warmoth. The truss rod has a tendency to rattle with sympathetic notes every once in a while. They build the necks with no tension on the rod, so if its loose it can vibrate a bit. next time I set it up I have to address it. The Warmoth necks are great. I have one that is byrdseye maple with Brazillian rosewood and the other is a quarter sawn neck with brazillian rosewood. Great great necks
 
Re: How much does a custom neck usually cost?

Sounds like the local guy will give you just what you want and you like his work. Both prices are great IMO for the specs you listed. Warmoth can always be your backup, since it's a known quantity to a lot of people here and elsewhere. Outside of an occasional problem you hear about with Warmoth, they are consistently above average in what they provide.

Post up pics when you get your neck.
 
Re: How much does a custom neck usually cost?

Nobody mentioned USACG?
Great necks that need little or no work.

They even have some web specials that are a bit cheaper.

I bought a web special maple neck a few years ago and love it.
 
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