On several boards I see the complaint of 'bolt on' guitars, and in particular bolt on les pauls. People tend to think that bolt on is a bad thing, and especially on les pauls. sure, they aren't really as they have been, but hell, we have neckthru strats, and those arent original too, right? so why not reverse the thinking, and make a bolt on les paul?
warmoth has been doing that for many years, with success. the reason, I think, people dislike bolt on guitars/les pauls is that bolt-on is associated with sloppy neckpockets and guitars going out of tune very easily. that is the truth, unfortunatily. I believe we all have had, at one point or another in our 'guitar-carreers' a crappy squier or stagg or whatever crap-o-caster you have in your country, with sloppy neckpockets and wobbly necks.
Another truth is, though, that a neckpocket that has been routed perfectly, aka, a neckpocket were you can do this:
holding the body on the neck, just by presure, without glue or screws, makes a neck-body joint that is equally as good as neckthru, set thru or just set-in. why shouldn't it? after all, the neck makes contact with all the sides of the body (bottom, left, right, 'below', everywhere, actually, except the top, but that is logical since there you've got the fretboard!). Sure, the screws and the different contactspots make a different sound, I can know, I've got 5 warmoth les pauls, and i've had over my carreer at least 15 gibson les pauls, ranging from a 1970 custom to a 2004 customshop standard. but is that perse worse? I dont think so. In a gibson, the neck only makes contact on the side. the 'bottom' of the neck (the flat piece on which the screws will get perpendicular in the end) makes no contact with the body, on a gibson-style guitar, what soever. only on the side. I calculated it, and thats almost a loss of 50% body-neck contact, compared with a bolt on les paul.
I believe that a neck that has been glued, wether set or neckthru, makes no difference in stability compared with a bolt on. the only difference is the sound, but what IS the sounddifference?
well, i believe its general knowledge that a bolt-on guitar always has a bit more 'bite' than glued in. that is logical too, since there is no glue to dampen the vibrations. that is something i experienced with my warmoths too. they have absolutely the 'real' les paul sound, and yeah, they beat out the 'real deal' with ease. Only, they have a bit more 'bite'. compare it with the difference of a rosewood board vs an ebony board. just a little nuance, nothing more.
well, what do you guys think? oh, I will post some eye candy too
the specs (looking at the 2nd pic from the top):
tobaccoburst:
mahogany back on AAAAflamed maple top
rio grande BBQ/TX set
wenge neck
maccasar ebony board
fireburst:
chambered mahogany back, AAAAquilt maple top
JB/Jazz set
padouk neck
macassar ebony board
both of these still have to get new inlay. I HATE the dots, but hey, they were for sale on the warmoth website, i just couldn't have somebody else have them
the middle guitar:
flamed koa top
walnut back
3 gibson pafs (now, on the pic its still a telecaster bridge pickup)
ziricote neckback (boy, this is SMOOOTTHHH and it rocks too! its my favorite neck)
macassar ebony fingerboard with custom inlay
the purple quilt:
AAAAAquilt on chambered mahogany
brazilian rosewood neck
braz. rosewood fingerboard
kent armstrong motherbuckers in bridge and neckpositions (nowadays, on the pic its custommade pickups)
seymour duncan prails in the middle, all black
hipshot tremolo
sperzel tuners
the purple flame/burst:
AAAAAflametop on flamed black korina
custom finish (my own design!)
rio rosewood neck
rio rosewood fingerboard
custom inlay
hipshot tremolo
bareknuckle pickups, miracle man in neck and bridge. faux pickup in middle for looks
sperzel tuners
and yes, I play them all, and no, I have no favorite above all, allthough I have to say that the tobaccob. and fireb. guitars arent the guitars I'd pick first.
part of the family
enjoy the pics, and enjoy my story/ideas, and I'd love to see a nice debate going on
warmoth has been doing that for many years, with success. the reason, I think, people dislike bolt on guitars/les pauls is that bolt-on is associated with sloppy neckpockets and guitars going out of tune very easily. that is the truth, unfortunatily. I believe we all have had, at one point or another in our 'guitar-carreers' a crappy squier or stagg or whatever crap-o-caster you have in your country, with sloppy neckpockets and wobbly necks.
Another truth is, though, that a neckpocket that has been routed perfectly, aka, a neckpocket were you can do this:
holding the body on the neck, just by presure, without glue or screws, makes a neck-body joint that is equally as good as neckthru, set thru or just set-in. why shouldn't it? after all, the neck makes contact with all the sides of the body (bottom, left, right, 'below', everywhere, actually, except the top, but that is logical since there you've got the fretboard!). Sure, the screws and the different contactspots make a different sound, I can know, I've got 5 warmoth les pauls, and i've had over my carreer at least 15 gibson les pauls, ranging from a 1970 custom to a 2004 customshop standard. but is that perse worse? I dont think so. In a gibson, the neck only makes contact on the side. the 'bottom' of the neck (the flat piece on which the screws will get perpendicular in the end) makes no contact with the body, on a gibson-style guitar, what soever. only on the side. I calculated it, and thats almost a loss of 50% body-neck contact, compared with a bolt on les paul.
I believe that a neck that has been glued, wether set or neckthru, makes no difference in stability compared with a bolt on. the only difference is the sound, but what IS the sounddifference?
well, i believe its general knowledge that a bolt-on guitar always has a bit more 'bite' than glued in. that is logical too, since there is no glue to dampen the vibrations. that is something i experienced with my warmoths too. they have absolutely the 'real' les paul sound, and yeah, they beat out the 'real deal' with ease. Only, they have a bit more 'bite'. compare it with the difference of a rosewood board vs an ebony board. just a little nuance, nothing more.
well, what do you guys think? oh, I will post some eye candy too
the specs (looking at the 2nd pic from the top):
tobaccoburst:
mahogany back on AAAAflamed maple top
rio grande BBQ/TX set
wenge neck
maccasar ebony board
fireburst:
chambered mahogany back, AAAAquilt maple top
JB/Jazz set
padouk neck
macassar ebony board
both of these still have to get new inlay. I HATE the dots, but hey, they were for sale on the warmoth website, i just couldn't have somebody else have them
the middle guitar:
flamed koa top
walnut back
3 gibson pafs (now, on the pic its still a telecaster bridge pickup)
ziricote neckback (boy, this is SMOOOTTHHH and it rocks too! its my favorite neck)
macassar ebony fingerboard with custom inlay
the purple quilt:
AAAAAquilt on chambered mahogany
brazilian rosewood neck
braz. rosewood fingerboard
kent armstrong motherbuckers in bridge and neckpositions (nowadays, on the pic its custommade pickups)
seymour duncan prails in the middle, all black
hipshot tremolo
sperzel tuners
the purple flame/burst:
AAAAAflametop on flamed black korina
custom finish (my own design!)
rio rosewood neck
rio rosewood fingerboard
custom inlay
hipshot tremolo
bareknuckle pickups, miracle man in neck and bridge. faux pickup in middle for looks
sperzel tuners
and yes, I play them all, and no, I have no favorite above all, allthough I have to say that the tobaccob. and fireb. guitars arent the guitars I'd pick first.
part of the family
enjoy the pics, and enjoy my story/ideas, and I'd love to see a nice debate going on
