New Warmoth Guitar Day!

[Mincer]

OK, I have a thread for the neck that got here about a month or so ago, and the body just showed up today.

It is a Soloist HH, and here I will document the assembly. I have all the parts, although I might eventually order some Custom Shop pickups.

First, a reminder...here is the neck. It is scalloped, and made of the African hardwood padouk, which doesn't need a finish.








The body is a color called 'Cinder Red' which sounds like an orange-red metalflake. In reality it is also a little coppery, too, and matches the neck perfectly.




More in-process pics to come as I start to assemble this....

 

[chadd]

That definitely has some potential, looking forward to the build

 

[GuitarStv]

I love that neck.

 

[Masta' C]

Oh wow! Cool combo!

Can't wait to see this come together!

 

[Mincer]

Over the next week or so I will be resisting the temptation to either stay up all night finishing it, or rushing through it.
The hardware will be black, and the pickups will be a Custom Custom and Alnico II Pro. It will have a 5 way switch with my Do it All wiring. The tuners are locking Hipshots, and the bridge will be a VegaTrem.

 

[GuitarStv]

Why did you go with the vegan trem over a regular omnivorous one? Ethical reasons?

 

[donaldr]

Over the next week or so I will be resisting the temptation to either stay up all night finishing it, or rushing through it.
The hardware will be black, and the pickups will be a Custom Custom and Alnico II Pro. It will have a 5 way switch with my Do it All wiring. The tuners are locking Hipshots, and the bridge will be a VegaTrem.

I'm surprised you didn't try something less conventional for pickups, like a PATB-3 bridge and PATB-1 neck.

 

[Mincer]

I'm surprised you didn't try something less conventional for pickups, like a PATB-3 bridge and PATB-1 neck.

Well, right now, I am using what I have. I might get a Custom Shop set made, and I am not apposed to the PATBs at all.

 

[Mincer]

Why did you go with the vegan trem over a regular omnivorous one? Ethical reasons?

All those poached trems stripped of their hardware

 

[Sam SG]

Nice:headbang:

 

[jeremy]

love the body paint! should be a sweet guitar once its together

 

[Mincer]

...and I'll be playing jazz on this thing, which will make it even cooler.

 

[magillver]

Jazz on a scooped fingerboard, should be interesting!

 

[magillver]

... scalloped, sorry....

 

[Chistopher]

The grain on the fretboard looks really cool

 

[Mincer]

Jazz on a scooped fingerboard, should be interesting!

Indeed! Been doing that for over 20 years.

 

[Mincer]

A small update:
Wiring was a beast...my eyes are not as great as the last time I wired up a super switch. Also, the Bournes low-friction pots gave me a bit of trouble as solder doesn't want to stick to the back of them unless they are sanded a bit. Halfway through the wiring process I got my Sterling Luke, so I paused this to give my eyes a rest and to do a setup on that.

The DiMarzio Super Switch is really stiff, so I have to look into what is going on with that. I don't see it being obstructed in any way, so it could just loosen up over time with use.

The neck and body are together! I will take some more pics later, but I couldn't have matched the color these any better. Next is adding the VegaTrem, then centering and wood-mounting the pickups (they are held in with painters tape right now). I am going to install brass inserts into the pickup cavity instead of drilling out the baseplate tabs and using wood screws. This will allow me to use regular machine screws to mount them (with some foam underneath).

Once I hear what this guitar sounds like, I will decide if I need to swap out the pickup set I am using (APH-1, CC). I might splurge on a Custom Shop set if I go that route (Antiquites, but with rails? Who knows).

Fun fact, while I was researching which Super Switch to get, I came upon a DiMarzio wiring harness that does essentially what I did. Pricey! But I haven't translated how that works compared to my wiring. No mention on the DiMarzio site if positions 2 & 4 are hum-cancelling of if you need to flip a magnet.

 

[Mincer]

OK, here are some pics...

I have locking Hipshot open gear tuners, and an LSR nut (which isn't just a cool idea, it *sounds* good, too). It has Schaller strap locks, and a VegaTrem. 1 vol, 1 tone, and 5 position Do It All wiring. The pots are DiMarzio (sorry, but I like the taper). The pickups are Alnico II Pro and Custom Custom, which sound great. In the future, if I decide on Custom Shop pickups, I might do something really out there, like Antiquity Rails, or something like that. But what I have sounds good enough that it isn't a priority.

The color is called cinder red, and is actually more copper-y in person...a really interesting color. The raw padouk neck really matches the body color.

 

[ehdwuld]

Hideous

Luv it

Thst red is the thing man!!

 

[solspirit]

I love that color, I think that maybe a black headstock would look good.