Warmoth Guitars

[stonabus]

Re: Warmoth Guitars

i like them. i have ASSEMBLED a handful of their guitars. its fun, but really expensive.

the only thing i dont like, is they dont dress the fret-ends consistently. their finish work is good, but spendy.

like rob said, be prepared to spend at least a thou.

 

[JustWendell]

Re: Warmoth Guitars

I'm in the process of assembling a tele from a usacg body and neck(had them finish the neck since this is my first project). I'm up to over $700 now (this is with me finishing the body) and have at least $300 more to go on electronics/pickups/tuners ect. Definately not a cheap project by any means, but I am enjoying the experience and I know I will love the final product. If you plan on doing your finishing http://www.reranch.com/ is a great place to get paint.

 

[theodie]

Re: Warmoth Guitars

I will say I don't like their neck finishes AT ALL. Really heavy poly over everything, even the frets...

I agree and that sucks. Like I said, USACG is the way to go and they usually dont need the leveling/dressing near as bad if at all like Warmoths need. I have seen neck finishes on USACG stuff, personally, I have not seen a better finish job on a neck.

 

[sosomething]

Re: Warmoth Guitars

I had thought so. Their gloss seems to be a little thick, or thick enough to bother some. Some like it, some don't. It doesn't bother me so much and if I was buying a Strat or Tele, I wouldn't let that turn me away, but I prefer a satin finish on the neck of I can get it. A notched penny is really good for taking off finish from frets.

My neck had their satin finish.

ALL their neck finishes are poly - you get gloss or "satin," but to Warmoth "satin" just means "gloss that doesn't get polished" so it's essentially the same finish. It actually created more drag on the back of the neck than a gloss would have, and by the time I broke it in from playing and it was no longer sticky.... it was gloss anyway.

I wouldn't mind so much if they didn't INSIST you get a finish on your neck to honor their warranty. If you order a raw maple neck, for example, and want to finish it yourself, you're told that it's not under any kind of warranty whatsoever.

 

[theodie]

Re: Warmoth Guitars

My neck had their satin finish.

ALL their neck finishes are poly - you get gloss or "satin," but to Warmoth "satin" just means "gloss that doesn't get polished" so it's essentially the same finish. It actually created more drag on the back of the neck than a gloss would have, and by the time I broke it in from playing and it was no longer sticky.... it was gloss anyway.

I wouldn't mind so much if they didn't INSIST you get a finish on your neck to honor their warranty. If you order a raw maple neck, for example, and want to finish it yourself, you're told that it's not under any kind of warranty whatsoever.

There is nothing wrong with Poly, what is wrong is Warmoth cakes the crap on.

 

[sosomething]

Re: Warmoth Guitars

There is nothing wrong with Poly, what is wrong is Warmoth cakes the crap on.

Oh, I agree. I was just responding to the person who asked if their neck finishes were "poly or satin," like satin was something other than poly. That's all. I have no problem with polyurethane finishes in general...

 

[ErikH]

Re: Warmoth Guitars

I know their satin finish is poly, I just didn't specifiy it because I had said "gloss poly or satin", which to me can mean poly for both. Sorry if that was confusing.

Warmoth does allow you to finish the neck yourself without voiding the warranty. Here's an excerpt from the bottom of the neck finishes page.

For a valid warranty, a hard finish must be sufficiently thick to completely cover the wood. That means no wood is exposed and you are actually playing on the finish, not the wood. Now, it does not matter to us who applies the finish. Of course we would like to do the finish for you, but if you choose to do it yourself or have it done elsewhere the warranty is still valid.

 

[sosomething]

Re: Warmoth Guitars

I know their satin finish is poly, I just didn't specifiy it because I had said "gloss poly or satin", which to me can mean poly for both. Sorry if that was confusing.

Warmoth does allow you to finish the neck yourself without voiding the warranty. Here's an excerpt from the bottom of the neck finishes page.

For a valid warranty, a hard finish must be sufficiently thick to completely cover the wood. That means no wood is exposed and you are actually playing on the finish, not the wood. Now, it does not matter to us who applies the finish. Of course we would like to do the finish for you, but if you choose to do it yourself or have it done elsewhere the warranty is still valid.

Well color me stupid.

Guess I was wrong. Rest assured THAT will never happen again!

OK. There you go.

For what it's worth, I think Warmoth uses really nice woods for their necks and their construction seems very high-quality - I just don't like the finishes.

I had a solid Pau Ferro Strat conversion neck with SS frets from them a while ago and it was phenomenal. Pau needs no finish, so it felt like smooth polished stone. Awesome neck.

 

[ErikH]

Re: Warmoth Guitars

I love Pau Ferro fingerboards. That's one of the features of the SRV Strat that just sucks me in....that neck and fingerboard. One day I will have one. That's my favorite sig that Fender makes.

I keep going back and forth about having them finish the neck or not when I get started on my Thinline Tele project. I can do it myself with some satin poly, just rub it on with a rag. I might stick to that route. When I spec out a project, I usually put in the cost of the finish just to get a good overall estimate.

For about 10 or 11 years, my Warmoth neck that is 13-14 years old had nothing on it but a watco oil finish, about 3 thin coats. That's it. It was pretty much like playing on bare wood. I recently refinished it with satin poly. It's the Warmoth Pro neck, boat profile, but when I got it they didn't call it the "Pro". Can't remember what it was then.

 

[sosomething]

Re: Warmoth Guitars

If you like a Pau fingerboard, you've got to try it for the whole neck. Otherworldly. Ungodly smooth. So smooth you can go too fast.

 

[ErikH]

Re: Warmoth Guitars

I'm just not a fan of how dark wood looks as a neck on Strats or Tele's. It looks weird to me. I'm a maple neck guy, always have been.

 

[big_black]

Re: Warmoth Guitars

Another vote here for USED Warmoth. They are a heck of a deal. I will have spent under $600 by the time I finally finish my Warmoth USACG Tele.

You won't find a super light piece of mahogany looking like this on a production guitar under $2k.

 

[stonabus]

Re: Warmoth Guitars

/\ thats sick bro!
you are gonna love that bridge, btw.

 

[big_black]

Re: Warmoth Guitars

/\ thats sick bro!
you are gonna love that bridge, btw.

Thanks!

The Barden bridge is awesome, it came with the body. The sucker intonates easier than any other bridge I have used before - up to the 17th fret with very little fiddling.

 

[stonabus]

Re: Warmoth Guitars

nice :thumbsup:

 

[Naps]

Re: Warmoth Guitars

If your looking at some prices for bodies and necks, check out their showcase -

Body -
http://www.warmoth.com/showcase/sc_guitar_bodies.cfm?type=guitar

Neck-
http://www.warmoth.com/showcase/sc_guitar_necks.cfm?type=guitar

And as eveyone else has mentioned, include the electronics, bridge, tuners, etc. in your calculations

 

[Stirt]

Re: Warmoth Guitars

Just correcting misinformation here:

ALL their neck finishes are poly - you get gloss or "satin," but to Warmoth "satin" just means "gloss that doesn't get polished" so it's essentially the same finish

The Satin sprayed by Warmoth is a Catalyzed Lacquer. The glosses are a Polyurethane. The Satin does go on very thin for those wanting a thin finish yet still tough enough to protect the wood.

 

[sosomething]

Re: Warmoth Guitars

Just correcting misinformation here:



The Satin sprayed by Warmoth is a Catalyzed Lacquer. The glosses are a Polyurethane. The Satin does go on very thin for those wanting a thin finish yet still tough enough to protect the wood.

Then someone made a grievous error with on my birdseye maple Wolfgang-style neck, because that stuff was DEFINITELY poly and thick enough to choke a camel.

It also came the opposite of smooth - it was rough. It stayed rough and created drag until my palm smoothed it out from use, at which point it became a gloss finish.

 

[jmh151]

Re: Warmoth Guitars

Then someone made a grievous error with on my birdseye maple Wolfgang-style neck, because that stuff was DEFINITELY poly and thick enough to choke a camel.

It also came the opposite of smooth - it was rough. It stayed rough and created drag until my palm smoothed it out from use, at which point it became a gloss finish.

Funny, I bought a birdseye maple Wolfgang profile, strathead Warmoth off Ebay. It had the satin finish, but it was still a little glossy.

I sanded off the back of the neck and did Dan Erlewine's trick of spreading superglue on the bare wood and sanding it smooth. It's a PITA to do but worth it, next time I'll just order a bare wood neck and tru-oil it

 

[sosomething]

Re: Warmoth Guitars

Funny, I bought a birdseye maple Wolfgang profile, strathead Warmoth off Ebay. It had the satin finish, but it was still a little glossy.

I sanded off the back of the neck and did Dan Erlewine's trick of spreading superglue on the bare wood and sanding it smooth. It's a PITA to do but worth it, next time I'll just order a bare wood neck and tru-oil it

That's exactly what I would do if I ever order another Warmoth neck that needs finished.

To be perfectly clear - I have NO problems whatsoever with the quality of their wood or workmanship. Every piece I have ordered from them has been absolutely gorgeous and perfect in terms of woodworking.

I just really don't like their finishes, that's all. I find they glob the clearcoat on very thickly. The two bodies I ordered from them (one alder/bocote, one mahogany/maple) were both finished and tonally deader than a plastic doornail. The one finished neck I received has of course already been documented in this thread.

I might order from them again, some day. I'd like to put together a super strat with a mahogany body and pau ferro neck. I would tung-oil the body and leave the neck bare.