Re: Warmoth's closest competitor?
In terms of variety, and Website snazziness, no. But in terms of the level of research done to be able to offer accurate reproduction parts (for those who care), and willingness to take on "slightly non-standard" projects, Musikraft and Rutters are the kings IME.
Warmoth are very much locked in to pre-programmed "option sets." Despite their wide general variety, I actually find their specific options structure limiting. They aren't a true custom shop so much as the wood shop equivalent of a salad bar. I've contacted them several times for mild custom work, but they always said no. Dealing with them reminds me of dealing with a robot – one of those automated touch-tone customer service menus that, after taking 30 minutes of your life, still has you in ever so slightly the wrong place.
If you are building a true-to-spec repro, even their "Vintage" parts fall short. I realize most don't care (including myself, in a general sense – only on certain projects), but for those working on repro projects that go a step or two beyond most in terms of accuracy, Warmoth is out of the picture as an option. Not something to hold against them, but something of which to be aware.
On top of that, they seem to be – in general – one of the most expensive places to get stuff. I might be less annoyed by their "nos" if their prices were lower.
Rutters, OTOH, can build pretty much whatever you want, and he welcomes little changes and such. And while his hardware is outrageously priced, his wood parts are incredibly cheap for hand built to order pieces with options. For bound bodies in particular, his prices are incredible.
Musikraft, while CNC-based, is not "locked" into every last detail and unwilling to budge, like Warmoth. As an example, they let me send them my own vintage-correct fiberboard inlays for a Tele neck, and they have also told me that they are going to custom program a CNC template for a bass scale conversion neck for me when they have some time in a few months. (I could not believe that they said yes!) And more than any other CNC guitar mill, their "vintage" repro parts pass the basic smell test easily; they've really done their research in that "nerdy" area.
Warmoth's quality is good, their Website is awesome, and they offer a large general variety. If I can ever get exactly what I want from them for less than I can from Rutters or Musikraft, I will. I've been very happy with the stuff I've ordered from them. They just haven't been able to meet the specs for any of my projects in quite a while, and they have more (and better) competition now.
