Who uses a "compound radius" Warmoth neck?

[Curly]

Re: Who uses a "compound radius" Warmoth neck?

Woa, Gary... That neck looks NICE!!! Does it have any kind of figuring on it? The back looks a little thin to me... is it? What do you have in mind for the finished guitar?

that neck is NOT thin!
I think it's .860 at the first fret ... not thin ...
that guitar will be finished in a couple weeks - the pics of the finished body are on my site ... basically, my version of a '54 Anniversary strat

you should email Tommy ... with a few emails, you can work out the neck you want ....
and you can pick a profile, then a radius, in other words, ANY radius with any profile ... '54 profile with a 12" radius - no problem!
DOESN'T have to be a compound radius, by any means .. that's just one choice ...

my tele neck from Tommy is an .840 C at the 1st fret with a 12" radius

so, dream away

 

[FretFire]

Re: Who uses a "compound radius" Warmoth neck?

that neck is NOT thin!
I think it's .860 at the first fret ... not thin ...
that guitar will be finished in a couple weeks - the pics of the finished body are on my site ... basically, my version of a '54 Anniversary strat

you should email Tommy ... with a few emails, you can work out the neck you want ....
and you can pick a profile, then a radius, in other words, ANY radius with any profile ... '54 profile with a 12" radius - no problem!
DOESN'T have to be a compound radius, by any means .. that's just one choice ...

my tele neck from Tommy is an .840 C at the 1st fret with a 12" radius

so, dream away

Yep, you're pretty much free to do whatever you want, and those guys are awesome to work with. My neck is that '54 profile, about .85" thick at the first fret and tapers to .9" or a little more around the 11th-12th fret. Pretty beefy, but I have long gangly hands so I like a bigger chunk of wood. Gotta love the birdseye maple board with abalone dots, too :32:

 

[Xeromus]

Re: Who uses a "compound radius" Warmoth neck?

I really don't like compound radius necks but it's really a matter of preference. I don't see why anyone would like them but plenty of people do. My advice is if in doubt, don't. Get a straight radius of 12". You'll be happy you did. Also, go with vintage modern construction. I know a lot of guys that have been luthiers and have done guitar repairs for some 20-30 years. They REALLY don't like that side adjust on the Warmoth pro necks. It also weakens the truss rod at the end where that nut is. It's not a bad idea but it's not very practical either.

USA Custom guitars makes better necks than warmoth as far as I'm concerned.

 

[FretFire]

Re: Who uses a "compound radius" Warmoth neck?

So it will be a V that turns into a C and is Asymmetrical. Sound cool?

Careful here, the asymmetrical shape is pretty much half V/half C. The treble side has a faster sloping shoulder like a V, while the bass side is rounder and more beefy like a C. A good way to visualize it, is to make a "C" with your hand, but straighten your fingers out just a tad. That's pretty similar to the asymmetrical shape, more or less. I'm guessing you'll probably have to go with one or the other here (the V->C or the offset).

I guess the radius isn't THAT big of a deal. I do like the 12" radius on my Ibanez... so if anything I'll get a CR that hangs around that area (maybe something like 10" - 14") The thing is, I do a lot of bending all over the neck, not just in the higher notes. So maybe a straight 12" radius is more for me? I don't know, lol. I'll be fine with whatever I get... it will be a little while anyway. I'll keep all this in mind.:

IMO the neck is possibly THE most important part of the guitar, it's where you spend all of your time playing it. I'd make sure you get the radius you like most, and it's easy enough to do since this will be a custom piece. If you're not positive what you want, maybe go to a shop and play a lot of guitars with different radii to get a better idea. IMO it's better to wait a bit and be positive than just say "meh whatever" and maybe wish you had done something differently later on...

Good luck bro, I hope you have even HALF as much fun as I did with my project . It's addicting!

 

[Stirt]

Re: Who uses a "compound radius" Warmoth neck?

They REALLY don't like that side adjust on the Warmoth pro necks. It also weakens the truss rod at the end where that nut is. It's not a bad idea but it's not very practical either.

Sorry, not meaning to butt in here, just want to correct misinformation. The way the side adjust is installed does not weaken the truss rod. It's a double expanding truss rod in there so works differently than a vintage rod does. In fact, since the introduction of the side adjust, I have had no return issues related to a "weakened" truss rods from the side adjust. And that's multiple thousands of necks. P.S. - What other reason would we have to introduce the side adjust except for a pratical application? Thanks.

Gregg-
Warmoth

 

[rspst14]

Re: Who uses a "compound radius" Warmoth neck?

Sorry, not meaning to butt in here, just want to correct misinformation. The way the side adjust is installed does not weaken the truss rod. It's a double expanding truss rod in there so works differently than a vintage rod does. In fact, since the introduction of the side adjust, I have had no return issues related to a "weakened" truss rods from the side adjust. And that's multiple thousands of necks. P.S. - What other reason would we have to introduce the side adjust except for a pratical application? Thanks.

Gregg-
Warmoth

I'd have to agree, I don't understand how the side adjuster could weaken the truss rod or the neck. Unless your luthier has a very good reason as to why he believes this is true, I'd hesitate to take my guitar to him. I think it's a great feature, no more taking the neck off and putting it back on over and over again, trying to dial in the perfect amount of relief.

Ryan

 

[Xeromus]

Re: Who uses a "compound radius" Warmoth neck?

I'd have to agree, I don't understand how the side adjuster could weaken the truss rod or the neck. Unless your luthier has a very good reason as to why he believes this is true, I'd hesitate to take my guitar to him. I think it's a great feature, no more taking the neck off and putting it back on over and over again, trying to dial in the perfect amount of relief.

Ryan

Well both the guys I go to (one is my guitar/bass teacher, the other one is the local luthier), I'll ask them in more detail as to why later. He gave me a very specific reason but I've forgotten since then. I'll ask again and post here when I have a more detailed explanation.

 

[MattPete]

Re: Who uses a "compound radius" Warmoth neck?

Hey Cory -

Remember that the shape of the strings on a compound radius neck is like a lengthwise section of a cone. So the radius at the saddles of a 10-14" neck is even flatter - maybe 15.5" +/- ???

I think it's somewhere between 18 and 20 at the bridge. No big whoops with a strat, as the saddles are height adjustable. A minor pain with a tune-o-matic or wraparound, as the middle saddles will need to be slotted deeper. A Floyd is a big pain, as the saddles need to be massively shimmed.

Personally, I love my Warmoth 10-16 compound radius necks, thought I wouldn't mind trying something with a little more radius, like a 9-14. The Warmoth compound radius necks are far more comfortable than the necks on my SG or Kramer.

 

[MattPete]

Re: Who uses a "compound radius" Warmoth neck?

BTW: what's wrong with the Warmoth Vintage modern? It's basically their vintage neck with a compound radius and (vintage) trussrod adjustment at the peghead.

 

[Zerberus]

Re: Who uses a "compound radius" Warmoth neck?

.....They REALLY don't like that side adjust on the Warmoth pro necks. It also weakens the truss rod at the end where that nut is. It's not a bad idea but it's not very practical either. .....

I disagree 100%

IMO the Side adjuster is (as far as neck go) one of the best innovations of the last 20 years. (Note the period after that statement)

No removal to adjust, I seriously doubt that it weakens a dual action trussrod (which is stronger in itself anyway). I was thinking of how to accomplish this already about 10 years ago when I started out, because adjusting the Rod at the Heel was pissing me off.....I almost implemented my solution, and if the Gotoh mechanism is anyhthing like mine would have been, you´ll never know the difference w/o looking.