Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: PosterBoy on December 23, 2007, 12:31:08 AM
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Has anyone done it. How easy is it to put together?
I want a new guitar and have the idea of a MM Axis style with a 24 3/4 conversion neck and decent tremelo system.
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There are serveral around her who allready posted assembly of their warmoth guitar. Jonesey76 is planning a Warmoth strat assembly and he will probably show it off here when he comes around to it 8)
I think you will find plenty of details around the net and around here, try the search function.
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Hi! The difficult of doing it is different from each people... You would have to do the holes of the strap holes, screws of the tuners and the usual:
Bolt on everything, install the bridge, tuners, make the eletronic...
In the last event, you can let it to a luthier or a friend with experience...
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I did a Warmoth Soloist this summer. They make excellent quality stuff at very affordable prices, particularly with the current state of the dollar vs the pound. The options list is endless - you can have the thing routed for whatever pickup combo you want.
I cheated slightly in that I had the guitar assembled by the local luthier I take all my guitars to, which did raise the cost. However, I have no doubt I could have fitted the neck myself without a problem - I did a test fit, without screws, which is halfway there after all. Plus, all the essential for the bridge mounts will be drilled, so you could fit it yourself. I would strongly suggest getting it professionally set-up if do out it together yourself. It will also need time to bed-in, and will probably need a tweak once its been together about 2 months.
I don't know if you're after a Floyd Rose or not, but if you aren't, then I can heartily recommend getting a Wilkinson trem, and having Warmoth rout the body for a recessed Wilkinson - it'll give you a good two-and-a-half frets worth of upbend. Team with a set of locking tuners and you'll not miss a Floyd! I'd also recommend the countoured neck heel.
Be sure to read Warmoth's wood descriptions and figure out what you need carefully. The company's sales staff are very helpful, and guided me through some wood choices very efficiently.
After changing my mind about body style, woods and various other things over the course of about 8 month's of planning, I finally ordered a carved top Soloist, with a mahogany body back and a koa top, plus a birdseye maple Warmoth Pro neck, with a compound radius jet black ebony fretboard and stainless steel frets. It's loaded with a BKP Warpig set.
Here's a quick pic
(http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q50/sld5150/Web-WarmothSoloist.jpg)
If you have any questions, feel free to ask, I'm happy to help if I can.
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I built a SG using Warmoth parts so let me know if you have any Q's.
Luckily Simon built his before mine so I was able to pester him!
Here's a link to my thread.
http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9036&highlight=
If you are comfortable with drilling (?!) and wiring it up then assembly is a piece of piss. I got mine set up by Feline when assembled.
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Simon, that is a beautiful guitar! Cracking finish, and amazing looking wood.
I'm also tempted by a Warmoth, being bouyed up be my recent wiring triumph with my Nailbombs, and the construction of a BYOC 250+. I saw a guy on here showing his recently completed SG, and that also looked awesome.
Mark.
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I've built several parts guitars in the distant past, but couldn't afford Warmoth stuff at the time. Now I'm vaguely thinking about building a Tele (although I'd be perfectly happy with a ready-made one if it had the right specs).
Those of you who've used them, did you order direct from Warmoth, and did you go for unfinished or finished necks and bodies?
I'm just wondering roughly how much it ended up costing, just for the neck and body, including shipping charges, import duties etc. Of course the prices are all there on their site, but they vary so much - you guys are "real-world" examples!
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I'm actually being lazy and using warmoth at the moment for a lefty charvelised strat i am building in the style of Jake E Lee.
Doing the finishing this end though. I am only using warmoth to get me a headstart on the body and neck because i am quite busy and i would not want to use fenders headstock on a neck i made myself but it will suit the guitar better... This gets me round that issue.
it makes a lot of sense with the exchange rate the way it is and i will still be doing a lot of work on the body and neck to make sure they are up to my standard.
It also makes sense for this guitar because Jakes strat started as a 74 fender. mine will start as close to that as i can get from warmoth
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Simon, that is a beautiful guitar! Cracking finish, and amazing looking wood.
Mark.
Cheers for that Mark, much appreciated. :)
Those of you who've used them, did you order direct from Warmoth, and did you go for unfinished or finished necks and bodies?
I'm just wondering roughly how much it ended up costing, just for the neck and body, including shipping charges, import duties etc. Of course the prices are all there on their site, but they vary so much - you guys are "real-world" examples!
I ordered direct from Warmoth, over the phone. The body and neck I bought were both finished - body clear gloss and neck (back/headstock) clear satin, which were the cheapest options. I didn't want to risk finishing it myself (because I didn't trust myself not to bodge it), and quotes I found to get it done in the UK topped £200, just for clear gloss - Warmoth did it for $170.
As far as cost is concerned, it obviously varies with what woods you order and what options boxes you tick. However, tax-wise, you can expect to pay VAT at 17.5%, and import duty, which is usually about 9%. So, the total for the body and neck from Warmoth for me was £458.85, which with tax and duty came out to £580. Shipping for a body and neck to mainland UK was £35. You will have to pay the UPS guy the VAT and duty on delivery - point to note on this: UPS don't take cards, so have a chequebook handy.
It is definitely possible to do it cheaper than I did - I chose one of the more expensive body options, a pricey fretboard wood and various other cost-boosting things like stainless steel frets - An alder body Tele with a maple neck and rosewood board, finished in a solid colour, could be very reasonable.
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I've been thinking about ordering parts for a SG jr type guitar. Always wanted something with P90s, this way I get to put it together myself, AND have a decent neck. I'll be going for a 25.5" scale, Fender stylee. Booya.
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I built a Strat-style guitar using all Warmoth parts.
I drilled the holes, installed everything, wired the electronics, strung it, set it up...
with no prior experience, it took a few days.
It's really a great instrument, even if it was put together by my novice hands.
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I'm seriously considering ordering some Warmoth parts - Probably a quilt topped soloist with a thin neck.
It's insanely cheap - What quality would people say it's equivalent to? Your standard US Gibson? Or better than that?
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I'm seriously considering ordering some Warmoth parts - Probably a quilt topped soloist with a thin neck.
It's insanely cheap - What quality would people say it's equivalent to? Your standard US Gibson? Or better than that?
Top notch. You'll be amazed when you get it.
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I searched for Warmoth on Ebay...
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Warmoth-Custom-Electric-Guitar-Torres-Pickups-Zebrawood_W0QQitemZ230204031235QQihZ013QQcategoryZ2384QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
DEAR GOD THAT IS FOUL.
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not the worst I've ever seen.
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be quite nice with a plain black scratchplate. Zebrano is one of those woods that should really be used carefully.... it can look very tacky if mixed with other distinctive looking woods. interestingly it also smells of baby vomit - - - great stuff to work with
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Out of interest - Do they charge extra if you want to mix/match the paint?
Say, transparent back, with dyed top?
Can that even be done? Masking etc?
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i am sure they wil do it but it will cost more!!.
As far as quality goes, it all comes down to how its all put together. I know that i can take the basic parts and get something thats outstips a normal USA fender and is more comparable with a custom shop one. There is no real reason anyway cant do that... but it does take patience and practice.
If i was doing one of these as my first project i would stick with relatively simple stuff rather than go crazy with the options.... much less chance of stuff going wrong which means more chance of you getting an excellent quality guitar
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I searched for Warmoth on Ebay...
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Warmoth-Custom-Electric-Guitar-Torres-Pickups-Zebrawood_W0QQitemZ230204031235QQihZ013QQcategoryZ2384QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
DEAR GOD THAT IS FOUL.
That chap wanted 500 notes for that axe to start with.
If I was him, I'd break that down into parts and sell individually.
The neck would sell, the body is a bit odd - (something doesnt feel right to me when you combine mahogany and a strat!).
Zebrawood would look sweet with a nice black pickguard and normal pickup covers.
Its another case of a very very custom guitar not being able to sell.
So Wez has a great point. If you build something simple there's less of a chance of something going tits up and you could resell easily if you don't like it.
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What's the price like on a Warmouth build? Like how much can I expect to pay for a finished body + neck? And will I be raped in the ass by import duty?
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What's the price like on a Warmouth build? Like how much can I expect to pay for a finished body + neck? And will I be raped in the ass by import duty?
Price depends almost entirely on spec - what woods, body style, how flashy the finish etc. Import-wise, you'll be looking at 17.5% VAT and 9% import duty.
noodleplugerine - as far as the finishing goes, they can do pretty much anything - they charge the whole paint job at the cost of the most expensive part of it. For example, if you wanted a dyed top with a solid color back, you'd pay the price of the dyed finish, which I believe is about $220/£110, for the whole job. Masked binding is extra.
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I dunno... it's fairly ugly...
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Zebrawood would look sweet with a nice black pickguard and normal pickup covers.
Its another case of a very very custom guitar not being able to sell.
So Wez has a great point. If you build something simple there's less of a chance of something going tits up and you could resell easily if you don't like it.
I couldn't agree more. Nice piece of wood which hasn't had justice done to it. I don't understand why the guy didn't just go for no scratchplate - the guitar wasn't top routed, and the one he's fitted is bugger all use for stopping scratches anyway!
Custom guitars like Warmoths don't have great resale potential anyway, but as has been already been said, simple is often better from every perspective when dealing with this sort of thing.
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What's the price like on a Warmouth build? Like how much can I expect to pay for a finished body + neck? And will I be raped in the ass by import duty?
generally a finished body with a solid colour and normal wood is around $250 - $300.
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Put my Warmoth build together over Christmas and have photographed every step and stage.
It's the first time I've even done the wiring for a Strat and the first time I've even tinkered with a strat, so if this complete amateur can manage it then anyone can do..........
Oh and it looks beautiful too! :D
I'll set it up perfectly in a couple of weeks when its settled in nicely
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Oh and it looks beautiful too!
Can we see it?
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Pics to come when I get around to downloading everything off my camera and onto Photobucket. There'll be a whole host of pics in its own thread in the Tech forum when I get round to writing the piece.
Incidentally my body was Swamp Ash with an utterly killer quilt top finished in turquoise green burst. The body cost just over $400 from Warmoth and the import duty incuding the cost of the shipping came to a smidge over £60, which isn't too bad.
Warmoth use UPS for their shipping who very kindly phone you up prior to the arrival of your package to tell you the Customs on the package and get you to pay so that the package is expedited through Customs when it lands. Including a delay in Philadelphia because of snow I got my guitar body 2 and a half days after it was posted from the US, and that was just before Christmas too!!!
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Warmoth use UPS for their shipping who very kindly phone you up prior to the arrival of your package to tell you the Customs on the package and get you to pay so that the package is expedited through Customs when it lands. Including a delay in Philadelphia because of snow I got my guitar body 2 and a half days after it was posted from the US, and that was just before Christmas too!!!
That's very impressive! :) When overseas retailers use USPS or EMS it ends up in the grubby paws of Parcelforce, so the whole process takes 10 days or more.
Looking forward to the pics.
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That's why any time I buy something from the States I always get the sender to use FedEx or UPS as they deal with both ends of the delivery chain, and you know your pride and joy is going to get through in one piece unlike the wonders of the USPS/ParcelFarce combination. Also for some reason the import charges that both FedEx and UPS apply for themselves is significantly less than the extortion that ParcelFarce likes to charge on top of the Customs charge.
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Also for some reason the import charges that both FedEx and UPS apply for themselves is significantly less than the extortion that ParcelFarce likes to charge on top of the Customs charge.
Maybe it's the admin fee? ParcelForce charge a standard £13.50. I got one the other week that was £26.80 in total - so the admin fee was more than the VAT!
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same here, i just payed one for £24.65 so that £11.15 vat and 13.50 clearance fee. The way parcelfarce try to do it is hold on to it a few days, then try and deliver and collect customs on the day - dont tell you that they tried to deliver it. then send a letter for the customs about to pay before they deliver. On the one i have just payed online the redelivery date set itself to the next available day, so tomorrow on a saturday. Luckily i read the little note above that said it would cost £12 extra for a saturday delivery before i clicked ok.
I much prefer DHL who will get the parcel to me and just send me a bill at the end of the month... and only charge £1.25 admin. although they annoyed me yesterday when i was watching the order tracking so knew a parcel was en route. I go into another room to cook my breakfast and when i return theres a card on the door mat :x My house is only a little terrace - there is no more than 8 metres between my front door and my kitchen and all the doors were open between them. But i phoned them up and they got him to come back - he said it was the 3rd one that day he had to go back to..... Take the bloody hint and knock a little bit louder!!!!
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FedEx are the same as DHL. They send you a letter about 10 days after the package has arrived with what you owe them, and their admin charges are significantly lower than those of ParcelFarce too.
What gets me is that our village seems to be on the starter route for DHL, UPS, FedEx, City Link, and others so I tend to get my parcels before I go to work. ParcelFarce (who's depot is nearest) always seems to get to mine about 2pm by which time I'm never at home even if I have gone back at lunchtime. TNT is the worst because they're based in Bury St Edmunds, and if you're not in to get your parcel that's a bloody long way to go to collect a parcel from Norwich! Plus if you want it re-delivered on a Saturday it costs you more! :evil: