Custom vs. High-end production guitars

[Matt77]

And Matt77, very interesting. I must get to try a Musicman at some point. Nick who used to post on here couldn't say enough good things about them.

Matt had his musicman at the Manc meetup, I thought it was really sweet, felt like a thin neck, but then I looked down at my hand it's medium neck, and my brain couldn't understand it

Asymmetrical neck profile I believe...?

no idea, only musicman I know for sure that has an asymmetric neck is the john petrucci sig

really wanna try one

No need, you've tried one on mine  :)

[Antag]

Funny you should suggest that, as that popped into my head from nowhere last night.

Just how good is their quality? Would the assembly make a meaningful difference?
I.e. would it be worth having it put together by a luthier?

It can help ....
Antag has some experience here too

Yes, I do (been away for a few days, so late on this thread).  To save an essay, here are a few points:

Warmoth's bodies & necks are absolutely superb quality.

As long as you are careful, it's fairly straightforward to assemble a perfectly playable guitar from them.  I'd never done anything more technical than adjust action height before I assembled my first Warmoth (which was, by coincidence, my first BKP guitar :))

However, the guitar will play far, far better for a professional fret-dress & setup than without.  In fact I'd go as far as to say that parts as good as Warmoth deserve to have the job done properly.

IMHO it's a mistake to expect to be able to complete a Warmoth for less money than you could get a decent MIJ guitar off the shelf.   Generally speaking, you're unlikely to get much change out of £800 for everything except pickups (which will be BKP of course ;)).  Add £150-£300 for BKPs & £60-£100 for a case.  If you're spending north of a grand, £80-£150 for a pro setup/fret dress starts to seem like a worthwhile investment (& still gives you a very nice guitar for less than you're likely to spend getting one custom built - I guess it all depends on whether a strat/tele derived guitar meets your tastes/requirements over something custom build from scratch).

[HairyChris]

I've been soooo tempted by Warmoth... A nice swamp ash body, maple neck... hmmm!

Regarding custom vs production. It's a tough one. I have a couple of customs, Blackmachine, and a lot of this is supporting the builder. Doug's ace, and I'm in to what he does as a purely personal thing.

However, if we jumped to list price, the most expensive guitar I own is a limited run PRS, rather then a custom. This guitar is something of a guilty pleasure. I don't use it much but it's lovely to play (sounds great too, BKPed obviously).

Taking it back to production instruments, I've been through a few very decent Jacksons, Carvins, Schecters, Ibanez, etc. Is there a difference between them and the higher end or productions? Yes... Is it worth the extra? Ummmm, completely subjective. I'm not a pro so my instruments are not tools in the strictest sense. Is a custom worth 4x the purely financial value of a good production instrument?

This is subjective and debatable, IMO. I enjoy having that option, but, for instance, on a couple of occasions I've tossed up between buying a (cheap) car and a guitar. Guitars won. Personal choice, and the choice of someone who is in just about the position to make it. If I was a pro, I would not necessarily be in the position to make the same decision.

Never pretended to know what I was on about..!! ;)