Warmoth virgin

[Ian Price]

Cheers for the advice all. I have spent the morning on the warmoth site. I've pretty much decided on what I want and it looks like being around the £500.00 mark (without pickups, which will of course be BKPs) so have sent a few questions on to warmoth.  Hopefully should be ordering some stuff soon (dependant on selling my gretsch and a few pedals!)

Thanks again,

Ian.

[Antag]

To save me a load of typing, check my post here :)

As to how "easy" it is, as long as you're careful & know one end of a screwdriver from the other, you should be able to assemble finished parts into a decent guitar.  However, there are pitfalls.  My korina strat may have gone together easily, but my VIP was a disaster from start to finish & needed major rescue work from Feline :(

If you do all the work yourself, the guitar will be perfectly playable but a professional setup & fret-dress WILL help - my korina strat was a nice enough guitar, but once Feline worked his magic on it it's one of my favourite guitars to play.

[Ian Price]

Cheers Antag - will take a close read later!

[Simon D]

I'd agree with the positive comments everyone has made - Warmoth make good quality stuff and a decent price and are very friendly and helpful.

I'd just reiterate what Philly said about factoring in the cost of VAT and import duty before actually purchasing. It was something I nearly didn't do when I ordered mine, as it was bloody hard to get figures for import duty. Ha d I not done, I'd have regretted it.

VAT is (as we all know) 17.5%, but import tax can vary. As a rough guide, work it out at 9%. That's what I did, thanks to a suggestion from Antag, and I was about £1.50 out. So you'll want to take your total Warmoth spend (excluding delivery charges, which thankfully they can't tax you on), convert it to £s and then add 26.5%.

Also make sure you have cash or a chequebook to hand when the stuff is delivered - you have to pay the import duty/VAT to the UPS guy, and they don't take cards (or at least didn't as of June last year).

Hope that helps/makes sense!

[Ian Price]

Got a good email response back from Warmoth yesterday - they seem to be very helpful. Only question I now have is about the quality of their hardware - some of the stuff seems a bit on the cheap side (vintage trem for $44). My thoughts are to get the body and neck from Warmoth and the hardware from other sources.

Has anyone used any Warmoth hardware? Is it any good?

[Philly Q]

Has anyone used any Warmoth hardware? Is it any good?

I haven't bought any Warmoth hardware, I'm usually looking for very specific parts so I get them wherever I can find them at a good price - Allparts, WD, Axes'r'us, but mostly eBay. 

Of course Warmoth have some Gotoh/Wilkinson tremolos, OFRs etc, so there'd be no danger buying those (if the price is right), but I agree that $44 for a vintage trem is suspiciously cheap.  I'd be wary of their "unbranded" stuff, although it may be perfectly good.

[FernandoDuarte]

I have to say: You'd better buy Warmoth pots... I bought them from Stewmac and BKP and it didn't match the body... it has to be that adjustable one...

[Simon D]

My thoughts are to get the body and neck from Warmoth and the hardware from other sources.

That's exactly what I did with mine. Trem and tuners came from StewMac (when the exchange rate was still half decent). I'd be wary of very cheap hardware too - could be a false economy.

[FernandoDuarte]

My thoughts are to get the body and neck from Warmoth and the hardware from other sources.

That's exactly what I did with mine. Trem and tuners came from StewMac (when the exchange rate was still half decent). I'd be wary of very cheap hardware too - could be a false economy.

I buy tuners from:
http://www.guitarpartsresource.com/guitar_index.htm

They send it in a way that I don't pay duty... And I've never asked for it to them...

[gwEm]

to belated answer your question:

Has anyone used any Warmoth hardware? Is it any good?

I just fitted a warmoth narrow spaced strat hardtail. examination with a powerful magnet shows its some sort of steel, nice and thick, well plated. good quality, would recommend it. i'm sure better hardtails exist (callaham for example make one), and maybe this bridge isn't milled/pressed cold rolled steel... but it is still steel, and its a real steal (ho ho ho) at the price.

warmoth neck plate is similarly steel - nicely made, nicely plated

warmoth ferrules don't appear to be magnetic, shame there

i therefore expect the warmoth vintage trem to be fine.. but having just fitted a BKP one i'd be looking at another of those if it were me. i'll be sticking to my warmoth hardtail though - its got all the right options for me.

[ToneMonkey]

Not all steel is magnetic.  Martensitic steel is steel that has been cooled down ripidally normally by dipping it in water.  This changes the structure (to a body centred cubic structure I think) and makes it magnetic.  Martensitic steel blunts quicker than steel that hasn't been rapidally cooled (but which I've forgotten the name of).  Posh kitchen knives shouldn't be magnetic, but cheap ones are.

[maverickf1jockey]

Silver Steel?

Can't remember my GCSE D.T.:R.M. course in depth as regards metals.