Quality of Warmoth Custom Basses?

The quality of their parts is excellent, easily as good as or better than Fender. They don’t build the basses, you assemble them yourself or have someone do it.

 

I have two and they are among my best and favorite basses.

 

Yes, you choose the parts you want and assemble them. I can't remember the wait time, it's been a while, but check out their in stock section. They might have what you need already built and you'll save time and money.

 

Imagine finding a totally perfect example of a Fender neck and body: well fretted, super light weight, quality woods, well matched body pieces etc.

Then turn the quality dial up to 100.

Even that would only be half as good as a Warmoth.

As stated above, there is no custom shop as such but you can specify things not listed on their site sometimes.

 

I am a Warmoth addict myself. The quality of woods used is far better than an off the shelf fender. (Because you can choose exactly what you want). Their finishing department does amazing work too.

Their necks are (IMHO) are fabulous. Maybe a little 'beefier' than what you expect, but superb nonetheless. I always use graphite reinforcement rods to cut out about 1/2 to 3/4lbs of weight.

The average wait time (BEFORE COVID-19) was about 12 weeks for anything made from scratch (custom body with a finish). About 6 weeks for a showcase item requiring a finish, about 3-4 weeks for custom (non-showcase) items not requiring a finish. Showcase items already finished or purchased not wanting a finish usually still have a wait of about 2 weeks.

There is a large Pop up on the site right now letting you know about delays due to aftermath of the pandemic, count on at least Double the normal waiting period right now.

 

I highly recommend Warmoth. I’ve used their parts on projects for years and currently have 2 Warmoths. Be absolutely sure you know what You’re getting, though. Although most things are built to Fender specs, they’re more Fender-Esque.

Necks and bodies aren’t typically a big deal and are interchangeable with Fender and other licensed bodies and necks, but things like pickguards and control plates are different. For example, Warmoth Jazz bass pickguards are cut to match their jazz bass control plates which, for some reason, are slightly different than Fender standard specs. So if you have a Fender Or Squier jazz control plate and try to match it with a Warmoth pickguard, there will be gaps and vice versa. It’s the one small, annoying detail you learn through trial and error at first.

As for wait times, I’ve typically bought in stock items so they’ve shipped within about a week (even necks that needed fretted) but there’s a COVID disclaimer on their website right now saying they have a lot of backorders to fill due to the lockdown and everything is taking a lot longer.

 

I done about 4 or 5 Warmoth builds so far. They all came out really good and sounded great. The only thing is resale sucks but hay its fun. Warmoth has a instock section and a build section. I personally would just go with the in stock. Just to give you a heads up though. They are kind of back logged right now. The necks are what really make them special. The necks are built like tanks. They are a little on the heavy side so you might get some neck dive. I always go with ultra light tuners to combat the dive. You might want to consider a used Warmoth. Bozos like me dump alot of money into them and then take a big hit on resale. I got a 5 string Warmoth awhile back that is killer for 650. Good luck!

 

I waited 5 weeks, from order placement to delivery, for my custom made roasted maple STD Jazz 5 neck with unlined ebony fretless board. This was in 2018 when the world seemed normal.

if the world was normal now, I’d have put an order in for a Deluxe Jazz 5 neck and body a few months ago...now who knows when that will happen...

 

Here are two of my Warmoth builds.
Left: All roasted p bass lindy pickups
Right: My Pino copy
Middle: Fender reissue
Go for it!

 

I recently posted a thread for my 5 string Jazz Bass build. Do a search for
Warmoth Jazz Bass 5 build
and you'll see it. It gives a good idea as to parts quality and what all is needed.
Warmoth will be the first to admit that they don't even attempt to dress frets because so much of that depends on the build. So if you are picky about fret feel and finish, be forewarned that you may need to get that done even after spending alot of money on a neck. Quality is excellent in every respect and all cuts are precision.

 

Warmoth is TOP quality. Great stuff.

Here's a thread I did on one of my Warmoth builds:

Do what they say cant' be done...A Warmoth Build

 

BE WARNED - Warmoth basses are not kits! Warmoth does not drill all the holes. You don't just bolt them together. Pickguard mounting holes, J control plate holes, strap button holes, string tee holes, tuner screw holes all are up to you. Of all of them, the missing pickguard mounting holes is the most baffling. If you order a pickguard from them to put on their body, why can't they drill those holes? But they don't and if you don't drill them nice and straight you end up with crooked mounting screws.

I fully documented a build here to give folks a sense of what it takes.
Warmoth low-cost light-weight 32" scale P bass build - Done!

 

I'll have to agree; it's very, very hard to find fault with a neck or body from Warmoth. This is my Mini-Precision. Other than the body and neck, about the only thing I got from them was the pick guard and the Seymour Duncan Vintage Precision pickup. Everything else, I got from Fender and Allparts. The Luthier that built it told me it went together perfectly. From the reluctance he showed when he gave it to me? If he'd been left handed, I might not have gotten it back... It really is a beautiful little bass, and it plays as good as it looks. It's most definitely worth the money...

 

Question on the roasted body.
Did you do the finishing? I can see a topography in the wood on the pick yard side edge where the lighting is reflected, so I’m assuming the grain is not filled. Just sand and apply poly (or whatever it is that was used)? The roasted body looks much lighter after finish applied than the one in their video demonstration. The one in their video looks like walnut afterwards.

 

only "brand" name bass I would buy is a Wal, or G&L. Warmoth is somewhere between the two. Excellent quality, you can save money by finishing it yourself. My first one I finished with Tung Oil. Gorgeous. I'm in the middle of finishing my fretless warmoth now. This one I bought my rattle can color from reranch.com Doing it in a clear orange on a nice lightweight alder body. The neck is Gonçalo Alves, with a Wenge fingerboard.
here's a pic of the body. About 4 coats of clear orange, and about 4 cans of Watco clear gloss laquer. Lightly sanded down to 1500, then hand buffed with 2 different grades of turtle wax compounds. Looks like glass now. Better than any fender I know.

 

I think the quality and options are good. I’ve used lots of warmoth bodies and still do, I haven’t found a warmoth neck that felt good though. I wish the edges could be rolled more or maybe a rounder radius to make the edges not so sharp. I haven’t tried their guitar necks to see if they are any better.

 

I like the "slim taper" 4 string necks. My five string neck took some getting used to. But it's the only five I've ever played. After I assembled that five I took it to my luthier for a final setup. His set up was all pro, and essentially PLEKD the neck by hand. He did smooth off a few frets on the edge. That was 5 years ago. I've never had to adjust the neck. My G&L's are like that too.