Thinking of building a Warmoth bass? Ask here.

[noah_s]

I bought a Warmoth fretless neck to put on my jazz body and it came last week! Now I'm getting ready to do the install and I had a question regarding installing the tuning machines. I got the Schaller BML Bass Tuners and I was hoping someone could point me in the right direction as far as what size drill bit to pre drill the holes for the mounting screws? Also any advice on how to determine how deep to drill into the headstock? Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Doug Parent]

For the pilot holes/ screws for tuners, I find a drill bit that is the same diameter as the screw minus the threads. Only go as deep as the screw itself is going to travel.

 

[Webtroll]

I was configuring a bass for fun and thought one of the shortscale singlecut bodies would be cool with a full length neck, but they aren't marketed as being compat. Is it a fit issue? Bridge in the wrong place? Or do they not want to deal with people complaining about their basses being neck heavy?

 

[line6man]

Which warmoth neck profile is closest to a proper p bass neck?

They only do two neck profiles, so obviously the standard.

Question: Once my new neck is finished, do I get an email that it is shipping?

Sometimes they email, and sometimes you just find a box on your doorstep.

I have another question. It would appear that some of the options I want are a bit outside of the range of what Warmoth would offer. For example, a standard 5 Jazz body with a split p-bass pickup rout in the bridge position that would fit the Nordstrand NP5 (uneven coils). I imagine I could achieve this by leaving out the neck pickup rout altogether when I order it, and having it routed by someone else.

So my actual questions are: how/where do I look for people who would do that kind of work? I'm asking more about how to search for guitar builders than where to actually find one, because we obviously come from all over the country (if not the world) on this forum. If it helps any, I live in Upstate New York. I might be willing to drive to the City if I absolutely have to.

Secondly: the Nordstrand NP5 doesn't come with shells. So, how might I go about getting shells for it? Or, is there a way to squeeze an original P-Bass V pup out of Fender?

And finally: a questions about mixing and matching pickups. Being a total novice at wiring pickups, I did a little experiment on my Jazz Bass awhile back, and put a quarter-pounder in the neck position and a standard-issue Fender single coil jazz pickup in the bridge position. When I had them both turned up, there was a very quiet sound, like they cancelled each other out. I surmise this has to do with differing output. So if I end up being able to get my Warmoth bass fitted with one of these monster P pickups, would I then have to be careful of what I would use as the bridge pickup? My current pipe dream is the Nordstrand NJ5S.

They do split coil routes in custom locations. Give them a measurement, and it will be a $35 upcharge, IIRC.

You had your pickups out of phase. Reverse the leads on one pickup.

 

[spindoc]

Wondering about getting a 32" neck to put on a hollow-body Custom T (Tele) Bass body. Any opinions about neck dive with this combo? I'm planning on using Hipshot Ultralites and a Schaller bridge to try to help with balance.

 

[jeff62]

I'd love to do a 32" scale build with Warmoth but I wouldn't touch one of their short scale necks based on the fact that they do not offer them with truss rods.

 

[Double E]

I'd love to do a 32" scale build with Warmoth but I wouldn't touch one of their short scale necks based on the fact that they do not offer them with truss rods.

You are mistaken...they absolutely do have truss rods.

They do not have stiffening rods. Stiffening rods are just not needed on short scale necks.

 

[line6man]

I'd love to do a 32" scale build with Warmoth but I wouldn't touch one of their short scale necks based on the fact that they do not offer them with truss rods.

Where did you hear that?
I don't think anyone makes necks without truss rods.

 

[fretno]

The 32" & 30" necks have the same construction as their other necks .

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[jeff62]

My bad. When I was doing a custom build using their app, the app made a point of indicating that the 32" neck does not use stiffening rods, which I interpreted to mean truss rods.

 

[fretno]

My bad. When I was doing a custom build using their app, the app made a point of indicating that the 32" neck does not use stiffening rods, which I interpreted to mean truss rods.

hey your are right about that , actually never crossed my mind and I have 2 of them . Both are very stiff necks , which I like . It could be the wood choices though , Padouk and the other is Ziricote

 

[spindoc]

So getting back on track from the truss rod derailing, anybody got any responses to my original question?

Wondering about getting a 32" neck to put on a hollow-body Custom T (Tele) Bass body. Any opinions about neck dive with this combo? I'm planning on using Hipshot Ultralites and a Schaller bridge to try to help with balance.

 

[Doug Parent]

I can only guess, but I would think you would have neck dive for sure.

 

[Double E]

This neck dive issue is way overblown. Everybody seems to be looking for a sub 7 pound bass that will balance perfectly on a strap. We should all be playing Steinbergers.

 

[brad houser]

Warmoth offers steel stiffening rods. these are two steel square rods, one on each side of the truss rod. personally I've never liked their necks that have these. if you get a 32" scale neck and put the ultralites on it, you won't have neck dive. the steel bars made the necks that I played have a compressed feel in the low mids and bass that I didn't like at all.

 

[Zoomie]

As general info, when I had my Grove custom 51 P built, Scott and I elected to go with a Warmoth neck to cut build hours and reduce costs.

While it doesn't have a traditional early P profile, it is an absolutely amazing neck.

We stole it on the Screamin' Deals section. Reverse early P, quartersawn, black MoP markers, and graphite rods.

While the neck is not large and leans more towards a J than a P, this thing could be used as a pry bar in terms of build quality. It does not budge, year round.

 

[Ryan19]

I'm planning on building a P-bass, but I can't find information on the differences between their standard P-bass body and the '72 body. Does anyone know the difference?

 

[Double E]

There are two major differences between the Standard P and the '72.

The '72 has a tight pickup route which accommodates the special '72 pickguard that does not conceal the pickup route. The other difference is the control cavity which is also designed around the use of the '72 pickguard.

The standard P-Bass has a rectangular pickup route that would look bad without the standard P-Bass pickguard, and has the standard control cavity.

 

[Ryan19]

Thanks Double E. I can see those differences now, but wouldn't have caught it without that explanation. Standard P Bass it is!

 

[Bottoms_Up!]

Anyone else try a Warmoth P build with the 2-Tek option? I just finished my second and have come to the conclusion that the 2-Tek rout should be positioned about 0.25" further back towards the edge of the body. I thought maybe the first build (gold-top gold) might have had something to do with the Status neck not completely jiving with the Warmoth body but the second build (amber flame) was strictly Warmoth/Warmoth. You can see by the pics below that my intonation has bottomed out on the E & A strings on both builds. I actually had to remove the springs on three of the saddles

I gave Warmoth a heads-up and all I got was "I have a 2-Tek/P-Bass build and mine is fine." Oooooooo-k.

Any thoughts on this? For the record, I'm using EB Slinkies (45 -105) on both builds. Could strings be a factor?