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Warmoth Owners Club!!

#2,821
Nice! Any of you Warmoth owners able to comment on the Jazzmaster bass body? My questions are:

--how is the balance? It looks like the upper bout ends maybe an inch further away from the headstock than a J or P? I can't really tell from the pictures.
--how is the upper fret reach? I find traditional P and J bodies get a little cramped up there but I'd prefer a body with a more "classic" look than the Dinky P, even if the classic in this case is a guitar, not a bass.

Happy USTG to the Americans.
 
#2,822
Aloha bass in the works...

Build Thread: Solid 1 pc Koa Body, Ebony Neck, Custom MM Pickups

Body should arrive next week. Custom MM pickups will likely take 6 to 8 weeks. In the interim I can hang it on the wall and dream. :-)

BP2698A.jpg BP2698B.jpg BN6271A.jpg BN6271B.jpg
 
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#2,825
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#2,826
This is quite embarrassing to admit, but will share in the interest of helping fellow Warmoth builders. Anyone else notice that the bodies seem to be threaded for neck screws? It might only be an issue when you use screws with big threads like I do. The good thing is that they really grip the neck and won't strip the holes in the neck. My discovery was that if the screw threads into the body (vs fitting loosely in the body hole), it's almost impossible to get a super tight neck.

You can check by trying to slip a piece of paper or business card between the neck and the body. After as many builds as I have done I feel pretty dumb. The reason I discovered this is that I had one recent build where there was a visible gap at the joint. After drilling out the body on that one I checked all my others and in each case a business card would slip part way into the joint.

The problem of course is that the screw is tightening itself into the body at the same time as it is screwing itself into the neck. At the end of the screw's travel it can't "pull" the neck into the body because it's already tightly screwed into the body itself (similar to having two nuts on a single bolt). Sometimes the issue can be reduced (but not eliminated in my experience) by holding the neck perfectly tight against the body when screwing. :D

Naturally in my haste to fix four basses in one afternoon I made a couple of dings. Patience is something I may never learn. I don't repeat the same mistakes too often, but there are so many new ones to make. :banghead: :( :crying:
 
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#2,827
Doner Designs said:
This is quite embarrassing to admit, but will share in the interest of helping fellow Warmoth builders. Anyone else notice that the bodies seem to be threaded for neck screws? It might only be an issue when you use screws with big threads like I do. The good thing is that they really grip the neck and won't strip the holes in the neck. My discovery was that if the screw threads into the body (vs fitting loosely in the body hole), it's almost impossible to get a super tight neck.

You can check by trying to slip a piece of paper or business card between the neck and the body. After as many builds as I have done I feel pretty dumb. The reason I discovered this is that I had one recent build where there was a visible gap at the joint. After drilling out the body on that one I checked all my others and in each case a business card would slip part way into the joint.

The problem of course is that the screw is tightening itself into the body at the same time as it is screwing itself into the neck. At the end of the screw's travel it can't "pull" the neck into the body because it's already tightly screwed into the body itself (similar to having two nuts on a single bolt). Sometimes the issue can be reduced (but not eliminated in my experience) by holding the neck perfectly tight against the body when screwing. :D

Naturally in my haste to fix four basses in one afternoon I made a couple of dings. Patience is something I may never learn. I don't repeat the same mistakes too often, but there are so many new ones to make. :banghead: :( :crying:
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Thanks for sharing this! This is a common issue with almost all production basses. At the factory or workshop they can get a snug fit because they probably have the body and neck clamped tightly before installing the screws. However, this is much more complicated to do without a proper jig and doesn't really work better than just drilling out the body holes slightly to allow the screws to just slip through.

I found this issue on my Lakland Skyline basses. I recently took one apart just out of idle curiosity. I tried the clamp method to keep everything tight while I re-installed the screws, ended up fumbling around and chipping the paint on the neck joint. :banghead:
 
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#2,828
Steve, what kind of neck screws are you using? The neck and body are drilled with the correct size holes for "normal" neck screws so that the threads pass through the body without grabbing. If you are going with larger screws, make sure you drill out the neck holes so that you don't run the risk of splitting the wood. It might be better to consider threaded inserts rather than larger screws, though they can be tricky to install.
 
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#2,829
JGR said:
Steve, what kind of neck screws are you using? The neck and body are drilled with the correct size holes for "normal" neck screws so that the threads pass through the body without grabbing. If you are going with larger screws, make sure you drill out the neck holes so that you don't run the risk of splitting the wood. It might be better to consider threaded inserts rather than larger screws, though they can be tricky to install.
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That's a good point about making sure the neck itself has large enough holes to avoid the risk of cracking or breaking off the screw in the hole.

I use the screws that come with the logo neck plates I get from LazrArt. The neck plates are made of aircraft aluminum and the screws might be too. I think they used the traditional size at one time. The newer screws have a similar size core/shaft with deep coarse sharp threads. They are great in the sense that it's almost impossible to strip the neck wood but they do grab the sides of the body holes.
 
#2,831
Icculus said:
Are you guys doing any work on your Warmoth necks when you receive them, or just bolting them on and playing? Some people seem to recommend fretwork.

EDIT: I searched the thread and found some info. Aren't y'all proud!?
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So what did you find out? I have purchased 10 or 12 necks from Warmoth and they were all good to go straight out of the box.
 
#2,832
Doner Designs said:
So what did you find out? I have purchased 10 or 12 necks from Warmoth and they were all good to go straight out of the box.
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That's mainly what I gathered. I've read that Warmoth recommends doing some fretwork, so it had me wondering how much improvement I might realize if I forked out the $200-300. No qualms with the neck I have now, except for maybe the chunkiness of the standard profile. Eventually, I'll swap it for the slim taper version.

Great work on your basses, by the way. Love the styling of them!
 
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#2,833
Icculus said:
That's mainly what I gathered. I've read that Warmoth recommends doing some fretwork, so it had me wondering how much improvement I might realize if I forked out the $200-300. No qualms with the neck I have now, except for maybe the chunkiness of the standard profile. Eventually, I'll swap it for the slim taper version.

Great work on your basses, by the way. Love the styling of them!
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Thanks!

Funny story - the one and only time I set out to level out a fret was on an all maple Allparts neck. There was one side of one fret that was high. After taping off the board, getting a file out and actually starting to file, I immediately realized that the high spot was a chunk of the gloss finish that I had missed scraping off when it was new. That last bit of clear coat popped right off and the neck was then perfect. :-)
 
#2,838
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#2,839
JonKim said:
So I just received my body today. Good news the body came in at 4lbs 2oz painted candy orange. Bad news. There's a huge chunk of wood chipped off from shipping damaged. The box had a hole through the side and when I opened it up there was a huge gouge at the upper horn..


Contacted warmoth as soon as I received it and I was told to send these photos to their email. Now I just wait on what they want to do. I don't know if I can wait another 2 months. I just bought a lot of stuff and I feel like I wasted a lot of time and money...

Hope they just refund me.
View attachment 747197

View attachment 747197 View attachment 747197 View attachment 747198 View attachment 747199 View attachment 747200
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What was the outcome in the end? Did Warmoth refund you or provide a replacement?
This is the only thing that makes me hesitate about a warmoth build ie. possible shipping damage on the long haul over the atlantic
 

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