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Warmoth Owners Club!!

#3,364
Looks like I will be building this week!!
IMG_6267.jpg IMG_6266.jpg
 
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#3,371
I'm contemplating a Warmoth build and have some questions. First, how do the short scales (particularly the Z body) sound? Second, for anyone with a short scale, have you tried it in lower tunings like BEAD or a drop tuning? If so how does it respond to the lower tuning (sound, set up, etc.)?
 
#3,372
lucas303 said:
I'm contemplating a Warmoth build and have some questions. First, how do the short scales (particularly the Z body) sound? Second, for anyone with a short scale, have you tried it in lower tunings like BEAD or a drop tuning? If so how does it respond to the lower tuning (sound, set up, etc.)?
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Long winded answer:

First of all, all my short scale Warmoth builds have been (and likely will continue to be) the mooncasters. I like them. A lot. Asking me how it sounds would then be akin to asking me how I like the TV Jones pickup sets. And my answer would be that I've tried all three of them, the Thunder'Trons, the Thunder'Mags, and the Thunder'Blades. Of these I greatly prefer the Thunder'Trons. They fit me like a glove. And they sound fantastic. The neck pickup has a woody, vintage vibe to it, and the bridge pickup has a more mid biting tone. Now, on a Z body, you're going to have more options on pickup routing than you do on the mooncaster bass. Pick your pickup flavor, customize the body routs for the form factor, and go from there.

I'm a flatwound guy. I like the way they feel and sound. Seeing as the mooncasters are built for thru-body construction, I've been using LaBella Mustang strings, generally, as they allow for thru-body usage without breaking. Seeing as they are thru-body I believe these would be classified as medium scale, given the extra length to account for the extra distance, even though the scale length I prefer is 30". Finding the correct length of short/medium scale strings to use can be a chore. It's not entirely like just buying your favorite "long scale" strings and knowing that they are correct. You need to find out the ball to silk length and measure your bass make sure they fit.

I told you that story to tell you this one. The Mustang strings also fit my playing style. I've a fairly light touch, certainly as opposed to a bass player emulating the playing style of Flea or Geddy. I've also got drop-D tuners on two of my mooncasters. Between the LaBella string tension and my own playing touch it works just fine for me. YMMV. I would not, for example, use Thomastik strings on a short scale, especially with lower tunings or drop-D. Too floppy, but that's just like my opinion, man.

My hands are not small, but I find the 30" scale very, very comfortable. With my lighter playing touch I can afford to have what in my opinion is low action, in that I start with the normal setup and dial it down by feel. A good fret setup helps wonders in the quest for the low action, just staying out of reach of fret buzz. Between that low action and the 30" scale I find I have a much lighter fretting touch. Again YMMV. But for me, it just "feels" good. IMO, it's all about how you play, what you play, and how it feels when you play.
 
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#3,378
Can anyone comment on the 5 string necks thickness and how they feel? (Deluxe or otherwise) I'm seriously considering building a 5 string jazz but looking at the specs the neck is quite thick, 22mm->25mm puts it on par with my Warwick Corvette $$ which is a bit of a weapon. I adore the sound of that bass but it has pretty bad neck dive and is a little bit uncomfortable to play so was looking for a slimmer 5 but if the Warmoth 5 is similar I might have to just build a slim 4 string instead and upgrade the Warwick in the future to a post 2008 model with the newer neck.
 
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#3,379
Well, IMHO, they are really thick. You are correct in the comparison of the Warwick neck (at least all the ones I have played). But pretty comparable to my 2005 Precision Deluxe 5 string. Since I have the #1 G5 neck, they may have changed the design or thinned them out since I got mine in 2004. It seems they change designs from time to time. So they could be thinner now
 
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