Nice!
I always thought a carved top Dinky Jazz would be amazing...anybody else with me?
I always thought a carved top Dinky Jazz would be amazing...anybody else with me?
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Mine was a birdseye maple Precision body with a birdseye maple/ebony fretless neck that I got in from the Warmoth "clearance" back when they were mailing out mimeographed fliers...1985 or so? It weighed a ton and sounded great, and was my first adventure in putting together a bass, but it's long gone...
Yessir! The clearance section was called The Thrift Shop. Overruns, unclaimed orders. There wasn't a lot of stuff there but upon occasion...
I grabbed this P body - unclaimed! Had to have it as soon as I saw it.
Black Korina w/Quilt cap, light scratches on the back from getting shuffled around, and the price was right! Had them add the J rout and it's still a favorite.
I grabbed this P body - unclaimed! Had to have it as soon as I saw it.
Black Korina w/Quilt cap, light scratches on the back from getting shuffled around, and the price was right! Had them add the J rout and it's still a favorite.
I started getting the Warmoth catalogue in the mail in 1986 from a bass player magazine add. I ordered my first bass in 1988. The body is long gone... I modded it out of existence but I still have the neck on a new Warmoth P body made in the 00' s.
Freshly made in 1988
As it looks today
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@Datsgor very cool! My avatar bass is an '88 Warmoth P and also Double P pickups like your was! I still have it, love it and just played it Tuesday night at a gig. I think the Warmoth P bass bodies were a bit smaller back then, which I prefer...do you agree, or am I crazy?
I also have a 2018 Warmoth P Bass with P/Reversed P pickups and a 2021 Warmoth P bass with EMG 35-DCs.
I also have a 2018 Warmoth P Bass with P/Reversed P pickups and a 2021 Warmoth P bass with EMG 35-DCs.
Nice and yes, they were a bit smaller. Over the years the bottom horn has gotten more bulbous too. I made mine a double P because of a B C Rich I had, what was the inspiration for you? Here is a very old picture that shows how slender the horns were back then compared to a regular P.
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I have a White Korina 1 piece carved Dinky P. Bought it around 1999. Tried to buy another one, but they say they do not make them. Still got it. Modulus Genesis neck on it..
I actually bought it that way from the gentleman who had it built. I had never seen anything like it, and am quite happy that I happened upon it.
Also, thank for the photo of the difference in size...I think you can see the same thing in the pic of the triplets.
So bring it back! It's a beautiful, compact shape and if you've got the CNC programming still laying around you'd probably sell every single one you made.... in addition to selling every single one of everything else these days!
yea, it's seriously slim pickings these days.. (not on the guitar side though ) and I agree, I would order a carved top dinky P the minute they announced that they were making them again. It makes no sense to not offer them.
Counterpoint - I can see where the ones with the figured lam tops could be a lot more labor intensive since you've got to make one pass through the CNC, vacuum-glue the top onto this honestly pretty complex shape, then clean up the whole thing before finishing. Maybe it was just too much of a PITA to keep doing? Now - they could always dip their toes back in by offering solid body/color combos only on this one which would save all the fussy lamination glue work....?
Or, don't make one until somebody orders one and then price accordingly. A PITA fee....
smallbutmighty
Commercial User
I can see where something tricked up like mine could price itself out. As I recall, the body - Mahogany (beautiful piece), upgraded 5A Quilt top ($200), amber tint w/taped off edges (everything's an upcharge) - was @$800.
Note: the Quilt is 1/2" thick at the body. To do the carved top it's got to be 1" thick in the middle. It was pricey then, but IMHO worth it. With stage lighting this thing explodes! What's the upcharge for a plank of 1" thick 5A Quilt these days?
These days it just might not be worth it. Buying a body for what you could buy a decent complete bass for....
BUT...is is truly a pleasure to play. The body shape balances beautifully. Warmoth hit a home run with an excellent but apparently un-economical shape. Like I said, it's my #1 and I am gladI was able to get it.
Note: the Quilt is 1/2" thick at the body. To do the carved top it's got to be 1" thick in the middle. It was pricey then, but IMHO worth it. With stage lighting this thing explodes! What's the upcharge for a plank of 1" thick 5A Quilt these days?
These days it just might not be worth it. Buying a body for what you could buy a decent complete bass for....
BUT...is is truly a pleasure to play. The body shape balances beautifully. Warmoth hit a home run with an excellent but apparently un-economical shape. Like I said, it's my #1 and I am gladI was able to get it.
smallbutmighty
Commercial User
Believe it or not, it actually costs money to offer a product and that doesn't sell. Even if we weren't making them for the in-stock showcase, you still have to maintain the offering on the website. A certain amount of dev time gets used up every year on that alone, and we weren't even selling enough of those two items I mentioned to offset that cost.
Maybe someday we could do a limited batch of a dozen or so Carved Top Dinky P's, and just put them in the showcase. Even with some pent up demand that might be out there, I bet they would sit for years before selling through.
As far as the showcase levels, the entire thing is slim pickings. This video explains why:
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Great video, thanks for posting that. I was able to build a bass this last year from the showcase and I am glad ya'll are staying in business and that business was good for you all this last year. I see about the carved dinky and expense, thanks for explaining it.
I myself have paid the Warmoth PITA fee a couple of times to get something that was exactly what I wanted but not offered as an option on the website. The three-pickup jazz body in my avatar is exhibit A.Or, don't make one until somebody orders one and then price accordingly. A PITA fee....
Really? How does something like that take up any dev time at all once it has already been created and posted? I would have thought that something like that would be pretty much fire-and-forget -- you develop it, and then it stays exactly the way it is until there's a need to make a change. Unless I'm missing something?
It's entirely possible that I'm missing something. And if I am, it wouldn't be the first time.
@smallbutmighty Thank you SO much for that excellent explanation of what is causing the short supply! What a great problem to have...we LOVE Warmoth!!
smallbutmighty
Commercial User
It usually happens because while the low-selling offering is just sitting there doing nothing, the landscape is changing around it....and those new rules have to be adapted to that product, just like all the rest.
Taking the Carved Top Dinky P (CTDP) as an example, about five or six years ago Warmoth changed how we build carved tops. We went from 3/4" solid figured wood tops to our Double Lams, which use a 1/8" figured piece over sub-lam of non-figured wood. As a result, we had to create new CNC programs for all carved tops models...including the CTDP. Then we had to updated the website to acknowledge the change...including the CTDP page.
Another example might be offering a new bridge rout. You have to program this bridge rout for all bodies, including the CTDP. But does it actually work correctly on that body, with no conflicts? Well....I guess we have to build one to find out. Then you have to update the offering on all the bass bodies on the website, including the CTDP.
Now you've spent a bunch of money on a body that sells maybe four or five units a year.
Hope that makes sense.
