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Warmoth, whats your opinion?
- Thread starter JebSmells
- Start date
Again, I think the neck-heavy complaints are all relative, especially given the ability to mix and match different wood combinations of bodies and necks. All things being equal, a maple neck on a body made of comparably heavy woods is probably not going to seem neck-heavy compared to, say, a zebrawood neck on an alder body.
Lonnybass
Lonnybass
I really like the quality of Warmoth parts. The fit it great as is the workmanship. As mentioned before it really pays to know what you want before you start: wood types for sound, hardware, pups, etc. Their necks are a little beefier than most, but I rather like that because it feels ridged and solid. And while they are a little heavier than most, I never have had anything close to neck diving because of this. My Warmoths hang perfect while strapped on. The fret dressing is top quality too. I particularly like Padouk as a neck wood because it does not need a finish. I seldom need to adjust my Warmoths due to temp or humidity.
And their bodies are just as good as their necks.
And their bodies are just as good as their necks.
here's a quick photo (best i could do without natural light)
This is the best reminder I've ever seen, that an electric bass is first and foremost a piece of wood.
I love it.
here's a quick photo (best i could do without natural light)
See, this is why you go Warmoth. You could never buy a Fender like that!
Warmoth makes great parts! Their necks are somewhat heavy, due to the steel reinforcement bars, but very solid. Install lightweight tuners on the headstock to help minimize neck dive.
X
X Wolf
Guest
Yes, wood does make a difference, but I think the reason Warmoth necks are heavier than most is due to their heavy steel truss rod assembly.
George
is it possible to get a warmoth with 24 frets and actually have access to them? i've seen the neck where the fingerboard extends over the body, but it's a jazz body and you'd never reach them. can you get a deep cutaway? can you get a 24 fret that's made that way and not just a 21 or 22 fret neck with an extension?
I'd say that you do in fact know what you're getting. What not everyone knows is what to do with it. And that can make the difference between a bass you'll love and keep for a lifetime or one that you want to sell but can't sell for what you put into it. See the first three responses below.
Not cool of them at all. If I ever order from them, I'll be sure to keep it simple. I'm not overly concerned with the weight of my basses, tho, so that's one issue I won't have to deal with. It does seem that they have a problem getting certain orders right- I'm beginning to think that the Showcase is the best option to make sure they don't screw anything up. The only things I'll ever want from them are a Jazz body with 70s pickup spacing and a maple/rosewood J-neck with pearloid blocks and cream binding.
I've played Warmoth necks and never been anything but happy with the tone. If you know up front that you want whatever tonal differences a non-reinforced neck offers, then it stands to reason that a Warmoth neck is not for you. Same for the weight.
Re the "legit" look- Both Warmoth and USA Custom Guitars have a logo of their own. That's what everyone should be using if they're not using a logo of their own design. Fender decals are for Fender basses, IMO.
I have quite a few Warmoth necks, 5 aren't yet on bodies at the moment. They're a mix of 4 string J and P size and none of them weigh more than 2lbs. 4 oz. on my very accurate digital fishing scale.
Mate,
I have a Fender P Jazz Special that I bought in "91" and decided I wanted to retro-fit it with a fretless neck w\o markers, rosewood neck shortly after. I had the shop that I knew in Redondo Beach, that has a great reputation fit it and set the thing up. It is still strong as ever!! Love it and it's always a great stand-by
The pics I have of it are live, cause ME Be Busy...
ypmuL1979
I have a Fender P Jazz Special that I bought in "91" and decided I wanted to retro-fit it with a fretless neck w\o markers, rosewood neck shortly after. I had the shop that I knew in Redondo Beach, that has a great reputation fit it and set the thing up. It is still strong as ever!! Love it and it's always a great stand-by
The pics I have of it are live, cause ME Be Busy...ypmuL1979
Attachments
I've only ever gotten necks from them, but they've been excellent. For example? My fretless jazz neck is over 15 years in action and not a problem ever. I got a fretted 5 with P spacing 10 years ago. It arrived in the most humid NY weather in history, and after a period of adjustment? It's been solid ever since. the phone staff was more than helpful. Definately recommend.
Hyperbole.
I know they aren't 4 lbs...but heavy never the less.Actually, my concern is not so much with the weight as it is the tone. I always found them dead sounding - not very resonant. I attribute this to the two steel rods in it. For comparison, I had an Allparts neck that was not reinforced that sounded MUCH better when put on the same body, pickups etc.
You said in your earlier post that you'd built "6 or 7 basses with Warmoth and/or USA Custom Guitars parts". How many necks were by Warmoth, and how long did it take before you realized that whatever tonal differences a reinforced neck offers does not suit your personal tastes?
I've had that happen too. My current #1, 2, and 3 are Warmoth bodies with an Allparts and a Fender neck replacing their original Warmoth necks.
I constantly switch things around on instruments (necks, bodies, hardware, pickups) just to see what falls out and I've found there's no predicting what any component in a new combination is going to sound like based on past performance in other combinations. If that makes any sense.
The way I look at it, whatever works does.
IIRC, I had 4 Warmoth necks. At first I didn't think it was the neck that I didn't like. I also thought that maybe it was the wood combinations. Then I got a USA Custom guitars neck, slapped it on one of my warmoth basses and it was a totally different animal all together. Much improved.
The Warmoth necks I have had:
1) A Wenge/Wenge J-bass neck that I put on a Fender. I thought it would give it a bit of that Warwick growl. The bass with that neck on it just sounded muddy (I have owned the old all Wenge neck Warwicks before). And the neck dive was stupid. The original neck went back on.
I thought "maybe just that particular neck was a dud."
2) then I did an all warmoth build with a Maple/ebony board neck. Hated it.
3) A couple of years later I tried again - I went with Warmoth because there was some options that I wanted that USA CG could not do. This time it was Alder body with Maple/Rosewood. Same Problem - hated the neck.
4) The next year a got another Wenge/wenge neck (Les Paul headstock). Another clinker.
I really think that they do not dry the wood long enough. All the necks seemed so lifeless and dull sounding compared to others I had tried.
I think that warmoth's bodies are ok overall, but for the price and all the upcharges they hit you with and the inflexibility of their ordering process and the wait time, go with USA Custom guitars. Their base price is a little higher, but they won't charge you for a lot of little things (on one body, Warmoth charged me $50 to drill an extra hole in the electronics cavity
). Tommy at USA CG will that stuff for nothing. Also, he'll cherry pick a nice piece of wood for your body if you ask and there won't be some stupid upcharge. And if there is an upcharge, he'll deliver what you paid for, unlike my experience with Warmoth.For What its worth - Tommy and most of the other guys at USA CG are former employees of Warmoth that got fed up with the owner's antics and rip-off business practices. So they got together, left and started their own shop down the road.
I have a solid walnut J bass body from Warmoth..Very very nice!!!!
I also have a fretless J neck with an unlined rosewood fingerboard and the 22 fret extension on the board.
I love the body, but I'm not too keen on the neck. As the previous post indicated, Warmoth necks can be very heavy. I know that the one I have is heavy as hell and it has a different sound than my USA custom guitars J neck. Frankly I MUCH prefer the USA custom guitars neck. It feels incredible, plays beautifully, and it just works.
One other real downside to MY warmoth neck is that the truss rod ajustment is at the heel of the neck, but with the fretboard extension it's impossible to adjust the truss rod without pulling the neck off the body which is in my opinion a huge and totally unnecessary pain in the butt!
I also have a fretless J neck with an unlined rosewood fingerboard and the 22 fret extension on the board.
I love the body, but I'm not too keen on the neck. As the previous post indicated, Warmoth necks can be very heavy. I know that the one I have is heavy as hell and it has a different sound than my USA custom guitars J neck. Frankly I MUCH prefer the USA custom guitars neck. It feels incredible, plays beautifully, and it just works.
One other real downside to MY warmoth neck is that the truss rod ajustment is at the heel of the neck, but with the fretboard extension it's impossible to adjust the truss rod without pulling the neck off the body which is in my opinion a huge and totally unnecessary pain in the butt!
Fair enough. I haven't had any of the experiences with tone that you've had. To each his own.
I've had three Allparts necks as well, two were maple-board Js, bound and blocked. I sold both before I could get around to buying a body with the proper pickup spacing for them (I looked at some of the Allparts bodies on eBay, but they look to me like they're about 1/8" shy of having the right spacing). I still have a maple/rosewood P that I'll get a body for from someplace.
I will say that the Allparts bound/blocked necks are as well-made as anything out there, but I wasn't as impressed with the P. It was unfinished, and there were rough edges on the back of all four of the tuner holes. It doesn't feel as substantial as the bound/blocked necks did, either, but that may be due to the weight of the finish and pearloid inlays, don't know.
Yup, my #4 uses a USACG P body and Fender neck. It's the lightest body I have (3lbs. 7 oz.) and was quite reasonable as a web special/cosmetic second.
I also have a P body from the GuitarMill with a beautiful trans white finish. I used it to build up a '59 style with a rosewood Fender neck and an anodized aluminum guard.
I've rounded off the end, beveled and carved a shallow channel in the underside of the fingerboard extension to make trussrod access easier.
