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warmouth wenge necks - experiences/opinions?

TTA

TTA

Jun 10, 2021
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4,548
#1
My 95 mim jazz migjt just get a neck upgrade. it is fine but not amazing. thinking wenge/wenge with black block inlays and black binding.

My dingwall ab1 basses are wenge and they balance perfectly, and my jazz balances fine with ashtray covers. i know wenge is heavy but curious what others have noted for effect to balance?

would be going jazz, graphite rods, 1.5 nut, likely slim profile (experiences vs standard jazz neck profile?… stability is my goal, thinking about weight also).

i can go black clover ultralite hipshot tuners to keep the neck lite where it counts, but prefer to use my current black standard style. experiences here?

also, are people needing to give the necks to a luthier for proper setup?

thanks for any help. this kind of needs to happen as it will look deadly and be one of a kind.

IMG_7845.jpeg
 
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#7
My Warmoth all-Wenge neck weighs 3 pounds.
I recommend that you attach the wenge neck to a mid-to-heavy body.
There's a reason to why Warwick's headstocks are so small.
If you need a lighter weight neck, get a wenge fretboard on a maple neck.
Either way, the all wenge neck sound great.
 
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#9
I built my "Über Jazz" with one of the Warmoth wenge/wenge necks 15-odd years ago. It was an early Highway 1 body in Olympic White nitro (that looked kinda like banana pudding yellow really--the reason I eventually sold it) that I put a set of DiMarzio Ultra Jazz pickups in and then that Warmoth neck. I loaded it with Hipshot vintage cloverleaf Ultralite tuners and it was killer. Played great. Looked amazing. Balanced perfectly. The neck arrived with top-notch finishing and fret work. Once it was dialed in for the Fat-Beams it just got played with no need for adjustment. The guy I sold it to is still thrilled with it, so I guess that's two thumbs up from this camp ...
 
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#10
I have a Warmoth Gecko Medium 5 with a wenge neck, ebony fb, and stainless frets. Other than adjusting the relief I never experienced any issues. Even the nut was cut well! Just pulled it out and did a quick truss rod adjustment. not neck divey at all, but it's not an FSO. Plays and sounds great! Haven't gigged it in a year. I'm gonna have to do something about that...

BBB
 
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#11
MartialDylan said:
My Warmoth all-Wenge neck weighs 3 pounds.
I recommend that you attach the wenge neck to a mid-to-heavy body.
There's a reason to why Warwick's headstocks are so small.
If you need a lighter weight neck, get a wenge fretboard on a maple neck.
Either way, the all wenge neck sound great.
Click to expand...
not sure how heavy my body is, but with the pickup covers i am sure it is heavy.
 
#12
I ordered one for a strat probably 20 years ago now, with a scalloped ziricote fretboard and stainless frets. It was perfect out of the box on a MIM strat body and one of the best guitars I've ever played. Of course I sold it 15 years ago like an idiot.
 
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#13
I swapped a 32" scale Warmoth maple/rosewood neck for a 32" scale wenge/rosewood neck. Wenge was lighter than the maple neck it replaced. I heard a slight shift in tone with a little bit of a midrange emphasis in the wenge.

I liked it enough I went with wenge when I ordered my fretless neck.

darwin-bass

Thread 'NND: Warmoth 32” Scale Wenge Neck Swap'

NND = new neck day :-)

I built this Warmoth 32” medium scale on a whim. Just thought another P bass would be cool so I could run both flats and rounds. Turned out to be better than my other Ps so they got sold while this one stayed.

And ever since I’ve been wishing I had block inlays. A neck became available so I bought it and did a swap.

The new neck is wenge (when-gay) with a rosewood fretboard. I was concerned a bit about weight since wenge is more dense than maple. I also wondered how it would look and what it would do to the sound.

During the swap process I made some...
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#15
Look at Musikraft. They offer more options, better build quality, better fretwork, and better customer service and communication. I have an all wenge P Bass neck from them. It is a work of art. Did not come cheap, but was well worth it to be able to REALLY choose my specs, and deal with a good company.

I would never consider ordering from Warmoth, as you can't even pick several basic specs, most notably the fretboard radius. I also don't like that they use stiffening rods and two-way truss rods as standard, and you can't choose otherwise in most cases. Every time I contact them for something that's not on the menu, they are of no help whatsoever. It's always, "Sorry, can't offer that," like a robot. Kind of seems like they have a bunch of kids working there. I don't get that vibe from MK at all.

Warmoth was a pioneer in the industry when they were younger, and they used to be a true custom shop. But they've gone a lot more cookie-cutter over the past few decades, tying you in to certain specs when you choose a neck "type," and focusing more on offering a bunch of inlays and "exotic" woods, rather than on offering a huge array of playability/preference options, like radius, truss rod type, and so on. Musikraft now covers most of what Warmoth has lost over the years, and then some.

Guitar Mill is also very good quality, and a very good company to work with IME. However, they are lacking in options compared to MK. On the plus side, they have an excellent finishing shop, and shoot lacquer. MK does not apply hard finishes – only a few various oils, or a basic matte lacquer sealer.
 
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#17
2F/2F said:
Look at Musikraft. They offer more options, better build quality, better fretwork, and better customer service and communication. I have an all wenge P Bass neck from them. It is a work of art. Did not come cheap, but was well worth it to be able to REALLY choose my specs, and deal with a good company.

I would never consider ordering from Warmoth, as you can't even pick several basic specs, most notably the fretboard radius. I also don't like that they use stiffening rods and two-way truss rods as standard, and you can't choose otherwise in most cases. Every time I contact them for something that's not on the menu, they are of no help whatsoever. It's always, "Sorry, can't offer that," like a robot. Kind of seems like they have a bunch of kids working there. I don't get that vibe from MK at all.

Warmoth was a pioneer in the industry when they were younger, and they used to be a true custom shop. But they've gone a lot more cookie-cutter over the past few decades, tying you in to certain specs when you choose a neck "type," and focusing more on offering a bunch of inlays and "exotic" woods, rather than on offering a huge array of playability/preference options, like radius, truss rod type, and so on. Musikraft now covers most of what Warmoth has lost over the years, and then some.

Guitar Mill is also very good quality, and a very good company to work with IME. However, they are lacking in options compared to MK. On the plus side, they have an excellent finishing shop, and shoot lacquer. MK does not apply hard finishes – only a few various oils, or a basic matte lacquer sealer.
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thanks for this reply. i was about to do warmouth but they could not do three piece quartersawn wenge or a hard finish, so i have reached out to musikraft. As you say, outside of listed options, warmouth did not seem open to colouring outside their box. lets see what musikraft says.
 
#18
well… that escalated in a hurry.

ordered a musicraft jazz neck wenge/wenge carbon rods, 2 piece, cc shape, lumenlay dots, black blocks/binding. stainless medium frets. 9.5? radius.

darn thing will cost as much as a new mim bass! good thing i like my old bass 95 mim bass… 😅😅😅

it will be a very subtle blackout look to go with my upgraded blackout mim.
 
#19
TTA said:
well… that escalated in a hurry.

ordered a musicraft jazz neck wenge/wenge carbon rods, 2 piece, cc shape, lumenlay dots, black blocks/binding. stainless medium frets. 9.5? radius.

darn thing will cost as much as a new mim bass! good thing i like my old bass 95 mim bass… 😅😅😅

it will be a very subtle blackout look to go with my upgraded blackout mim.
Click to expand...
Yes; I paid about $600 for mine, and it had fewer options than yours. For example, I got no top dots, no binding, and no stiffening rods. Plus I got it without a nut, because I prefer to make the nut myself or have a local shop that I've patronized for decades do it. I tend to use heavy gauge strings or tapewounds, so I prefer to make the nut only once my preferred strings are ready to install. But I also go stainless 6230 frets, mother of pearl inlays, and I had the neck oiled by them in "aged oil." Those things added to the price.

Your neck will look great on that bass.

Mine looks really good too, though it's on a light colored body.
 
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#20
2F/2F said:
Yes; I paid about $600 for mine, and it had fewer options than yours. For example, I got no top dots, no binding, and no stiffening rods. Plus I got it without a nut, because I prefer to make the nut myself or have a local shop that I've patronized for decades do it. I tend to use heavy gauge strings or tapewounds, so I prefer to make the nut only once my preferred strings are ready to install. But I also go stainless 6230 frets, mother of pearl inlays, and I had the neck oiled by them in "aged oil." Those things added to the price.

Your neck will look great on that bass.

Mine looks really good too, though it's on a light colored body.
Click to expand...
yeah i think i checked off almost every option.
 

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