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another company using warmoth's necks?

It kind of looks like it's trying to get away from you.... I dunno, I like edges and corners AKA "Telecasters." Something to hang on to. It's got Hipshot tuners and bridge, Seymour Duncan pickups. Umm, black knobs, probably some capacitors and such. 

I can't even imagine trying to assess just how many guitar "luthiers" making solidbody electrics with bolt-on 25.5" and 24.75" scale necks, Gotoh/Wilkinson/Hipshot/Schaller parts, and sourced pickups have started business in this new century. Crikey. 125? 150? I'm down to one mag subscription, Premier Guitar, but there's always at least a few more new ones every few months. Perhaps the tail-end drizzling-out of business plans launched before the launch of our current little depression (or whatever you wanna call it when Wall Street billionaires run around "The sky is falling! The sky is falling!" and our bought-n-paid-for politicians* say "there there, dearie, here's some trillions, those l'il granchillums sure are gonna have to work their boney tails off. Enjoy your new Gulfstreams!") 

*(the whole damn lot, I ain't picking sides.)

P.S.>(If I was going to use Warmoth necks on my daringly original solidbody electrics with bolt-on 25.5" and 24.75" scale necks, Gotoh/Wilkinson/Hipshot/Schaller parts, and sourced pickups, I would at least design a little zipnorgie for them to cut into the headstock, instead of just scoring 'em out of the bin. The whole "OEM" market is pretty big [n' secret!] for Warmoth, USA Custom [and maybe Guitar Mill?] and it makes sense. It's not really HARD with the right stuff, but they already do them... perfect. Perfect is good. Somewhat hard to improve upon.)
 
Is it just me, or are there so many side dots on that neck that there may as well be none at all?

santos.jpg
 
I think those are fret ends.  There are standard position-marker dots between the frets at positions 3, 5, 7, 12, 15, 17, 19, and 21.
 
I had the same thought, but they seem awfully dark to be fret ends. You could attribute that to shadowing, but the rest of the neck on that side doesn't seem to be shadowed, so...

If it's a Warmoth neck, I don't know that they offer such a modification, but maybe the builder painted them? I don't know. In any event, it looks confusing.
 
Please, the fret ends are dark because the rare unobtanium metal they use for frets is darker. Have you not been paying attention?  :doh:
 
:icon_scratch: Cost is high for Poplar Body  :sad1: with just a set of SD's  :icon_scratch:

Gee that Santos Palisander top, looks like Cocobolo.
 
At least he is sculpting bodies to differentiate himself somehow from the others.

Swarfrat's Laws of Work: A job has four main criteria:
1) Do other people want this?
2) Can anyone do it? (Limited Entry)
3) Is it fun/rewarding?
4) Is it difficult? (Skill)

#1 should be obvious.
Things that are easy, fun, and anyone can do you generally have to stand in line and pay money for. (Ride roller coasters)
Thing that are easy, rewarding/fun, and have limited entry, have extremely fierce competition, and high burnout. (Just about any hobby that people are occasionally tempted to 'go pro'.  Professional Divers, Photographers, Musicians)
Things that are difficult, but rewarding, and have limited entry generally pay very well. Lawyers. Marriage.
Things that are difficult, gruelling, and anyone can do, generally don't pay anywhere near what you'd have to pay me to do them. (Corollary - moving dirt is one of the lowest paying jobs out there, but if you've ever hired it out, you know it's incredibly expensive).  Earth Moving, Marriage.

Ah... I've forgotten all the combinations now, it's early. Someday I'll write them all down. Anyway my point is that there's always going to be a flood of people trying to make a go of this, and if you want to succeed, you HAVE to DIFFERENTIATE yourself. And be willing to charge stupid high prices while simultaneously living on Ramen Noodles and frozen pizzas for a long time, while enduring endless internet criticism of people saying that you're just slapping off the shelf parts together and charging way too much for. Which IS exactly what you're doing, but you just have to figure out how to get away with it.
 
It's $800 in parts, a unique body shape - he probably sent W or someone the CNC programming and had a batch made - presumably a fine paint job and top setup. For $1750, that's not a bad deal at all if you assume the setup is top notch and you love the design. Cheaper than many many mass produced items out there. Can he make a living - looks rough. Who knows, I suppose just to pay rent and buy beans and rice he has got to sell a dozen or more per month.
 
Reminds me of that saying "In order to make a small fortune building guitars, start with a large fortune."
 
Cagey said:
I had the same thought, but they seem awfully dark to be fret ends. You could attribute that to shadowing, but the rest of the neck on that side doesn't seem to be shadowed, so...

If it's a Warmoth neck, I don't know that they offer such a modification, but maybe the builder painted them? I don't know. In any event, it looks confusing.


It's a digital photo sized for web display.  Whaddaya want for nothin'?
 
I want a high-resolution color-corrected medical-grade three-dimensional holographic projection. With fuel injection.
 
Curious, why do we think this is a W neck?
A few have been asking for a 3+3 straight pull headstock design.  This has it, W doesn't.
 
I was going to say: how do we know for sure it's a warmoth neck?  is it because it looks a little similar to the Warmoth 3+3 profile?  They've certainly gone out of their way not to show any side adjust pics - but that's a Gotoh part anyway.  Not sure that Warmoth would have any kind of  monopoly on that.  In fact, does anyone know of any other manufacturers that use the system?? 

In any event, and as previously noted, the prices are not unreasonable.  I've spent close to 2 grand on a couple of warmoth builds (parts + a $300 build / fret job / setup).  It's a luthier built package that is still cheaper than a mass produced LP.  Plus, if the neck is from Warmoth, then you have the added benefit of knowing it's probably good one. 

Would be really interesting to know what the deal is these days on the OEM building business.  I know that James Trussart used to get their necks made by Warmoth back in the day (late 80s / early 90s before he moved to LA) - he told me so himself so I'm pretty confident on that one.  I'm sure we'd all love to know who they do OEM building for these days but that has to be a well kept secret, shame about all those NDAs.

Anyway, that one is not top of my "need to buy" list but at least they went through the effort of trying to design something pretty unique on the body front.  If it's well set up then it's probably worth the money (though I take that all back if it turns out to be made in Indonesia...).
 
A: "OEM" pretty much means somebody else builds you parts. I/we/you really have no idea about these guys - "secret" kinda means that - but if I/we/you/them called up Warmoth and said "I wanna 250 necks, withOUT side adjusters, here's an enormous pile of money" we could get them. (Try it!) Point be: side adjuster's presence or absence aren't necessarily indicative of any sourcing - or not. Unless a "manufacturer" "manufactures" like, three guitars with parts out of the bin, then launches a big boofy website yakking about all their models - showing 18 pictures each of their three real, so-far actually-existing guitars. Send money! Soon! OrderMEOrderMEOrderMEMEMEMEMEME!!!! Although that never happens.

Because that would mean that they're actually at least TRYING to sell everything from their very first prototype on, which is totally disproven because they have conducted arduous centuries-long research to get everything SO MUCH BETTER than ANYthing that ever happened to a guitar before -
THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING!
Whoa! How cool is that!

B: that headstock looks like part-out-of-bin.

C: Some manufacturers, like the Normandy guy(s), RockStarNick, this new Grath fellow, apparently Trussart early on, till he <strike>went OEM</strike> cough cough BEGAN MAKING HIS OWN NECKS, some guys BRAG about using Warmoth necks as an indicator of quality, and others desperately cower behind the OEM shield because we all know that the very very best ever guitars are made by one guy with a Buck knife and the esoteric knowledge of every bit of guitarness, all locked in his own l'il head. Just like Leo did it! I mean, half of US (WE-Us, not America-US) use our Warmoth-stickered guitars to mightily slay those poor pathetic whiny little Fender owners - and the other half of US buy "Fender" decals on eBay and perform well-oiled (by now familiar)* mental gymnastics to make a "Warmoth" BE a "Fender."

S0 the answer is:
D, I'll take a half-dozen with frosting.

*(not only can you make Fender parts outta Warmoths, you can steal the bullshit that makes it happen too!) :hello2: :hello2: :hello2:
 
first of all, the 3x3 angled headstock-necks dont have a side adjuster...

why I think it's a warmoth neck? Just look at the headstock; looks eery similar to warmoth's own 3x3 headstock style.
 
Doesn't matter who made it; it has too many side dots. Too confusing. Be dazed and confused like a butterfly in a wallpaper store full of flower patterns. But, it may sell in Russia. Or California <grin>
 
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