Build custom vs. In stock....

[rooser53]

The dilemma... I know for me, 2 things are most important. For bodies: Weight first, grain and finish second. For necks I want a large profile, quartersawn neck, which I have basically decided the fatback is it for me. I have been watching the Warmouth site daily for the last year or so, and have built a couple guitars; a strat and a tele, and purchased a number of other necks and bodies that I returned or sold... I have literally weighed every component of a strat and tele guitar, so I know what is required to, for instance, build an under 7 lb. strat, and around a 6.5 lb. tele. I have arthritis in my (already small) hands so I just can't heft a "heavy" guitar and I wouldn't own a Les Paul anyway, my preference is single coils and always has been. I waited 4 months to find a 2 lb. 14oz. solid ash strat body, and I bought a chambered tele body that was 3.3 lbs. Both of those guitars came in well within my "target" weight but you have to literally watch the site ALL THE TIME to find these items. It would be nice if you could spec these items and pay an upcharge and know you would get what you want, but you can't!

So far, I haven't been willing to spec out a body or neck the way I want it, wait 6 weeks, and get a body that's too heavy (crap grain?), and or a quartersawn neck full of grain flecks, which is too much like factory stuff IMHO. I may change my mind and give it a shot but I know it would drive me nuts if I had to send it back...

So, bottom line, watch the site A LOT, and don't let a body or neck go for more than a day before you pull the trigger, because that stuff goes fast... My .02.

 

[Ace Flibble]

Erm... if you pay them an extra $40 and leave a note in the checkout (or phone/e-mail in your order), they'll sort through their wood and pick out the lightest blank they currently have. At least with the common woods; I expect exotic woods may be a different story as supply is more limited.
I don't know about getting them to pick out neck blanks with a particular type of grain (or lack of grain, or whatever), but I would imagine they could sort a similar thing out for you if you ask. (And pay an upcharge, of course.)

 

[rooser53]

...when they say they'll use light wood, there is no guarantee the body will be 3 lbs. or 4 lbs. That's a lot of space between super light finished guitar, (desirable) and a pretty standard factory produced guitar. There's a reason the lightest bodies go fast!