Contoured Heel Question

[uOpt]

Plus it is a resell problem, many "vintage snobs" on ebay and forums shy away from the contoured heel. Why would I limit my resell ease for a very questionably improvement in playability?

Um, are you serious? What kind of resale value were you expecting from a Warmoth?
And in either case, build a guitar for YOURSELF, not the person who is going to buy it later.

All I can say is that I sell and buy guitars and parts at a pretty high rate. There's always something that doesn't turn out the way I like and that somebody else thinks is the coolest piece on earth.

I recently discovered that I don't actually like Brazilian rosewood as a fretboard wood, the hard way by buying it. Big problem? No. Ebay. Done. Happy buyer with Braz, new ebony neck for the seller.

But you really need to keep your flippers off the "exotic" options if you want to do this. And the contoured heel certainly is one. You need to be compatible to as many buyers as possible.

I sure wished that less bodies in the showcase were contoured. Why not contour them when ordered?

This would only be possible on unfinished bodies.
Adding the contour to a finished body would render you with a huge bare wood spot that would require you to repaint the body.

I meant unpainted bodies, obviously, but I see the argument about finish-sanding.

Still, in that situation I'd still say do showcase with normal heel and if you have to charge a couple bucks for the option.

 

[Kostas]

But you really need to keep your flippers off the "exotic" options if you want to do this. And the contoured heel certainly is one.

No it's not. It's standard in many guitars of many companies for more than a decade. Contoured heel it's progress, it's clever. Even Fender have their own version of contoured heel. If guitarists were not so close minded they could have it even in their vintage reissues but then they wouldn't be vintage correct...  :icon_scratch:

People should realize we are in 2009, not in 1954. We can make guitars as good and better than the early Fenders & Gibsons. With improvements.

 

[Mor Paul]

We can make guitars as good and better than the early Fenders & Gibsons. With improvements.

Redundantly Redundant.

 

[JaySwear]

i wouldn't trust ed any further than i could throw him. and at 140lbs couldn't throw him very far.

i'm planning a contoured heel on my build. the way i see it, if warmoth offers it as an option then it's most likely stood up to the biggest critic of them all. warmoth's not selling parts to other companies (like fender), they have to sell right to customers. its a "good-name" sort of a deal

long/boring story short, i think it's not only more comfortable, but looks cool too  :toothy12: i wouldn't worry about deadspots

 

[DangerousR6]

Ed Roman is an arrogant prick, to say the least...Most of what he says is just a bunch of incoherent babbling..With an occasional bit of rationality...

 

[dbw]

What I'd really like to see is countersunk neck plates, so the neck plate is flush with the back when installed.

 

[DangerousR6]

What I'd really like to see is countersunk neck plates, so the neck plate is flush with the back when installed.

:icon_thumright: someone  here had talked about doing that. but I don't remember who it was... :dontknow:

 

[UTSC]

The problem with this is that neck plates are stamped out and not all uniform in size, therefore each recess would have to be routed for a particular predetermined neck plate.

 

[DangerousR6]

However, I'm a strong believer in having as much contact with as much wood as possible between neck and neck pocket.
......
I sure wished that less bodies in the showcase were contoured. Why not contour them when ordered?

Showcase bodies have already been finish sanded, including radiuses.  There's more work than just slapping a body on the CNC to add a contoured heel.

I'm not sure I see the correlation between contoured heel and neck pocket.  They're on opposite sides of the body!  I would agree solid contact between neck heel and pocket is important though.  A contoured heel does not change the neck pocket itself.

It's radii Wyliee, not radiuses.... :icon_biggrin:

 

[Mor Paul]

I think I've talked about how I liked it on Ron Kirn's strats.