Custom not as good as stock

[Guitarsan]

So it's clear to me as I've been looking at this over time that Warmoth doesn't use its best samples for custom selection. Take flame maple laminate, for example.

Almost all the current custom selections for guitar bodies available are not as nice as stock examples. Almost all the custom samples have what I would call "cross flame", or flaming perpendicular to each other. Or the predominate flaming is running north/south. As a group, they're clearly inferior to the high quality flaming available in stock.

So check out these fine stock examples....

A few of many high grade stock samples, there are many more of course....

and then there's this available for custom selection. For more money. Lots more in some cases. Doesn't make sense. Anyone else notice this? Why is it? Feel free to comment Warmoth.... I think you're missing out on sales because of this. There's not a single custom sample available of consistent, bookmatched, left to right only flaming like the stock samples above. Just don't get it.

 

[aarontunes]

There are a couple things to consider here:

First, Unique Choice doesn't necessarily mean "better than anything you will find in the In-Stock Showcase". We put killer LamTops on Showcase bodies all the time. What Unique Choice means is that when creating a custom ordered guitar or bass body, you don't have to make a blind purchase. You have the opportunity to see pictures of actual LamTop blanks that are in stock, examine their woodgrain patterns, and pick the one you like. No guessing, no surprises.

Second, comparing finished bodies to raw wood isn't a fair fight. The “perpendicular” lines you are seeing in the Unique Choice photos are not flame, but grain lines, and they will not show as pronounced once the LamTop is dyed.  Once the UC LamTops are dyed the flame will be brought out and the grain lines will be more subtle.

Hope that helps.

 

[Kostas]

I have noticed that more that a few times myself. I don't know if it means more customers and more work but the company has changed a lot since 2007 when I ordered my first parts. I'm always detailed in my emails and describe what I want with text and sample photos. Back then I feel they did a better work at trying to find what the customer wants, after all they call it custom order and the customer pays a lot of money when figured woods are included in the order.

Last year although I did the same, the person I was corresponding without being rude to me I had the feeling he won't try too hard to explain to the neck department what I wanted and in the end I was right. I got a very nice neck but for the money I paid I was expecting an awesome neck. After this and some options they don't offer I won't order another Warmoth neck again and finding one in the showcase is higly ulikely for me.

 

[Wolfie351]

Also, don't forget, the particularly fantastic pieces get snatched up pretty quickly.  More than once I wrote down a unique top or fretboard number only to find it was gone when I went back to buy it a few days later.  But, with that said, I don't find anything wrong with the unfinished examples you listed.  With varying degrees of flame, they all look great and are perfectly bookmatched.  If you've got an idea in your head of something you EXACTLY want, you better wait to find it in the showcase because no one can make any guarantees how a piece of raw wood will take dye.  I'm sure the call that everyone dreads at Warmoth is the, "the body I custom ordered didn't match the one I had in my mind"

 

[Guitarsan]

There are a couple things to consider here:

First, Unique Choice doesn't necessarily mean "better than anything you will find in the In-Stock Showcase". We put killer LamTops on Showcase bodies all the time. What Unique Choice means is that when creating a custom ordered guitar or bass body, you don't have to make a blind purchase. You have the opportunity to see pictures of actual LamTop blanks that are in stock, examine their woodgrain patterns, and pick the one you like. No guessing, no surprises.

Second, comparing finished bodies to raw wood isn't a fair fight. The “perpendicular” lines you are seeing in the Unique Choice photos are not flame, but grain lines, and they will not show as pronounced once the LamTop is dyed.  Once the UC LamTops are dyed the flame will be brought out and the grain lines will be more subtle.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for the reply and dialog! I completely get everything in your first paragraph. I don't expect all Unique Choice to be superior, but I am paying a premium for using it and I would expect some to most to be on par with the average in-stock and my whole point is that they're not, in my opinion. Maybe I'm wrong. By the way, I applaud Warmoth for the transparency of the Unique Choice process, absolutely agree it's fantastic to get a great sense of what the final product is going to be with your website tools. And you're unique in the industry for this feature, kudos for that!

Can you point out killer laminate flame maple (unfinished) bodies here in this thread currently in the Showcase? Is that what you're saying? I waited a couple of months to post this, and have been looking at all Strat Warmoth inventory multiple times a day each and every day, so I know what comes in and goes out. (Specifically looking for Strat Replacement bodies)

If you're saying I can order a custom Unique Choice flamed laminate top and I can reject it if those grain lines don't fade away as you've described, then you've got my attention. They either will as you say or they won't, so I don't see any risk in your part in offering that. I'll be happy to take this part of the discussion offline with Warmoth directly. I don't expect you to answer this on the forum, but a "please talk to us" would be nice and I will. 

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

There are a couple things to consider here:

First, Unique Choice doesn't necessarily mean "better than anything you will find in the In-Stock Showcase". We put killer LamTops on Showcase bodies all the time. What Unique Choice means is that when creating a custom ordered guitar or bass body, you don't have to make a blind purchase. You have the opportunity to see pictures of actual LamTop blanks that are in stock, examine their woodgrain patterns, and pick the one you like. No guessing, no surprises.

Second, comparing finished bodies to raw wood isn't a fair fight. The “perpendicular” lines you are seeing in the Unique Choice photos are not flame, but grain lines, and they will not show as pronounced once the LamTop is dyed.  Once the UC LamTops are dyed the flame will be brought out and the grain lines will be more subtle.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for the reply and dialog! I completely get everything in your first paragraph. I don't expect all Unique Choice to be superior, but I am paying a premium for using it and I would expect some to most to be on par with the average in-stock and my whole point is that they're not, in my opinion. Maybe I'm wrong. By the way, I applaud Warmoth for the transparency of the Unique Choice process, absolutely agree it's fantastic to get a great sense of what the final product is going to be with your website tools. And you're unique in the industry for this feature, kudos for that!

Can you point out killer laminate flame maple (unfinished) bodies here in this thread currently in the Showcase? Is that what you're saying? I waited a couple of months to post this, and have been looking at all Strat Warmoth inventory multiple times a day each and every day, so I know what comes in and goes out. (Specifically looking for Strat Replacement bodies)

If you're saying I can order a custom Unique Choice flamed laminate top and I can reject it if those grain lines don't fade away as you've described, then you've got my attention. They either will as you say or they won't, so I don't see any risk in your part in offering that. I'll be happy to take this part of the discussion offline with Warmoth directly. I don't expect you to answer this on the forum, but a "please talk to us" would be nice and I will.

You can sort your RS feed in the showcase to direct an email to you when such items are loaded into the showcase.  Probably one of the easier ways of acquiring the access to view these.

 

[aarontunes]

There are a couple things to consider here:

First, Unique Choice doesn't necessarily mean "better than anything you will find in the In-Stock Showcase". We put killer LamTops on Showcase bodies all the time. What Unique Choice means is that when creating a custom ordered guitar or bass body, you don't have to make a blind purchase. You have the opportunity to see pictures of actual LamTop blanks that are in stock, examine their woodgrain patterns, and pick the one you like. No guessing, no surprises.

Second, comparing finished bodies to raw wood isn't a fair fight. The “perpendicular” lines you are seeing in the Unique Choice photos are not flame, but grain lines, and they will not show as pronounced once the LamTop is dyed.  Once the UC LamTops are dyed the flame will be brought out and the grain lines will be more subtle.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for the reply and dialog! I completely get everything in your first paragraph. I don't expect all Unique Choice to be superior, but I am paying a premium for using it and I would expect some to most to be on par with the average in-stock and my whole point is that they're not, in my opinion. Maybe I'm wrong. By the way, I applaud Warmoth for the transparency of the Unique Choice process, absolutely agree it's fantastic to get a great sense of what the final product is going to be with your website tools. And you're unique in the industry for this feature, kudos for that!

Can you point out killer laminate flame maple (unfinished) bodies here in this thread currently in the Showcase? Is that what you're saying? I waited a couple of months to post this, and have been looking at all Strat Warmoth inventory multiple times a day each and every day, so I know what comes in and goes out. (Specifically looking for Strat Replacement bodies)

If you're saying I can order a custom Unique Choice flamed laminate top and I can reject it if those grain lines don't fade away as you've described, then you've got my attention. They either will as you say or they won't, so I don't see any risk in your part in offering that. I'll be happy to take this part of the discussion offline with Warmoth directly. I don't expect you to answer this on the forum, but a "please talk to us" would be nice and I will.

Please talk to us.

One of our customer service reps would be happy to help you out with questions about specific bodies, or creating a custom body.

 

[Guitarsan]

Also, don't forget, the particularly fantastic pieces get snatched up pretty quickly.  More than once I wrote down a unique top or fretboard number only to find it was gone when I went back to buy it a few days later.  But, with that said, I don't find anything wrong with the unfinished examples you listed.  With varying degrees of flame, they all look great and are perfectly bookmatched.  If you've got an idea in your head of something you EXACTLY want, you better wait to find it in the showcase because no one can make any guarantees how a piece of raw wood will take dye.  I'm sure the call that everyone dreads at Warmoth is the, "the body I custom ordered didn't match the one I had in my mind"

Yeah, I have a really good sense for what comes in and goes out, at least the past couple of months as already stated. Been checking multiple times a day for that period of time, so I suspect I've seen 98% of what has been available.

"If you've got an idea in your head of something you EXACTLY want, you better wait to find it in the showcase because no one can make any guarantees how a piece of raw wood will take dye."

I may have reached that conclusion, but thought I would ask to see if my conclusion was wrong.

Just to underscore my point, these are examples of the flame I'm looking for:

and from what I can tell, most to all of the Unique Choice would come out looking like this...

On average, that's what I'm seeing, maybe I'm wrong.

 

[Guitarsan]

Please talk to us.

One of our customer service reps would be happy to help you out with questions about specific bodies, or creating a custom body.

Alright, I'm heading out of town on business, but will call in when I get a chance when I get back.

 

[Great Ape]

Well, yeah-maybe you're wrong!