Do you have any guitar-building regrets?

[oldmanriver]

I have a few. As much as I love Warmoth, I wish that I never made my first and only purchase so far. About a year ago I bought an alder hardtail Strat body that I paired with my MiM Strat neck. I now have an unused MiM Strat body just sitting in my room. I wish that I wasn't so picky at the time and just blocked the tremolo system and saved myself $500.

Before that, my first guitar modification ever was a pickup swap in my Strat. I was putting in a pair of Golden Age humbuckers from Stewmac. The route on the body was fit for three single coils, so I had to take my router to it and open up the cavity... and I basically just hacked away at it. No guides, nothing. It looks rather ugly and I wish I had been more patient and followed the correct steps.

I guess every mistake is a learning experience, however.

So, tell me about your mistakes and projects you wish you could redo so I can feel better about myself. :toothy12:

 

[Strat Avenger]

Like you said, it's how you learn.

Sometimes I wish I had gone with a Strat body (just 'cuz they look so good) instead of the Soloist (which also looks good). Of course the upper fret access is better with the Soloist. 

Sometimes I also think I should have gone with a push-pull pickup selector/volume knob instead of the 3-way switch since I pretty much never use the middle position.

Other than that, I am quite pleased with how it turned out. There were not any major screw-ups, and it's my first build. I plan to build a Strat and a Tele, but right now my money is getting spent on automotive related stuff, so it's gonna have to wait.

 

[AutoBat]

A learning experience is one of those things that say, "You know that thing you just did? Don't do that." - Douglas Adams.

I have no regrets on my guitar mods.
I started with a bone stock MIM Strat.
Changes I made in order (over the period of several years):
Changed the pickguard & pups from stock ceramic & w/b/w to vintage noiseless & pearloid
Changed the nut to graph tech tusq xl on the original neck
Changed the original maple/maple neck & tuners out for Warmoth Mahogany/Ebony, SS frets, Schaller locking tuners.
Changed 6 point bridge for a Boogie Rail bridge.
Changed the plain neckplate for a DangerousR6 plate.

So the body, paint, output jack, and strap buttons are original. Each modification I did was an improvement to me.

I might try swapping potentiometers for different ones, but other than that I might be done with changes on this guitar.
The next step is going for a new one!

 

[Jusatele]

this is a trick question right?

 

[DeepSouth]

I regret I waiting until I was 42 to build my first Warmoth. I wish I did it 20 years ago and didn't spend so much on Fenders. Still the Fenders are nice but just a bit dull in comparison.

 

[AGWAN]

Not being able to afford to build any!

I'll have my Tele, Strat, jazzmaster and Iceman warmoths one day!

 

[Cagey]

The list is long. The only people who don't make any mistakes or have any regrets are those who aren't doing anything. Where's the fun in that?

Luckily, I don't make mistakes like I used to, but I'm certainly not immune. About a year ago I didn't feel like going through all the trouble to set up a router and template to relieve a pickup cavity for a different pickup than it had originally been cut for. I figured a hammer and chisel would be just fine, since the hole didn't need much attention, and I was right. Problem was, I didn't check to make sure the back was clear. Turned out there was a small screw under the non-skid pad I use to work on these types of things, and the hammering I did jammed it into the back of this body. Wrecked what was a perfect finish. It's not the end of the world and I'm not going to fix it, but it's a flaw that didn't need to be there. I'm not into "relic" guitars - I try to take care of them so they look nice as along as possible. So, an immediate flaw before I'd ever even plugged the little rascal in and played it really chafed at me, especially since I knew better. Rookie mistake.

As for regrets, some time back I thought three toggles (eight choices) would be more useful than one five-way blade, so I did a couple Strats that way. More choices, easy to remember, easy to use, right? Wrong. Stupid idea. So, now I gotta install new pickguards and do some wiring. Again, not the end of the world, but work I wouldn't have to do if I'd given the original idea more thought and passed on it.

 

[Torment Leaves Scars]

I have a few regrets.

1.  I wish I had the body painted by a qualified shop.

2.  I wish I knew about that "700" mod or whatever they call it...the one that sets the fretboard flush against the body.

3.  I wish I went with active pickups

4.  I wish I had gotten binding on the neck/headstock

5.  I love the color and it works well with the hardware and neck, but sometimes I wish I'd gone with a "reptile" burst and ebony fretboard

While I absolutely love my Warmoth guitar, I don't see myself building another in the foreseeable future.  My next one will be a Jackson USA Custom Shop Warrior, which I will option these changes to, save for the "700"  mod, because it will be neck-through.

 

[partialdoctor]

Not doing this 10 years ago. And many other mistakes! As people above have said, this is a learning process and I am getting better with each build. Loveing the learning process.
My biggest regret is not buying test wood to learning prior to doing my 1st body.

 

[Kaoskadosk]

Well, I kind of regret getting a True Temperament neck and 24 frets. Why? Well, the True Temperament idea is great, I can't feel any difference when I'm playing, but when it's even the slightest out of tune my ears go crazy. It's come to a point where it's so frustrating that I can't bother with it anymore. Maybe it would work better on a hardtail, so I'm going to keep the neck, but I will replace it on the guitar I have now. I'm also going to use different woods, leaning towards Goncalo Alves and Bloodwood currently. The TT neck is Mahogany and Pau Ferro and I'm not a huge fan of the tone.

 

[Jusatele]

I figure Just tuning is hard enough to keep in tune, but to try a True temperament, wow that took balls.
After all if it is a all string band, tune to A  just tuning or if you have a few horns Bb so everything is in tune, but to try true tuning you would be out of tune with every instrument out there if it was not also set up for true temperament

 

[AGWAN]

Okay, I get the concept behind True Temperment frets, really I do.

But I have pretty damn good ears. and I hear no improvements that equal the cost difference over a traditional neck.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

Regrets:  A wenge/ebony bass neck.  I loved the feel, but going wenge made me realize I like the sound and user friendly EQ nature of maple.  Bright and tweakable is certainly preferable to being so mid heavy it can't do anything else, IMO.

And DIY finishes.  I've only ruined guitars by refinishing them myself.  The learning process for that was learning what I'm no good at and shouldn't do.

 

[Kaoskadosk]

Okay, I get the concept behind True Temperment frets, really I do.

But I have pretty damn good ears. and I hear no improvements that equal the cost difference over a traditional neck.

You really have to use one and hear it to know what's "noise" and what isn't. When you get the 100% pure tones, anything unpure will sound like ass. Even if the intonation is just slightly off, I can easily hear it in a chord. My usual method of checking intonation is playing a root and third which can contain a lot of noise if it isn't precisely tuned. Now, I react to this a lot more just because I have a TT neck and I want it to be perfect, meaning I sit and tweak it for 10-20 minutes before I even start playing. And if the intonation slips, we're talking reintonating every string, bridge adjustments, intonating again etc. It can literally take hours upon hours to get it right. I recently had to adjust my truss rod and now I've gotten quite sick of the whole thing and even lost the joy to play. It's just a curse really.

 

[Cagey]

Well, I kind of regret getting a True Temperament neck and 24 frets. Why? Well, the True Temperament idea is great, I can't feel any difference when I'm playing, but when it's even the slightest out of tune my ears go crazy. It's come to a point where it's so frustrating that I can't bother with it anymore. Maybe it would work better on a hardtail, so I'm going to keep the neck, but I will replace it on the guitar I have now. I'm also going to use different woods, leaning towards Goncalo Alves and Bloodwood currently. The TT neck is Mahogany and Pau Ferro and I'm not a huge fan of the tone.

If you're not impressed with the tone of Pau Ferro over Mahogany, I can't imagine that you'd be much happier with Bloodwood over Goncalo Alves. I suspect they'd play and sound very much the same. Very different appearance, though.

 

[Kaoskadosk]

Well, I kind of regret getting a True Temperament neck and 24 frets. Why? Well, the True Temperament idea is great, I can't feel any difference when I'm playing, but when it's even the slightest out of tune my ears go crazy. It's come to a point where it's so frustrating that I can't bother with it anymore. Maybe it would work better on a hardtail, so I'm going to keep the neck, but I will replace it on the guitar I have now. I'm also going to use different woods, leaning towards Goncalo Alves and Bloodwood currently. The TT neck is Mahogany and Pau Ferro and I'm not a huge fan of the tone.

If you're not impressed with the tone of Pau Ferro over Mahogany, I can't imagine that you'd be much happier with Bloodwood over Goncalo Alves. I suspect they'd play and sound very much the same. Very different appearance, though.

Back to the drawing board it is then! I'm kind of bent on using Bloodwood for the fretboard which would leave Padouk, Ebony and Canary for the neck. Matching my Flame Koa top would be a neat feature aswell.

 

[Cagey]

Put the Bloodwood over Canary. Canary is very much like Maple, but it has a warmer/darker color and grain to it that would match the Koa better. Plus, you'll get a slightly tighter, more articulate response (read: more mids and highs) out of the thing than you would with Mahogany or Goncalo. Plus, you can finish it or not, it doesn't care. So, if you need to do some finish matching work, it won't fight you.

 

[Tonar8352]

1. Every neck that I ever bought that did not get a bone nut. I have had to change everyone to a bone nut.
2. Trying to make a guitar have so many tonal options by using fancy wiring schemes or splitting coils on humbuckers.
3. Wolfgang profile:  :tard: what was I thinking?
4. Over wound pickups thinking I would be getting some kind of extra scream out of my amps and they wound up being muddy. Hot Pickups :sad1:
5. Putting something other than 6100 Frets on any of my guitars.
6. A ziricoat fretboard on a really high-grade 5A flame maple. That one went down the road at a huge loss to me.
7. Once I hit on the combination I really like instead of being satisfied with it trying to change it on the next build and then finding the original combination was the best so I had to go back and undo the changes to get back to what I like. If it aint broke don't fix it.

 

[Cagey]

I absolutely agree with all those regrets except the bone nut. You think they're better than TUSQ? I'm not sure I've ever had one, so I can't say, but I've always thought the TUSQ nuts were the whip. Maybe I need to do some experimentation.

 

[Jusatele]

1. Every neck that I ever bought that did not get a bone nut. I have had to change everyone to a bone nut.
2. Trying to make a guitar have so many tonal options by using fancy wiring schemes or splitting coils on humbuckers.
3. Wolfgang profile:  :tard: what was I thinking?
4. Over wound pickups thinking I would be getting some kind of extra scream out of my amps and they wound up being muddy. Hot Pickups :sad1:
5. Putting something other than 6100 Frets on any of my guitars.
6. A ziricoat fretboard on a really high-grade 5A flame maple. That one went down the road at a huge loss to me.
7. Once I hit on the combination I really like instead of being satisfied with it trying to change it on the next build and then finding the original combination was the best so I had to go back and undo the changes to get back to what I like. If it aint broke don't fix it.

Bone nut, oh yea, keep going back, my 335 clone has the tusq crap and they stick and release with no reason why
I find the over wound hot things are not worth it either
I prefer 6105s, I bend stings to hell and back

lots of good thought in your answer, I would like to add that think there are a lot of woods used in necks right now that may soon be narrowed as we discover the tonal qualities, but right now the focus is style not tone in boutique guitars, as always the pendulum will swing the other way