Ever change your mind while waiting for Warmoth?

[slowpogo2021]

I have a custom body and neck on order from Warmoth. Roasted swamp ash telecaster body; roasted maple/pau ferro neck. I was planning to go premium with all the components...lollar pickups, high end bridge, etc. This would undoubtedly be a very fine instrument.

This was not going to be the first guitar I'd built, but it was going to be the first Telecaster. For practice and fun I decided to build a cheapo tele while I waited. I figured if it turned out well I could keep it, sell it, even give it away, but I expected I'd likely do something imperfectly and wanted to get mistakes out of the way. I got an Allen Eden body, a used squier neck and cheap standard Fender components. Only thing I "splurged" on was some used Fender Nocaster pickups. It was very affordable overall.

Anyway, this cheapo build turned out fantastic! I love it! The build went perfectly and it plays well and sounds really, really good. So much so that I regret the Warmoth order. There's no question the Warmoth will be a better quality, better-looking instrument, but it may or may not sound better to my ears. Now I wish I had either not ordered Warmoth, or that my order was for a strat or jaguar instead, guitar types I don't own yet. But I think I'm too far along to cancel without losing a lot of money.

The perils of waiting several months for a custom build lol...Anyone experience something similar?

 

[mayfly]

Cool.  Now that you have your first build done, the second will be that much better.  I think you will be surprised how much better the warmoth will end up being.  I ended up giving away my cheapo (that I thought was great) after I build the very similar warmoth.  The W was just that much better.  YMMV and all that.

 

[PhilHill]

And always remember what a wise old rocker said when asked how many guitars he needed, "All of them" was the response.................................... :headbang: :headbang:

 

[NedRyerson]

Back in 2015 or 2016, I splurged on a genuine Les Paul because it was in the Scratch-n-Dent section and was $400 off.  I'd always wanted a Les, and this was my chance.  I swore it'd be the last guitar I'd ever buy.

And so far, that's held true.

Never mind the five instruments I've built since then, with 4 more in the hopper in various stages of completion or not-started.

Don't sweat the comparisons, don't feel guilty for having more than one guitar, even if they're of similar construction.  Go wild and throw an alternate tuning on one of them.

Don't expect it to sound better.  Expect it to sound different.  Readjust your mental approach.  Each one of my guitars has a different personality and feel.  I didn't expect it but my Tele is the third guitar I have tuned to E-standard, but it just feels different.  My Les and my BC Rich Mockingbird clone are definitely rock/metal guitars.  My Tele doesn't scream metal to me; I feel more comfortable playing folksy/bluesy stuff on it, with gain barely on (whereas I'm totally diming the distortion my metal guitars ).

And on top of that, you got some learning experiencing building your first one and I'm sure you have some spots on it where you thought "I could have done better there."  Which means when your WM parts come in, you will do better.

 

[teleme01]

my first build was a cheap one as well,  fretwire,  the warmoth neck is better, imho

 

[Mx481james]

I think it comes down to how close the dimensions of the warmoth neck is to the squire? As far as the fender pickup , I haven't Heard one fender pickup  that sounded good as a lollar.
But I feel you on assembling the same guitar. I'm on a telecaster kick now. I've put together 5 or maybe 6 lol. All 24.75  1 11/16 . Each one has a different sound with different pickups, body wood and neck wood combinations. alder, rosewood, mahogany, Mable , swamp Ash .
I cancelled a body and it wasn't bad . $70 or 75. To cancel  . I reorder a jazz master body in ultralight swamp Ash and different bridge layout . To me well worth $70 75

 

[Sadie-f]

My first build this summer was pretty much no holds barred, I didn't feel a need to practice on something inexpensive because nice been building things all my life, have plenty of past experience with wood finishing and as projects go this was a simple one.

So your cheap build sounds amazing, that's awesome and if you now build something expensive, I suppose you might be relatively disappointed, depends on what you're looking for

Here's the things I love about my rosewood > mahogany build: it's got warm tones that are absolutely singing on clean which is a combination of the wood and the pickups, the rosewood compliments my Martin om28, and I installed grover tuning machines that feel just right, a lot of other details all of which pale in comparison with the effort I put into the finish work and how happy I am with the project.

The next project (due to ship quite soon) will be all maple except the fretboard and I expect it to have a lot more high end, less warmth, and I'll install pickups to optimize that. The Warmoth parts this time include custom choice of quilt maple top and a 3a birdseye neck and it should finish out as even more of an artwork than the first build.

 

[Sadie-f]

As far as the fender pickup , I haven't Heard one fender pickup  that sounded good as a lollar.

With you on that. I'm super glad I can afford them, that wasn't always so.

 

[stratamania]

Look at it like this, you ended up with something you like from parts you had not expected to give that result. That is a bonus.

The parts you have an order are the original project - when you get them you can take as much or as little time as you want to acquire the pickups etc if you don't already have them. Then you will have two Teles, with different characters possibly but "vive la difference" which does not seem like something to regret. If you spent more money than you might otherwise have done, it is spent now and better to embrace the new possibilities.

 

[slowpogo2021]

Look at it like this, you ended up with something you like from parts you had not expected to give that result. That is a bonus.

The parts you have an order are the original project - when you get them you can take as much or as little time as you want to acquire the pickups etc if you don't already have them. Then you will have two Teles, with different characters possibly but "vive la difference"

This is the angle I can possibly live with. My cheapo is vintage style with brass saddles, 50s pickups, etc. It's a really nice surf/jazz instrument but maybe not the first choice for modern sounds. The Warmoth will use a 6-saddle steel bridge and hotter pickups...I should clarify, my initial plan was to get Lollars but I actually ended up ordering pickups from Righteous Sound (who used to work for Lollar I believe). Compared to the cheapo they should be hotter, more modern and suitable for indie/alternative music.

Yeah, there's a silver lining for sure. But if I could do it over I'd still probably order a Jaguar.

 

[NedRyerson]

Make your next one a Jag.

See?  I'm helping!

 

[ValeBliz]

I have experience changing idea on what I want, for sure. I changed idea quite a few times and I know I must be a pain in the ass to deal with. Last few days I ordered a musiclander and then decided I preferred a Velocity, fortunately the order wasn’t still in production and Spike kindly modified it. Another time I ordered a hsh roasted ash soloist body, then asked them to add a clear paint to the order, then cancelled it lol. I still regret it because now I want one again, it went after a few hours in the showcase anyway.

In the end if you can afford it and have a little space to keep them, building guitars is too much fun.

 

[slowpogo2021]

I called Warmoth just to ask about potentially getting the body chambered with an f-hole, something I almost did and now wish I had...a significant change, but I thought it might be more doable, depending on where things were, than simply scrapping everything for a new body type. Wrong lol.

Although I did learn that my body is "past the 50% point in production" even though I only ordered it 4 weeks ago(?).

Hmm, I'm really mulling canceling this. I know people here think about it differently, but I have a more utilitarian perspective I guess. It's like I have a cheaper 5 iron golf club that I really like. Do I really need an expensive, premo 5 iron club? Sure, it will be different, and probably better, but it feels indulgent and wasteful to me. I don't have a 2 iron yet (to really stretch this analogy out too far) so I'd much rather get one of those.

I have a feeling I will end up resenting this buy. I'll lose money canceling, but I doubt I would be able to sell the body/neck on reverb for much more than 75% of their cost, after reverb takes their cut. None of this is Warmoth's fault, obviously, I think I got excited about the idea of this and went into it a little prematurely to be honest.

 

[JohnnyHardtail]

If you look at this from an economical point of view, it would be better to cancel the order.  The further you go with a project, the more the costs will add up.  Most of the time you won't recover very much if you want to sell it.

For me, I actually prefer to have a pair of two similar guitars.  Firstly, the playing posture is similar so when I transition between the two it feels more comfortable.  Secondly because I like to experiment with changing pickups, it helps to keep one guitar in fixed configuration as a reference.  If you are going to do live performance you would benefit from having a backup anyway.

 

[NedRyerson]

To me, it sounds like you already know what you want to do, just half-heartedly trying to talk yourself out of it, even though it's not what you want to do.

Your heart isn't in the WM you ordered, so even if you suck it up and keep the order, it's just going to sit around collecting dust. You'll start regretting buying any hardware for it, spending any time finishing it.... if you even have the desire to do so.  Which, it seems, you already don't.

Cut your losses and future expenses, take the 25% hit, and chalk it up to a learning experience.

And point it out to us when it hits WM's showcase.   Someone here might be interested in buying it off of the SC.

 

[mayfly]

If you want to cancel the order, you should just do it.  Think of the 25% as a sunk cost and make your decision.

 

[Sadie-f]

I don't think it was "disagree" I'm clear that I'd come to a different decision, however I'm not you. There's nothing wrong with an aesthetic that says you want the right sound from something as inexpensive as possible.

Glad you're glad with the practice build as the right finishing point!

 

[slowpogo2021]

Thanks for helping me process this. I think what I'm going to do is keep the neck on order, but cancel the body.

I'd be happy to find a mid-priced thinline, nashville or offset tele body...just something a little different that I can get excited about. There are some decent-looking ones on reverb and such for $250 or less, I'd still come out ahead money-wise, even with the 25% fee.

 

[stratamania]

It seems to me that if you cancel it in this case you at least should lose 25%. 

Clearly if the decision is coming down in the end to saving a few dollars it was probably overall maybe an impulse you could not afford to begin with?

 

[slowpogo2021]

Nope. This is not motivated by saving money, if that's the case why would I keep the neck on order? I noted the 25% loss up above. Seems like a *bit* of a rude jump to conclusions.  I'm simply saying there might be a way for me to still do a satisfying build, and as a nice bonus, it doesn't have to be at a loss, I might actually save a few bucks in the process.

Thanks again everyone! Glad to find a helpful and friendly forum. I don't think I'll have more to say on this.