Finally pulled the trigger, Turquoise VIP

[Tretgeraet]

The cuts for the frets are almost twice as deep as they should be

I never really noticed, but the slots are deeper on all my Warmoth necks, except for the purpleheart neck with gold frets. The others have stainless steel frets. They are the deepest on the neck with 6100 frets as well. Doesn't bother me, though, even now that I know.

First, the matching headstock doesn't not match at all the body which has a sunburst finish, while the neck has no gradient and the colour is more blue than green:

Regarding the colour: Maple has a strong tendency to become yellow over time, so the headstock is very likely to look like the body over time, colourwise.

As to the "sunburst": Did you specify that, when you ordered it? Because the receipt just says "**TURQUOISE DYE GLOSS ON PEGFACE, CLEAR GLOSS ON NECK BACK**", so that's probably the instruction the paint department got. And if seen as a separate piece, they didn't fail at that!

Like @Verne Bunsen I too think the pieces look great and will make a beautiful guitar.

 

[francixxx]

I finally received the kit, after paying 450 euros of custom duties (so long for Warmoth to include the fees in the $200 extortive shipping fees) ...and it was a serious disappointment.

First, the matching headstock doesn't not match at all the body which has a sunburst finish, while the neck has no gradient and the colour is more blue than green:

View attachment 68408

View attachment 68409

The cuts for the frets are almost twice as deep as they should be:

View attachment 68410

For comparison, this is how a "normal fretboard should look like:View attachment 68411

And this is a picture from the Warmoth blog which shows their "standard" fretwork...spot the difference!

The most astonishing thing is that I ordered a 1 5/8' nut width neck or 41.3mm and I received a 42.8mm tagged as 1.625:

View attachment 68412

However I checked and I can confirm a R3 FR nut would fit this neck, these were the specs:

View attachment 68414

I made these points to the Warmoth customer "care" and what I received are passive aggressive answers like : " they are two different pieces of maple, it's normal the color is different" (despite of the clear gradient difference), "the frets slots are in specs and 6100s need a deeper groove (according to Dunlop specs the tang height is virtually the same) and an implication that I cannot measure correctly the nut width which is nevertheless 41mm because it is printed as such.

I asked to have the neck remade according to my specs and the answer was that this is not possible because I installed the neck on the body therefore the warranty is void (then if the neck would have not fit the body I was also supposed to lose my money because of this? Really?).

You might think I am nitpicking but I would like to point out that with shipping and duties I spent about $2400, about the money I made from selling my Charvel 750XL, an instrument of much different quality. Two years ago I also bought a somewhat similar guitar, a Peavey HP2, for much less...therefore I think I am entitled to complain, notwithstanding the treatment I received from the customer service that is in few appalling.

View attachment 68413

In conclusion, there is nothing I can do about it, I acknowledged I wasted my money is a substandard product made by a company who ripped me off with ludicrous shipping charges ($200 for a body and neck with UPS, double the price Musikraft charges, for instance), refused to deliver a product according to the specs I specified and refused to honour its warranty. I hope other people will learn from my costly mistake.

Personally I think I bought my first Warmoth neck in 2007 but no way I will buy even a bolt from them again.

I totally agree about Warmoth’s outrageously high shipping costs...
When I asked why they were so expensive, they replied that rates hadn’t really gone up since the ’90s and that it was due to insurance costs.

But I remember that when I ordered a neck from Warmoth before 2000, the shipping wasn’t nearly this exorbitant. I was a poor high school student back then, and if the shipping had been in the triple digits like it is now, I wouldn’t have even been able to place the order. I still remember the price of the neck: $447. And (as expected), they sent me tuners with the opposite headstock orientation from the reverse head I had requested.