Fingerboard radius options for vintage series necks.

[Kostas]

Which options are you referring to?

Check how many woods are availiable for Pro necks, then check how many woods are availiable for Vintage Modern necks:
http://www.warmoth.com/guitar/necks/necks.cfm?fuseaction=strat_warmothpro
http://www.warmoth.com/guitar/necks/necks.cfm?fuseaction=strat_vintagemodern

Same goes for headstock shapes. If you don't want a double expanding truss rod, your only options are strat & tele shapes.

 

[jackthehack]

Why don't you like the double expanding truss rods? I've yet to need to re-adjust one after initial setup, they seem to be a lot more stable than vintage type truss rod setups to me.

 

[Kostas]

I haven't tried a neck with a double expanding truss rod so I don't really know how it is. I understand it's more stable but also double the weight. Like woods and pickups I'm sure it contributes to the tone of guitar. Warmoth mention in their site: "Unique tone-replicates vintage tone... To precisely replicate vintage tone, only the vintage rod will do" so I think the clean bell tones I'm looking for will be better with a vintage type truss rod. Warmoth has an excellent site, their infos have been very helpful and always true so far. I have read all the site and I believe/agree with them.

 

[jackthehack]

The weight of the truss rod itself may be more, but the difference in weight between a neck with a double expanding truss rod is minimal. The wood density of the wood used to make the neck will have a greater effect on overall neck weight than the truss rod, to my experience.

"To precisely replicate vintage tone, only the vintage rod will do"...  Don't know that I agree with that 100%, I get pretty good "bell tone" out of some of mine with appropriate pickups/electronics and Warmoth Pro necks.

If you are trying to replicate that "vintage Fender bell tone" as your standard, you are NOT going to nail it with exotic wood selections, the choices are basically either all maple or maple/rosewood; the wood is the major factor; truss rod system much more minor. Even the rosewood or mahogany wood options for Vintage Modern necks will radically alter the tone.

Try one of the Pro necks, I don't think you'll wind up being unhappy with it once you've finished your build.

 

[arkivel]

Warmoth is a custom neck manufacturer and this is a suggestion board is it not? Why can't I suggest a 9.5 vintage neck without people telling me to stuff it and live with a 7.25 neck or a modern neck that I'm totally not interested in? A 9.5 total vintage neck is not an unreasonable suggestion by any means. Heck compared to a lot of the exotic suggestions around here it's garden variety. The bottom line is that a total vintage 9.5 neck would sell and Warmoth is already capable of manufacturing one. Therefore it's not a bad suggestion.

As far as other Fender models being available with a 9.5 radius neck, they don't have the neck profile I'm looking for. Again, we're talking about custom parts here. Why is it so unreasonable to ask for a basic feature like neck radius?

 

[rogerzilla]

What about a traditional 7.25" radius neck for Fenders?  Easier to play those awkward B7, Am maj 7 and other 4-finger open chords.

 

[chuck7]

Im still trying to find this "huge demand" you keep talking about for 9.5 radius on the vintage neck.  You yourself have said that you cant find it anywhere, but you still believe that there is some mass group of people out there, wallets in hand, salivating to get some 9.5 vintage lov'n.  Yet, I don't see anyone else even requesting it. 

 

[tfarny]

Rogerzilla, they already offer exactly what you're saying, that's the 'total vintage' neck type. They also offer a 22-fret 9.5" fingerboard with a single truss rod. What Arkivel is requesting is a 9.5 radius neck with a heel adjuster (take off the neck to adjust your rod) and 21 frets. Great if they offer that as another option, but it doesn't seem like a big enough deal to call the company myopic, focused on one type of customer (very untrue as regular board posters know), elitist, etc. They make a ton of stuff, just not exactly what arkivel wants, which seems to be a cheaper version of Fender custom shop. I don't know, it's like Honda not making giant SUVs or something - ok, but just go get one somewhere else, Honda is selling plenty of civics. No need to hate on Puyallup.

 

[jackthehack]

At this point, all I can further suggest is that you hold your breath until the 9.5" radius Total Vintage option is added to the website.

 

[rogerzilla]

Rogerzilla, they already offer exactly what you're saying, that's the 'total vintage' neck type.

True, but I can't face the idea of a heel adjuster (I ordered a Vintage Modern with compound radius in the end).

 

[arkivel]

Im still trying to find this "huge demand" you keep talking about for 9.5 radius on the vintage neck.  You yourself have said that you cant find it anywhere, but you still believe that there is some mass group of people out there, wallets in hand, salivating to get some 9.5 vintage lov'n.  Yet, I don't see anyone else even requesting it. 

Well Chuck, if you and some of the other all knowing guitar marketing genii around here would step outside your tiny little compound radius niche market universe, you might notice that Fender sells quite a few vintage models with 9.5 radii nowadays. It's quite a popular option. But what do I don't know. That's just what the biggest guitar company in the world is selling...I don't see people lining up to buy Paduuk guitars cash in hand either, but that doesn't mean there isn't a market for it.

As for you Tfarny, I sit in awe and wonder what more I could possibly learn from an intellectual guitar guru such as yourself. You've already educated me about my taste for inferior dinosaur guitars and skillfully negotiated Warmoth's technical neck data for me. How did you know that I did not have the aptitude or reading comprehension to navigate Warmoth's sale's literature on my own? I can't imagine learning much more and I have to thank you so much for telling me what the right answers in the custom guitar world are. I must add that on a personal level, I feel like far less of an boom-boom the more I hear you speak. Thank you Tfarny and god bless this well endowed thread.

to the rest of you including Chuck, peace

 

[tfarny]

You're welcome, anytime. Glad to help.

 

[jackthehack]

At least you can tell from his semi-passable attempt at ironic sarcasm he's not Confederate Wookie

 

[arkivel]

At least you can tell from his semi-passable attempt at ironic sarcasm he's not Confederate Wookie

You'll have to excuse me for being so uncultured. I don't understand what the term "confederate Wookie" means at all, as I just moved out of my parent's basement, and have no real world experience. I don't even know the touch of a woman lest a Stratocaster be considered a wife.

 

[jackthehack]

You're apparently failing to heed my advice to hold your breath.

 

[DiMitriR33]

At least you can tell from his semi-passable attempt at ironic sarcasm he's not Confederate Wookie

You'll have to excuse me for being so uncultured. I don't understand what the term "confederate Wookie" means at all, as I just moved out of my parent's basement, and have no real world experience. I don't even know the touch of a woman lest a Stratocaster be considered a wife.

confederatewk, was a troll here. he bombed every post with nonsence and pissed everyone off. he couldn't spell either and was less inteligable than chubaka.

i wont knock on you, this is a sugestion box after all. you have a suggestion. that's fine. i guess warmoth thinks that if you're not gonna get a true reproduction neck of a vintage strat then the extra fret and easy truss rod adjustments are added bonuses. you can get what you want from warmoth though, just order without frets, make some radiused sanding blocks and DIY.

personally i don't see the appeal to having a vintage looking guitar, that has no value.

oh and for the record, the comparison of your strat to the touch of a woman is strangely reminiscent of confederate wookie.

 

[simple]

- I'll add to this thread just to correct some disinformation. -

* Warmoth tried Nitro finishes for a number of months. In shipping the parts world wide, the parts experienced temperature extremes that cracked the finishes beyond belief. After trying many formulas of Nitro and handling floods of returns due to cracking, we abandoned Nitro for the good of all.

* Our Total Vintage, Vintage Modern and Warmoth Pro neck's fret slots are all cut with gang saws so leaving a fret or two unslotted is not an option.

I'll end my post with a question whose answer is likely self-evident; to garner more "bell" tone, would you add more wood or metal to your recipe? Just thinking out loud.

 

[jackthehack]

"* Warmoth tried Nitro finishes for a number of months. In shipping the parts world wide, the parts experienced temperature extremes that cracked the finishes beyond belief. After trying many formulas of Nitro and handling floods of returns due to cracking, we abandoned Nitro for the good of all."

Just add upcharge for "vintage finish checking"

 

[simple]

Just add upcharge for "vintage finish checking

:icon_thumright:

 

[dbw]

:doh: :doh: :doh:

Coming up next: upcharge for Warmoth's relicing service.  For an extra $35, rather than using a box, they'll just slap a shipping label in the neck pocket and shove the body in the mailbox.  Nobody does "distressed" finishes like the USPS!  :laughing7: