First complete build - a little disappointed

tfarny said:
Looking at this thread, we're such homers. Poor guy musta been scared off after coming on just to express his mild disappointment. We will tolerate NO criticism of The Company!
(I'm guilty too).

criticism of W = cool when justified

the criticism of neck pocket tightness = bogus and ignorant IMO

the criticism of the know = justification yet to be confirmed

R
 
SkuttleFunk said:
tfarny said:
Looking at this thread, we're such homers. Poor guy musta been scared off after coming on just to express his mild disappointment. We will tolerate NO criticism of The Company!
(I'm guilty too).

criticism of W = cool when justified

the criticism of neck pocket tightness = bogus and ignorant IMO

the criticism of the know = justification yet to be confirmed

R

Awwww man.  I think he was justified.  He had concerns, and it was his $$ that paid the bill.  I think he was ok with it.  And I think the answers were ok too. 

The expectation of "normal" is something we all strive for... to our own detriment.  The O.P. just was wanting assurances...  There are folks on camera forums that get all uppity if the baggie that holds the power supply cord for the charger isn't folded right when they open the box......Why?  Well - OH MY GOD!~ - the box may have been opened, its virtual hymen torn asunder, virginity lost forever, and someone... may have TOUCHED the camera.  And, folks, if they touched it, they might have broken something, or gotten a spec of dust on it.  And worse.... they may have discovered a hidden flaw!~  Then carefully resealed the box, and exchanged it.  Well dammit, they've been DISCOVERED!~  Look at the power supply cord baggie!~ Clearly its not a factory fold in it.  THIS IS A USED CAMERA, and I want another.*

How many times have I gone though that in the days of my youth, with anal retentive customers.  Welcome to retail.    The O.P. was quite in line.  He was polite and thorough.  Wish we could SEE that knothole though, cuz I want to compare it to the one in my bosses head.


*astute and starving camera store employee that I was, I had the proper response, namely "Oh congradulations!~  You got a double-i camera!~  Double-i?  Oh its when they pick a box at random every so often on the assembly line, and give it critical inspection to make sure the spec is well well within limits.  Its been gone thru with a fine tooth comb, cuz the inspectors get a bonus if they can find a flaw.  We see this in only one out of every couple of dozen boxes or so.  Way to go!~".  Ya know with lines like that, I'm qualified to work at GC!~
 
-CB- said:
...comedy awesomeness...

Ironically, I used to work at a camera store. You spend half your day earning a commission and the other half protecting it. People like to feel good when they plunk down tall cash.
 
tfarny said:
Looking at this thread, we're such homers. Poor guy musta been scared off after coming on just to express his mild disappointment. We will tolerate NO criticism of The Company!
(I'm guilty too).

Right on TF :hello2:  Our new friend Kalamari was happy when last heard of on page ONE of this post, when he  agreed with OzziePete, adopted the knot as one of his own arse-pimples and promised us pictures when it was complete. By which time he'll be totally in love with it, Hell I'm happy for the guy :headbang:
 
Might as well drop in my two cents on this one.  

I agree with the general opinion that the tight neck pocket was probably a non issue.  Im guessing the only reason that was even mentioned was due to the bigger issue with the knot in the wood.  Its funny how completely meaningless and trivial things start to ache you when you have something else that has already upset you.  

For me personally, I think having a knot hole in my body would not be a big deal.  I would toss it up as a unique beauty mark, kinda like Cindy Crawford's mole (though I always thought she should get that dammed thing cut off to avoid the chance of loosing her upper lip to melanoma :) )

I think about the only thing in that would truly upset me would be if I received a body that had a clear and obvious join where the body blank was made.  Granted this would be dependent on wood type as some are going to show the join no matter what you do, but in the standard case of things like alder or ash,  I would be a little miffed.  

I think the fact is that Warmoth puts out a LOT of custom, or at least customized, parts.  Given the uncontrollable variance in a natural product like wood, and the wide variance in the expectations of customers, every once in a while, someone is going to be disappointed with what they receive to some degree or other.   I agree with some of the posters above, the OP was in no way out of line, and is handling his mild disappointment much better than a lot of other people I have had the misfortune to encounter.  I did tech support for a couple of years, and let me tell you, I have stories.  I'm suppressed I didn't develop some sort of festering growth in my right ear from the black vitriol it was exposed to :)
 
WOW.....

I see this topic generated a great deal of discussion!  Sorry I haven't been on board over the last couple days - been busy with work.

It takes quite a bit to scare me off any site.  It's just peoples opinions - my skins a little thicker than that.  I realized long ago that there will always be a group of loyal customers willing defend their "brand" to the very end, whether its Marshall, Fender, Harley davidson, etc.  Everyone has a different view on what is acceptable and what is not when it comes to service, products, etc > and in their own way.... each has valid arguements.

For the record, the last American fender strat deluxe I purchased (circa 2000) had a big old knot on the back (3 tone burst) - it really didn't bother me because the guitar felt good and played right to me at the time....

My point - is that I can "accept" a knot in guitar - but I was a little disappointed to find that there was one on the face of the body when I opened it - - -  but the finish looked real good.  Life goes on - I'll get over it - which is why I kept the parts (and not because someone on this forum told me to).  Had I paid a premium for AAAA wood or specified no knots - you bet I would have sent the body back.

As for the neck, I agree that a tight fit is better and slop - I was merely echoing the tech comments - which probably added to my disappointment at that particular time.  For the record, my tech has nothing but compliments regarding Warmoth quality in the past - he was a little disappointed about the fit and the knot as well. Again, he stated, "no big deal - I just have a little more work to deal with....I'll take care of it"
NONE of these issue fired me up enough to return or contact Warmoth. 

I know people want to see pics - I will post when the guitar is complete.  I am going to have to wait a bit as the pickups have not come in yet
(Dimarzio Air Zone Hum, Dimarzio Cruiser, Dimarzio Fast trak 1 (neck) all in white - which is the problem >>>>the color.

I posted my disappointment here because I felt it was waranted and wanted to let others know (maybe someone with similiar acceptance tolerance might learn to specify knot free)  - I also paid Warmoth a compliment on previous work and their finishing job on the body.  I suspect Warmoth has taken much harsher critism over the past years in doing business than my comments here- no one is perfect and we can ALL always do better.

Feedback and comments can lead to suggestions and improvements for both the company and the consumer - isn't that a big reason for having a forum? Sharing experience and learning something from others???

Kurt
Manhattan IL
 
Well said mate! You're 100% spot on. :hello2: :hello2: :hello2: :hello2: :hello2: :hello2: :hello2: :hello2: :hello2: :hello2: :hello2:  and we're all eagerly awaiting checking out Cindy Crawfords arse-pimple! :icon_thumright:
 
Just a quick note to contribute to this thread, you cannot specify "knot free" on a Warmoth wood part. Ken's take is that a knot is a natural part of wood and you can't escape them. They show up announced, unannouced, a bit to the left, a bit to the right and just refused to be tamed. Offering any kind of a knot guarantee would be too fraught with peril to provide.
 
Thanks Greg,

The policy is good to know, not sure if I saw any reference to it on their website ... 
I really can't say that I would disagree with it either....

I must admit - if knots bothered me that much I would have given much more thought to inquiring when ordering - or purchased from the Showcase items exclusively.  I guess thats why I didn't blow a gasket and call Warmoth.

I would only comment that Customer Satisfaction in these cases will vary, as we have read > some people will be excited to have this unique blemmish, some will be indifferent, some will be "slightly disappointed" and others will be dissatisfied - expect varying responses in each case.  Perfectly reasonable to expect these kind of responses on this policy. 

Again, I guess I fall under the "slightly" disappointed. (yeah it's cool.... but would have been nice if ...oh well)
Just my policy on the issue.

Again all good information and feedback here for both sides and will no doubt impact on how I go about ordering in the future

Thanks for all the feedback
and I can't wait to get the ax in my hand and share the pics

Kurt
 
Gregg just a small question.

Am I correct to understand, from what you say, that for Warmoth the ordered finish (e.g. transparent, burst) would play no role in assigning a body to it? As long as that specific (knotted or not) body's number is up, it gets whatever finish is ordered?
 
If you aren't ordering from showcase you get next applicable body blank from pile; based on a couple of custom orders I've done same thing is applicable to laminate tops for custom order
 
mscmkr said:
Gregg just a small question.

Am I correct to understand, from what you say, that for Warmoth the ordered finish (e.g. transparent, burst) would play no role in assigning a body to it? As long as that specific (knotted or not) body's number is up, it gets whatever finish is ordered?

There are some considerations, but the variances are naturally pretty wide. For instance, if we are dying a quilt top blue, we try and start out with a lighter wood piece of wood so it doesn't turn out black. As far as wood grain character, we see a lot of wood and it is a judgement call of what is normal and what is abnormal. For those fine line situations between what Warmoth deems as acceptable and what the customer deems acceptable, we offer our 10 day grace period to return the product for any reason; a safety net for the customer so to speak.
 
finally completed......

DSC01708.jpg


Here is the little knot - it seems as if it has shrunk??? seemed bigger upon initial discovery
DSC01709knotsmall.jpg


the back

DSC01710small.jpg

 
Nice guitar! (had to copy and Glue the link)

If you had not put your finger and the small face would take a while to find the knot, actually!
Let it to stage and take pictures and try if you can see the knot, I believe no (perhaps yes because you know where it is....)
 
Thanks everybody....

She plays pretty good. 
The tech I took it too did not take the time to work the neck/body pocket fit.  As a result, the saddles height were max'd outout.
I leveled the neck out and shimmed to get the neck to seat lower into the body and enable me to lower the saddle height to respectable levels. The "narrow" hardtail bridge is a big improvement to me in terms of playability - I originally ordered the vintage hardtail bridge not realizing the extra 1/4 inch string spread.

I have adjusted the saddles and intonation and the guitar plays nicely - with very minimal to no - fret buzz.  The strings bend rather easily and the action is medium/low (right where I like it)

As for the sound - the sustain is noticeable to me right off the bat - compared to my other guitars.  The Dimarzio fast trak 1 in the neck is articulate and present, the Cruiser in the middle is nice - a little more filtered than the FT1, the Air Zone in the Bridge is very similiar in tone to the Tone Zone (which I have on another guitar I put together - see pic below) - but it has less output than the TZ for sure.

I am not sure if this makes sense, but the guitar sounds "new".

I know acoustics mellow with age and use, I am thinking that this strat sounds a littler thinner and slightly more bright than my other guitars.  Ofcourse it could be new strings

here is a pic of the warmoth next to my "parted out" StewMaha (Stewart Mcdonald neck/Yamaha Pacifica body) strat - this guitar is like family to me

DSC01711.jpg

 
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