First Time Builder, Pre-Purchase Check/Advice

[BoeRossMusic]

Hello, friends!

My name is Boe, and I'm going to try my best to keep this concise and not ramble on too much. In the immortal words of Kevin Malone, why waste time say lot word when few word do trick?

I'm a singer and one trick pony, fingerstyle guitar player with some nice, hollow instruments, including a 1971 Martin D35, and my work horse, Martin 000-15SM. It's a solid mahogany 12 fret guitar with a 1.75" nut, and for the melancholy indie/folk stuff I do, it's an absolute sweetheart.

My dog is probably the only thing I'd save before the 000 in the event of a fire, and I don't expect I'll ever get rid of it. With that in mind, I really like the idea of building a Warmoth Tele' to be this guitar's sibling and use for the same sort of fingerstyle singer songwriter-y stuff, as well as some casual drone/shoegazing (think Julian Baker/Jeff Buckley (JBx2)) kind of accompaniment with. I've been deliberating/researching/chatting with Spike @ Warmoth, and here's what I'm leaning towards.

I'll include some pics of my actual cart/order below, but here are the highlights (several of which match up with the Martin).
- hog body/neck
- Indian Rosewood (Dark) Fretboard (1.75" nut)
- Rear rout/no pickguard
- Clear satin finish
- Tele (single coil) pickup cutouts

I haven't really made any decisions on specific pickups or tuners, but I thought I'd at least get the ball rolling on the neck and body.

In terms of putting it together, I'll probably enlist some (at least semi) professional help to oversee the operation. I'm relatively handy, but it's been a long time since I held a soldering gun.

I feel like this is already getting long winded, so I'll wrap things up with a hearty hello! I've enjoyed (and learned) from reading several of the posts on these boards, and would love any advice or insights on the concept, tuners, pick ups, or anything in between. Most of my music buds that have more electric guitar experience have told me that it's a terrible idea to build without owning a few first. I'm sure they're right, but once an idea moves into my brain, it's pretty hard to evict.

Pics: https://imgur.com/a/F2vRU1g

Thanks for the consideration, buds!

-Boe

 

[TBurst Std]

Hello Boe

I think you are on the right track.  I tried looking up the fretboard radius of your OOO but couldn’t find it. I see you specified a radius in your build.  If that’s the same as your OOO , you are quite on your way.

 

[BoeRossMusic]

Hello Boe

I think you are on the right track.  I tried looking up the fretboard radius of your OOO but couldn’t find it. I see you specified a radius in your build.  If that’s the same as your OOO , you are quite on your way.

Hey, Mark!

That's correct, according to Martin's specs, the 000 is a straight 16" radius.

I appreciate the feedback, my friend.

 

[Rick]

Go ahead, build it.  You'll learn a lot more than buying it off the shelf.  No worries there.

 

[ragamuffin]

Sounds like a good build!

I can definitely understand what you're friends are saying about learning what you like before building, but if you're sure that you like teles I think it will be fine. Most players' taste in guitars will change over time anyway. It's not like your making your build too wild either, just a cool tele with a wide neck.

I noticed that you selected a battery box, what do you plan to use that for? It's not necessary unless you want to run active pickups, piezo, or some sort of preamp.

 

[BoeRossMusic]

Sounds like a good build!

I can definitely understand what you're friends are saying about learning what you like before building, but if you're sure that you like teles I think it will be fine. Most players' taste in guitars will change over time anyway. It's not like your making your build too wild either, just a cool tele with a wide neck.

I noticed that you selected a battery box, what do you plan to use that for? It's not necessary unless you want to run active pickups, piezo, or some sort of preamp.

I do love teles. Thanks so much for the clarification on the battery box, I didn't realize they were optional, but it makes sense now.

Quick question for the group on finish. Is it safe to assume you'll always want some type of finish on a guitar, and the only reason you'd order the neck and body without at least a clear/satin finish, is if you were planning to do your own?

Thanks again, folks!

 

[Rick]

You read the stuff on the neck warranty?
Personally, unless it's an exotic wood (like rosewood, wenge etc) I always put on a finish.  I had tele, must have been 25 years old, and the finish had worn off the back of the maple neck, but from playing it felt nice and smooth.  A new raw maple neck doesn't feel right to me.

 

[mayfly]

Quick question for the group on finish. Is it safe to assume you'll always want some type of finish on a guitar, and the only reason you'd order the neck and body without at least a clear/satin finish, is if you were planning to do your own?

Thanks again, folks!

on a body: I always apply, or have applied for me, a finish
on a neck: If it's a wood that does not require a finish (Roasted maple, canary, etc) then I NEVER apply a finish.  Roasted maple has become my absolute favourite and I recommend it to everyone.

 

[BoeRossMusic]

Thanks again for your thoughts and feedbacks, guys. I'm tempted to just order both unfinished and research/do my own finishing. I've built some desks and enjoyed the finishing process just using coats of poly, but the stakes somehow seem higher with a guitar. I think I'm almost ready to pull the trigger. I'm not sure what the build/shipping time is right now, but I'm guessing I'll have ample opportunities to obsess over pickups, tuners, etc.

One thing I haven't looked into much is the jack route. The Warmoth options are 3/4" and 7/8" for different style plates. Is there any specific considerations with this body I should consider, or just go with the big boy 7/8?

Thanks again, buds.

 

[JohnnyHardtail]

One thing I'm curious about is the 3/4" nut width on an electric guitar.    I noticed you are choosing the specs to match your acoustic.  In that sense it is logical to match the 16" fingerboard radius with the wider nut.

However, I wonder about the reasons to build an electric guitar with specs like an acoustic.  If you are going to play it with a clean amp tone similar to playing an acoustic its understandable.  However if you play it with gain, then I think a smaller nut can be better for muting of the strings.  I'd previously assumed that people choose the 3/4" nut width because they have large hands and fingertips.  I'd be interested to hear your perspective on this.

The other aspect of nut width and string spacing at the bridge, is the distance from the string to the edge of the fret board will be reduced.  Its not a big difference, but the fret board with Fender specs isn't particularly wide in the first place.

 

[stratamania]

I think you mean a 1 3/4" nut width rather than 3/4" Mr Hardtail.

 

[mayfly]

One thing I haven't looked into much is the jack route. The Warmoth options are 3/4" and 7/8" for different style plates. Is there any specific considerations with this body I should consider, or just go with the big boy 7/8?

Thanks again, buds.

Go with the 7/8".  The jack will fit a lot better.  I have no idea why 3/4" is even an option.

 

[BoeRossMusic]

One thing I'm curious about is the 3/4" nut width on an electric guitar.    I noticed you are choosing the specs to match your acoustic.  In that sense it is logical to match the 16" fingerboard radius with the wider nut.

However, I wonder about the reasons to build an electric guitar with specs like an acoustic.  If you are going to play it with a clean amp tone similar to playing an acoustic its understandable.  However if you play it with gain, then I think a smaller nut can be better for muting of the strings.  I'd previously assumed that people choose the 3/4" nut width because they have large hands and fingertips.  I'd be interested to hear your perspective on this.

The other aspect of nut width and string spacing at the bridge, is the distance from the string to the edge of the fret board will be reduced.  Its not a big difference, but the fret board with Fender specs isn't particularly wide in the first place.

This is a great question, and exactly the kind of nuance I appreciate from a forum community.

I think it mostly comes down to the devil I know. I don't have particularly large hands, but appreciate the slightly more generous string spacing on my 000 for the fingerstyle playing I prefer. I'm sure I wouldn't actually notice much of a difference, but because electrics are largely a whole new world to me, I think the idea of getting it as close as possible to the guitar that I've got so many hours on is appealing in order to make bridging the gap more harmonious. And admittedly, I'm also not a very accomplished guitar player, so I think that's another reason I'd like the neck to be as close to the Martin as possible for continuity.

Having said that, the distance between the string and the edge of the fretboard is not something I'd considered! Hopefully I don't run into issues of my E strings falling off.

I really appreciate the discussion, folks. At the very least, I'm sure I'll learn a lot from this experience.

Still deliberating on whether or not I want to shell out the extra $400 to have Warmoth finish it, or if I want to DIY. The neck seems like it would be a lot trickier, with frets to consider, but I'm sure I could find some good YouTube videos to guide me.

 

[ragamuffin]

Still deliberating on whether or not I want to shell out the extra $400 to have Warmoth finish it, or if I want to DIY. The neck seems like it would be a lot trickier, with frets to consider, but I'm sure I could find some good YouTube videos to guide me.

If you don't want to worry about finishing the neck you could go with a wood that doesn't require a finish. If you want to stick to a mahogany-ish look, bubinga is sort of close in color (though tighter grained).

Raw necks feel great! So much so that I cringe a bit when I touch a gloss neck these days...

 

[JohnnyHardtail]

I think you mean a 1 3/4" nut width rather than 3/4" Mr Hardtail.

Lets call it 1.750". 

 

[JohnnyHardtail]

I would expect almost everyone can comfortable play the 1.687" (1 11/16") Nut size.  That is really the standard for American made Fender guitars.  A smaller nut will give you a bit more reach with your hands to easily reach different chord shapes.  I'd tend to avoid the wide one unless you are really sure.

If you are used to fingering on Acoustic guitar, I think the flatter fret-board radius is a good idea.  Straight 12" or 14" is a good compromise between acoustic and electric.  14" is not much difference from 16", so you should be comfortable with that.    Just suggestions though.  Perhaps you are right, you really should make a clone of your Martin.

 

[BoeRossMusic]

I would expect almost everyone can comfortable play the 1.687" (1 11/16") Nut size.  That is really the standard for American made Fender guitars.  A smaller nut will give you a bit more reach with your hands to easily reach different chord shapes.  I'd tend to avoid the wide one unless you are really sure.

If you are used to fingering on Acoustic guitar, I think the flatter fret-board radius is a good idea.  Straight 12" or 14" is a good compromise between acoustic and electric.  14" is not much difference from 16", so you should be comfortable with that.    Just suggestions though.  Perhaps you are right, you really should make a clone of your Martin.

I appreciate this sage advice, my friend. I'm going to do a bit more soul searching and probably pull the trigger this weekend.

I think I'm just going to shell out to have warmoth do the satin finish on both. If I enjoy the process and results of this build, I'm sure it won't be my last, so I can get a bit more adventurous on future projects.

 

[Sadie-f]

Boe,

My go to axe is a Martin OM, my beater acoustic is an oooold Ovation, which plays ok, but my large fingers have a hard time with the 1-11/16" nut.

My first electric is a fender EOB, which I adore for the weird and fun sustainer pickup mode. For me, the even narrower neck is extremely hard to play and I ordered a 1.75" / 16" radius replacement neck which made it a joy to play (after I bought nut files and lowered the action at the nut, again, to exactly match the OM). Now that neck has been moved to a rosewood top warmoth strat body.

My next build, I'll switch to hard tail bridge, tremolo is fun, however I don't use it enough to make up for the difficulties it adds to tuning.

Check my build photos under DIY finishing area, it's been a labor of love, finishing out the body with Tung oil, and I'm glad I did, I also could have been happy with a nitro finish.

Having now mounted up and played the new axe with only the bridge humbucker installed, I'm feeling all the work is validated, she makes nice clean tones, and now I'm building out the pickups & wiring.

I'm also a fingerstyle player, and I'm super glad I have a Martin copy neck on my electric.

Caveats: adjusting nut action is not for the faint of heart, there be dragons there, and building and finishing are addictive ;-). I've just bought some figured maple to do tests on a plan for a cross-fade red/blue faced build.

p.s. I recently learned that Martin necks are finished with a very thin satin nitro varnish, wish I could do that myself, I'm happy enough with bare, sanded fine with a light coating of a hardening oil.

 

[BoeRossMusic]

Boe,

My go to axe is a Martin OM, my beater acoustic is an oooold Ovation, which plays ok, but my large fingers have a hard time with the 1-11/16" nut.

My first electric is a fender EOB, which I adore for the weird and fun sustainer pickup mode. For me, the even narrower neck is extremely hard to play and I ordered a 1.75" / 16" radius replacement neck which made it a joy to play (after I bought nut files and lowered the action at the nut, again, to exactly match the OM). Now that neck has been moved to a rosewood top warmoth strat body.

My next build, I'll switch to hard tail bridge, tremolo is fun, however I don't use it enough to make up for the difficulties it adds to tuning.

Check my build photos under DIY finishing area, it's been a labor of love, finishing out the body with Tung oil, and I'm glad I did, I also could have been happy with a nitro finish.

Having now mounted up and played the new axe with only the bridge humbucker installed, I'm feeling all the work is validated, she makes nice clean tones, and now I'm building out the pickups & wiring.

I'm also a fingerstyle player, and I'm super glad I have a Martin copy neck on my electric.

Caveats: adjusting nut action is not for the faint of heart, there be dragons there, and building and finishing are addictive ;-). I've just bought some figured maple to do tests on a plan for a cross-fade red/blue faced build.

p.s. I recently learned that Martin necks are finished with a very thin satin nitro varnish, wish I could do that myself, I'm happy enough with bare, sanded fine with a light coating of a hardening oil.

Sadie,

There's is fantastic to hear! I did end up pulling the trigger over the weekend and went with the wider neck. I still need to choose pickups, tuners, and some other hardware, but the wheels are in motion on the body, neck, and bridge mount. Suffice it to say, I'm excited .

I considered ordering everything at once, but I kind of want to do some more research as time allows and decide once I have the body and neck in hand. Patience and enjoying the ride seem like important components of this process, and I can't wait to get started.

Totally going to check out your build photos!

Thanks again.