First Warmoth Strat

[Justinginn]

So here she is, my first Warmoth guitar.
Goncalo Alves neck, Swamp Ash body with a Quilted Maple top, Rio Grande Tallboys, Wilkinson floating trem, Planet Waves locking tuners, pretty basic wiring.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/33035485@N08/3076987285/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/33035485@N08/3076984931/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/33035485@N08/3077823548/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/33035485@N08/3077022873/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/33035485@N08/3077851702/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/33035485@N08/3077001009/in/photostream/

Sounds pretty amazing; can get great strat sounds. I've got it strung with .12's which probably helps a little too. The Goncalo neck and overwound pickups do make this guitar pretty dark, at least compared to others I've played through my amp.

I love the raw neck... never going back to finishes.
I didn't do much set-up, basically strung and was good to go. I probably should do a little more tweaking, but with a 15 minutes of intonation, I'm pretty happy.

The Wilkinson and Planet Waves keep the tuning stable even when the whammy bar touches the pickguard in a dive. The string-clipping feature is really cool too.

The only thing I wish I had done differently is the nut; I got a pre-slotted from Warmoth which is way to small for my strings, and the G mostly rides on top of the nut. But it's all cool.  :icon_thumright:

I just ordered a Tremol-no for alternate tunings and stuff, as well as a couple push-pull pots to experiment with Series/Parallel wiring... I'm wishing for more humbucker-ish sounds.

No name yet... thinking maybe Carolina...

 

[tfarny]

Nice guitar, congrats! Love that neck.
Lots of us have found that the warmoth nuts are 'high and tight' and need a bit of tweaking. Better that, than too low or too loose. I highly recommend that you get the set of nut files that Warmoth sells and Dan Erlewine's book and fix the nut as soon as you can. Go slow and make sure not to overdo it. It's really key to a decent setup. If your G is riding out of the slot, I guarantee you've got a lot of room for improvement in playability and tone.

 

[Justinginn]

Thanks, man.

Better tone and playability? 
Yeah I'm planning on getting the problem solved one way or another. I was sorta reluctant to buy separate tools just for that... I'm pretty broke after the last Warmoth so I don't know when I'll be able to build another.

 

[DocNrock]

Dude, that is abso-fricking gorgeous!  Nice work!  :icon_thumright:

 

[tfarny]

Went back and looked at this photo - http://www.flickr.com/photos/33035485@N08/3077851702/sizes/l/in/photostream/
From that angle, it doesn't look like you have a real problem. Post a close-up of your nut (*guitar-related only please!*).
Are those .012s? Some of the guys on here who use .008 or .009 have said that the warmoth nuts work fine for them.

 

[Wana_make_a_guitar]

That looks aweosme!

 

[Justinginn]

They be .12's. 'Specially if my torn up fingers are any indication... still getting used to 'em.
I can't really get a pic now but I will... The B regularly pops out and makes a little sound when it comes back in. The strings are all definitely on top of the nut with just enough sitting inside the grooves to keep them from popping out, but just the very bottom of the strings are "in".

 

[tfarny]

Short-term fix: put some 10s on there with some mechanical pencil lead as a lube, you'll probly be ok. If you want to use 12s, you'll need to get the nut slots fixed up.

 

[NonsenseTele]

Cool guitar!  :cool01:

 

[HMstratocaster]

Sweet guitar dude!!! That's the same color as my first neck-through build. I wish I could get some pictures of that but alas I have no camera!!!

 

[DangerousR6]

Beautiful guitar no doubt, but that neck doesn't work with that body IMHO. The neck should be on something a bit more exotic... :dontknow:

 

[Justinginn]

Thanks for the compliments.

I'm liking the 12's and for now I'll be able to live with the popping out, but I do plan to get the slots filed.

Yeah... I sorta grabbed the neck as soon as I saw it and ran out of time for buying the body (I was only in the states for two months) so I grabbed my favorite one on there that was relatively cheap. I personally think it worked out pretty well tho...  :guitarplayer2:

 

[blue313]

Beautiful axe!  :headbang:

 

[vanhagar]

Awesome rig man !!  Love that neck  :headbang1:

 

[Nick Ellingworth]

Beautiful guitar no doubt, but that neck doesn't work with that body IMHO. The neck should be on something a bit more exotic... :dontknow:

I disagree I quite like it, my only issue is the colour of the pickguard but then I really don't like black guards on anything other than white or cream bodies and even that I prefer a white one.

 

[Justinginn]

I finally "finished" this guitar today and installed the guitarnuts Strat Lover's Strat modification (http://www.guitarnuts.com/wiring/stratlovers.php) as well as a Tremolno.
The wiring mod uses two push/pull pots, one to reverse the neck pickup, and another to add the bridge pickup to whatever is selected on the regular (5-way) switch. With both switches down, it's got all the stock Strat sounds. I love the neck and bridge in series and out of phase... pretty amazing.

I'll try to post clips soon, but TonePort still isn't really working.