Fret dressing a new Warmoth neck

[Bikertrash2001]

Before you say "we've covered this a thousand times", I would like to note an observation. I'm new to the forum but not Warmoth. I've got my 4th neck and 3rd body on the way right now. One thing i have noticed though since being on the forum, is how many of you are pretty religious about dressing a new neck. I know Warmoth doesn't do that and leaves that up to customer taste. Of the 3 necks I have bought, I've just screwed them on and went. After setting the relief, I've been pretty happy with the results without a dress.
I guess the thing I wonder now is, are they very many folks like me that just bolt and play?

 

[spe111]

I had all three of mine dressed first. I probably could have gotten away with not doing it, but why not have them perfect?

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

I've actually waited on a couple of them, let them "settle" for a few months.

They played fine right out of the box.

The Bari-Tele went unfinished & undressed for a couple of years, then I Try-Oiled the Neck & Levelled/Crowned/Dressed it, and it plays even better now.
I play with very, very low action, and the trick with the baritone is to not use just heavier strings, but actual strings that are "baritone" strings.
My current set on it is the Elixir 12302 set:  https://reverb.com/item/2803511-elixir-12302-nanoweb-baritone-electric-guitar-strings-12-68
This keeps it feeling like an electric with .010's on it that you can bend comfortably, but when you strum, it doesn't over vibrate & buzz. 
Actually, when strumming, it has a very acoustic voicing & feel.
The right strings complement the dressing job, I guess is what I'm also trying to say.

 

[aarontunes]

I've got a bunch of 'em that I've gigged with for years, and have never done anything to any of them.

<<< Like that one over there.

I know they would even feel better if I had someone dress the fret ends, but I've just never got around to it. I keep thinking I should send one or two of them to Cagey....and then I don't.

 

[AirCap]

Why do any work if it's not needed? I will say again.... In 40 years of buying, installing, and playing Warmoth necks - only 2 have ever needed a spot level out of the box. The quality of Warmoth's workmanship and materials is world class in my opinion, and Fender and Gibson should sit at Warmoth's feet and take notes. So there.

 

[Bikertrash2001]

Why do any work if it's not needed? I will say again.... In 40 years of buying, installing, and playing Warmoth necks - only 2 have ever needed a spot level out of the box. The quality of Warmoth's workmanship and materials is world class in my opinion, and Fender and Gibson should sit at Warmoth's feet and take notes. So there.

Absolutely. I would put my last Strat build up against any Fender off the shelf. And it was an out of the box body and neck with the relief set. Now, maybe I do need to add that I do cut my own nuts. That's where I think a lot of the off the shelf stuff falls flat. I know they have to keep them kinda generic, but there is a lot of free action to be found there.

 

[exaN]

The first Warmoth neck I bought had a bad nut, but otherwise every neck I've bought since then was perfectly playable right out of the box. At least well enough that I don't really see the point spending the extra money :dontknow:.

 

[Cagey]

Warmoth ships some of the finest necks I've ever put my paws on, but I still wouldn't install one without a level/crown/dress/polish operation, including threaded inserts and machine screws for attachment. I don't even order frets on mine, because I want to burnish the fretboard before that gets done. Hands are mighty sensitive, and even very small improvements can seem substantial. Depends on what you're used to.

 

[AirCap]

I don't even order frets on mine

I thought about doing that for something custom, like a slanted fret situation. How do you handle sawing the fret slots?

 

[Cagey]

I rarely have to cut slots unless it's a clean-up on an old neck. I order, or have my customers order necks with slots, but no frets. I don't charge much to install frets as it's relatively little work compared to the rest of what needs to be done, and even stainless fretwire is pretty inexpensive. I may change that though, because beveling new stainless frets isn't much fun.

 

[new-killer-star]

I’ve been happy with the ones I didn’t have dressed, but the ones I did have dressed are heavenly.

 

[Strat Avenger]

My Warmoth Soloist has a USAGC neck. It is a superb neck, however it had one high fret, so I had the frets dressed. My Warmoth Strat has a Warmoth neck. I sent it to Cagey to have him install threaded inserts and nut slots filed. He suggested that since I was sending it to him anyway, might as well have him do a fret dressing, which I did. Never played it before that, so I don't know how badly it was needed, but it gave me some peace of mind.

 

[mayfly]

I've had about 10 warmoth necks.  I always played them out of the box with just a nut setup and setting neck relief.  I've been pretty happy.

 

[stratamania]

Why do any work if it's not needed? I will say again.... In 40 years of buying, installing, and playing Warmoth necks - only 2 have ever needed a spot level out of the box. The quality of Warmoth's workmanship and materials is world class in my opinion, and Fender and Gibson should sit at Warmoth's feet and take notes. So there.

It depends on what you want. If the product out of the box is great which it is then as you know they can be very good and for many users usable as is.

But if you want to spend the time and so on to finesse things to another level that also can be done. Its personal choice.

 

[pirate]

While mine played ok out of the box, I took it to tech, and they checked it out with me there, and found 6 of the frets higher then the neighboring frets, and said it was not bad, jut a "bit bumpy" going up and down the neck, so I'll have them do a fret leveling. However, I'm a rhythm player, so it really didn't bother me too much. I could feel it, but it certainly wouldn't hinder an average joe player like me I just figure, it's my 1st build, I'd like it all to be done right, and I'm loving the guitar overall.

I also want to say that the tech has had his shop (it was the manager/owner) for nearly 45 years and he says that honestly, it was one of the poorer necks he's seen from  Warmoth, and it was still VERY playable and good as is, just not perfect, or as near as a neck can be. He says 9 out of 10 he checks from them, he does nothing to unless the owner requests it, because the variances are so small.

 

[Strat Avenger]

I don't think it's at all a quality issue if some frets are high. These frets are embedded in wood. If your neck gets shipped to a climate that is hotter, colder, more humid, or more dry, there is a good possibility that the wood can expand or contract resulting in frets lifting ever so slightly. Wood also shrinks. I had the fret ends filed down on my 1990 Fender Strat nice & smooth. 2 years later, I could feel them again. It's a wood thing.

 

[Cagey]

It's also somewhat resilient, so on a freshly fretted neck it's possible to see them pop slightly.

 

[timezon3]

I've only got one Warmoth, but I haven't done anything to the frets (yet).  I'm sure a good leveling / crowning / polish would indeed improve it, but it's also just fine the way it is.  I also cut my own nut on this one.

 

[Bob Darby]

I'm on my fourth or fifth neck. I just bolt and play. When I went to install my first neck a friend recommended I have it dresses but I called a local Luthier and he asked my what brand of neck it was and he said if its a Warmoth neck it should be all set so far he has been right.

 

[fdesalvo]

I've had all but the last 2 Plekkd due to a high fret or two.  The last 2 were SS6100s/CR, so take that with a grain of salt.  Both of these set up at least as low as the Plekkd necks, which boggles the mind.  For my taste, I find a very small amount of fret noise is an integral part of vintage strat tone.