Hi, I'm a noob

[Tony Raven]

I've been a lurker here for... wow, a year or so now. As a former Guitar Player (subscriber like 1974-1980, regular buyer 1983-1986), I've been ogling Warmoth gear for quite some time -- like pro baseball, I'm a devoted fan, but never saw myself suiting up. It was plenty cool just admiring what you guys come up with.

And I'm a guitar addict. I'm active on four or five other axe-centric sites, generally blathering about some project that I've scored off the Net or dug out of a friend's attic, with a preference for guitars that're weird, old, or just low-end.

But out of the blue, I find myself with a Warmoth bass. It bears very little semblance to what's currently available. I'd like to learn more about it.

In which Forum would I open up that particular worm-can?

Could there be an area for players who own Warmoth gear, & want to show it off proudly, but are not themselves Warmoth builders?

 

[-CB-]

<munch munch>

Right here...

<munch>

Ya know these worms are great with a little Tabasco.....

<munch munch>

Thanks for opening it. 

 

[Strat Avenger]

Let's see it.

 

[Tony Raven]

Let's see it.

Well, heck, THAT part's easy.  :icon_biggrin:

Sorry, that's where the camera crapped out. The heel & slot are branded with an older version of the "funky turtle," & there's a silver oval sticker on the inside of the control cover that says WARMOTH GUITAR PRODUCTS. All in all, it looks like it was entirely built up by Warmoth... & that's as far as I get on my own.

 

[Cagey]

Looks like a Standard 5 J bass to me, but then most of them look the same to me. That's a nice looking piece.

Incidentally, Warmoth only makes the bodies/necks/pickguards/covers. They don't assemble instruments at all. They're a parts supplier.

 

[Tony Raven]

It's just so... odd. Like, unless I've malfunctioned my calipers, the neck clocks in at 2.191" at the nut. It's a 4-2 waiting to happen.

The fit to the heel slot is near-perfect, though, so if it wasn't set by Warmoth, someone pretty serious did this work.

Would Warmoth put a sticker on the cavity cover if they were just selling the cover? Mebbe -- no clue here.

Before I forget -- it's been a while since I did fine wood, but I'm pretty certain the fretboard's ebony.

 

[Cagey]

That is a really wide neck. I wouldn't be able to handle it.

Warmoth parts are made to surprisingly close tolerances. You get a neck and body by them, and even if they're wildly different in age they'll go together like they were grown that way.  Most OEM guitars aren't as accurately fabbed as two random parts you can get from these guys.

They do sticker their covers and pickguards, and they brand the necks and bodies.

It's tough to tell from the pictures, but if I had to guess I'd say that fretboard is Ebony, too.

 

[Updown]

Please correct me if I am wrong ....

:icon_scratch:  The neck plate doesn't look like a Warmoth.
http://www.warmoth.com/Neck-Control-Plates-C55.aspx

It looks side ways on that Bass. 

 

[Cagey]

It probably is just a standard plate turned sideways to accommodate the width of that superhighway of a neck.

 

[thearmofbarlow]

I friggin' LOVE the taper in the neck wood. :headbang:

 

[Updown]

It probably is just a standard plate turned sideways to accommodate the width of that superhighway of a neck.

Oh Yeah  :doh:  of cause ...
Must have drilled the holes in body & neck them self, as Warmoth don't do it that way ......... :icon_scratch:  Or do they ?  :dontknow:

Nice Bass thou anyway  :icon_thumright:

 

[DangerousR6]

It probably is just a standard plate turned sideways to accommodate the width of that superhighway of a neck.

Oh Yeah  :doh:  of cause ...
Must have drilled the holes in body & neck them self, as Warmoth don't do it that way ......... :icon_scratch:  Or do they ?  :dontknow:

Nice Bass thou anyway  :icon_thumright:

Well he did say it has an older version of the turtle on it, so the sideways plate might be someting Warmoth did early on with the wide necks. Or the original owner may have done that... :dontknow:

 

[Updown]

Well he did say it has an older version of the turtle on it, so the sideways plate might be someting Warmoth did early on with the wide necks.

Could fit a nice custom neck plate design on it that way, hey Doug  :icon_thumright:

 

[AutoBat]

As for it looking like a 6 string neck. I might've been meant that way, but sold without any holes and the original owner wanted it to be a wide 5 string.
It looks quite striking, even if I dislike the black/red/yellow paint.

 

[Dan025]

hmm, that body certainly looks warmothy but the neck... i dunno, guess it's something they offered back in the day.

 

[Tony Raven]

Oh, yah, the neck plate. The first time I took it off the wall of the shop, I stood staring at that for a few seconds, then I just laughed. It most likely IS a standard guitar plate. Creeps me out just a little. but at least it's at the better end of the heel slot!!

When I took the neck off to shim it, besides those four holes there's just the original reference/hang hole.

Neither of the turtle brands has any lettering. On the neck heel, there's some text (three lines) in rubber stamp, but it's really blurry.

Any guesses as to year or decade or era? That five-piece neck is fascinating.

Better still, does the control setup look familiar to anyone? I expected the two stacked knobs to be bass/treble boost/cut for each pickup, but when I turn the inner knobs what I hear is a filter sweep like setting a parametric EQ. So far, I just find something that sounds good & stick with it.

I took it to a gig Sunday, ran it through a decent Hartke/Aguilar rig compared to my Cort Curbow. Though the Warmoth still needs a little more adjustment, it played like a champ, even with the super-wide neck. (side note: for a 5'11 guy, I've got small hands.) The EMG pickups aren't (IMO) overall as good-sounding as the Cort's, but they sure pack a bigger bottom-end wallop.

 

[Tony Raven]

Knew I forgot something...

The Gecko5 Wide is 2-3/16" (2.1875) at the nut; the Gecko6 is 2.25". Thus I'm guessing it was NOT meant to be a sixer -- not that this would stop me from fitting in a half-dozen Ultralight tuners.

Does anyone have a pre-2000 catalogue? or know of a site where similar might've been archived? I'd love to get an advertising shot of that neck.

 

[Wyliee]

That is likely an old Deluxe 5 wide.  Warmoth used to make wide and narrow spaced 5 string necks and predated the Deluxe 5 line that Fender has offered.  Any programming/patterns/fixtures for those are long gone.

We have some really old print catalogs around here somewhere, but I don't recall ever seeing the 5 wide necks in them.

FYI, yes it is a standard neck plate turned sideways.

 

[DangerousR6]

Well he did say it has an older version of the turtle on it, so the sideways plate might be someting Warmoth did early on with the wide necks.

Could fit a nice custom neck plate design on it that way, hey Doug  :icon_thumright:

HellZ ya... :headbang1:

 

[Jet-Jaguar]

Could there be an area for players who own Warmoth gear, & want to show it off proudly, but are not themselves Warmoth builders?

LOL, stick around long enough, and one day, you're gonna find yourself surrounded by parts, soldering a pickup into a pot, into a body, and thinking "um, I think I'm a builder now."