How did you know about Warmoth?

[molul]

Well, in my case it's a long story: my first "good" guitar, after 10 years with a 150€ one, was a Jackson Dinky DK2S that I bought in 2007 because of the Sustainiac, after finding out that the magic sounds that Billy Corgan made in The Smashing Pumpkins' "Adore tour" came from a Fernandes guitar (which had the Sustainer, which was similar to the Sustainiac system).

I fell in love with that pickup, but I hated the Floyd Rose bridge (changing strings was a PITA) and wasn't too fond of the guitar overall sound (not my style).

Then in 2008, Fender announced the Billy Corgan signature Stratocaster (now discontinued) and I immediately got myself one. I loved the sound of the guitar, and how comfortable it felt, but I missed the Sustainiac, and didn't like the fixed bridge.

One day, one of my bandmates told me about a guy in my city (Valencia, Spain) that might be able to make a mix of both guitars, so I told him everything I wanted and voila! I had my first Warmoth guitar, although I didn't know yet xD

After some time I took my guitar to a luthier to make some adjustments and he told me the guitar was made from Warmoth parts (well, body and neck). At first I thought this meant it was bad quality, but nope, he said it was actually very good.

I was happy to have a strat that sounded like the Corgan's strat (same pickups, except for the bridge) and also had a Sustainiac and a floating bridge again (a Wilkinson one). I also discovered the locking tuners, which I found an amazing idea.

But later I realized it was much heavier, so I changed the body to a chambered one. This was my first Warmoth order (that I ordered myself, I mean). And boy, what an improvement that was.

Recently, I realized that Corgan's strat neck felt much better, and I asked another luthier to make a replica of that neck (not yet finished).

At the same time, I discovered the Jazzmaster. I loved the look and the bridge, but wasn't 100% fond of the sound and the rhythm circuit thing (I find the knobs very uncomfortable). And then I realized that, if my current guitar had any accident, I wouldn't have a replacement to keep playing shows, so I decided to make a new Warmoth guitar, which would have Jazzmaster body, neck and bridge, and strat pickups (same as my current strat, Sustainiac included).

I just realized that, thanks to Warmoth, I know much more about guitars (not that I'm an expert, but I know more than before). And, most importantly, I can have exactly what I want in a guitar.

Some friends ask me why couldn't I just get an expensive fender guitar. I could, but I would always miss something. Warmoth seems to be my future regarding guitars xD

I only wish I knew about chambered bodies back in the day, or about neck profiles. I would have saved some good money, but anyway, I feel lucky that these improvements existed and I could afford them

Last week I told my mom about the new guitar I'm making and she asked me "will this one be The One?", and I could only tell her "I wish I could say yes, but from what I've seen so far, maybe not" lol. For instance, I would like to try a short scale neck in the future, but that won't come in the near future.

Anyway, I'm so glad Warmoth exists. I wouldn't be the guitarist I am today if it wasn't for them ^_^

So that's it. What's your story with Warmoth?

 

[PhilHill]

Few years ago, I was reading an article in one of the guitar publications about how one had to be careful about buying kit guitars. Massively varying quality and all that. I hadn't realize how big the spare parts and kit industry had grown. So, for the heck of it, I googled "guitar parts" and the first or second result I got was Warmoth. So I went there, took a look and liked what I saw. Perused a few guitar forums and heard lot's of good things about Warmoth's quality. So I decided to find out for myself and ordered a neck for a project that I had. Needless to say, I was impressed when it arrived. Decided to start using their services, and the rest is, as they say, history.

 

[DangerousR6]

I would always see ads in my usual guitar mags, then one day many years on I noticed a  www address in the ad one day and the rest is history.. :headbang:

 

[rgand]

I did an intnet search for guitar necks and found Warmoth. After looking at the site, I checked to see how happy people were with them. The reviews I found were the deciding factor.

 

[VinceClortho]

Wow.  I feel old. 

It was 1991 and I had been playing for a few years and had been thinking about ways to put together a guitar with some custom specs.  The then-soon-to-be-released Washburn N4 had me drooling so I wanted to go somewhat in that direction.  I had seen ads for Warmoth in the back of guitar magazines and decided to make a phone call to have a (printed) catalog sent (by mail) to me.  After it arrived I'm sure I spent many an hour going back and forth with options but finally filled out the order form and mailed it to them along with a money order.  I ended up with a soloist body with a quilted maple top over basswood and a birdseye neck and fretboard.  I finished the woods with some sort of tung oil concoction, built it up full shredder style w/ EMGs and a Floyd and played it for many years before it finally got parted out and passed along.

 

[Rick]

Same, order form in a magazine years ago.

 

[mayfly]

guitar player magazine.  1980's.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

Started requesting catalogs in 1980 our of Guitar Player Magazine.

 

[Axkoa]

I'm only young, so I think I found them online somehow about 5-6 years back. I can still remember some of the flame top Regal's and Soloist's I wanted when I was only into Metal. Now that I'm a bit older the music I listen to and the stuff I want to play has changed so much. So my next build is going to be a Strat.

 

[pingfloid]

I first heard about Warmoth long time ago. I don't remember exactly when and where. But I never ordered anything from them until this week. It happened like this:

I was browsing reverb.com for the prices of Gilmour Strats (because I was bored at work, not because I can afford one) when this American Deluxe Strat with EMG DG20 and warmoth neck did pop up:

https://reverb.com/item/7053688-fender-american-deluxe-stratocaster-w-warmoth-neck-emg-david-gilmour-dg20-pickups

I was attracted by that neck and, since I was still bored, I went to the Warmoth web and I started to play with the Build Custom Tool. Then I thought that it could be a good idea to build something for the Harmonic Design Z90 pups that I currently have installed on a Schecter Solo II, so I ended up ordering a Black Korina Chambered Strat, a Roasted Flame maple neck with Indian Rosewood fretboard, and a Gotoh 510  :sign13:

Now I am impatiently waiting  :blob7:

 

[stratamania]

From ads in US Guitar magazines back in the 80s, although it was not until around 10 years ago that I looked for the website and ordered something.

 

[Cagey]

My first exposure to them in real life was from a guitar teacher I had back in the late '80s, early '90s. Fantastic player, but he wanted something that was technically great sound and playability-wise, but wasn't anything to look at. Kind of a "sleeper". So, unfinished Warmoth body/neck, slapped some dye/oil on it just to say he did, but great pickups and a pro setup so it sounded/played like a dream. Sitting unattended on stage in the stand, nobody would want to mess with or steal it.

 

[BigSteve22]

Don't remember exactly, but I know was noodling around Google, looking for parts. I think it was for a replacement bridge for my H2, which had a couple of really worn saddles. Just happened on Warmoth when it came up in the search results. The rest is history.....  :glasses10:

 

[gingataff]

Those little black and white ads in Guitar Player magazine in the late 80s with the cute turtle dude.

 

[stultzies9]

When I started playing guitar in '88, my dad bought me a used electric guitar from Monte Vista guitars in Tacoma. It had a Warmoth neck on it, and I loved it. So I always kept that info in mind, and when I got old enough to actually have money of my own, well, the addiction took over.  :-D

 

[Strat Avenger]

I remember seeing Warmoth ads in the back of guitar magazines in '85 or '86, and thinking it would be cool to put a Warmoth neck on a Strat copy that I had. I never got one, but fast-forward to the 21st century, I found the Warmoth website and I felt like a kid in a candy store. After lots of research, I built my first Warmoth guitar, a Soloist. It came out excellent due to my experience with disassembling, modifying, and reassembling production-line guitars over the years.

 

[musicispeace]

When I originally took up the guitar in the 80's I saw some Warmoth ads that looked cool. At one point life overtook playing the guitar and I quit for a long time. When I started playing again in about 2010 I just woke up one day between jobs, took my credit card, and walked up to the music store in my neighborhood and bought a used electric guitar that had originated in some holiday starter kit for $79.

Over the next year as my interested regrew further I was pretty shocked at what off the rack guitars cost in the modern era and remembered those Warmoth ads. I got pretty excited about the idea of pulling together a truly custom fitted instrument for a lower total outlay and spread out by buying parts as I could. I have never looked back.

 

[Belch]

I heard about them in the early 90s from a guitar related email group. Sent warmoth an email telling them what I wanted, and I got an email back with a ton of questions I had never considered.
30 years later, and my youngest grandson (2 years old) loves playing it. I play the chords and he strums.

 

[Hodgo]

I stumbled upon Warmoth in the early 2000s as a teenager. I remember wanting a purple quilt Tele, ebony board, gold frets. I also remember wanting a Mary Kaye finish Strat.

Couldn’t afford them at the time though! It would be about 12-13 years until I had some spare change and got my first Warmoth parts.

 

[Schneidas]

I don't remember the exact year but it was either 1997 or 1998 through the early stages of the internet.

I kept looking in awe at the Birdseye Maple and Flame Maple necks that Warmoth offered, absorbing every little bit of information of wood descriptions, compund radius, truss rod infos etc. from the webpage, reading it religiously every other day and planning my first build in my head for when I finally had my first job years later and my first credit card. At this time (I was still a teenager living in Europe) it seemed like a very far-away dream...

Over the years, I must have exchanged more than 40 emails with Ken Warmoth (GRHS), who would patiently answer each and every one of my sometimes stupid or crazy questions...

Years later I placed my first order in the summer of 2001.