How much could I dress away the heel?

[Spider]

Hi there,

I've finished a Warmoth tele build and I'm in the process of building a Warmoth strat, and I'm now looking ahead to the next build. I'm tempted by a Gibson-style guitar (SG or maybe Firebird) but I'm hesitant as I'm not sure how the bolt-on neck will look (I say look as I'm not that bothered about bolt-on necks in terms of feel or tone - in fact I generally prefer them to glued-in necks).

My question - how much could I/should I realistically dress the heel away to create more of a set neck look? I could use inset bolts rather than a neck plate, but even with a contoured heel that still leaves a squared-off neck joint. Has anyone out there removed some of the wood on a Warmoth neck heel in order to make it look more like a set neck? I'm aware that if I went too far it would cause major stabiltiy problems, but how far is too far? :icon_scratch:

Anyone had any experience of this? Or any thoughts?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Nando Vallart]

Believe me: the wood on the heel is really important on the strenght of the instrument and on tone... Some guys get the "countoured heel" because of Ibanez and other guitars with that thing, but *I* think tone is beyond it (except if you're a shredder like Vai or Satriani)...

Warmoth doesn't give this option on basses, IIRC, so you'd better keep things as they're...

Want a set neck? It's possible, IF you build the neck and modifying the neck pocket on body (you'll lose ALL waranties): deepening it to glue... Not exactly necessary, specially if you're getting a 34" scale... It'll sound alike a Fender bass, more or less depending on wood choices, but still will be very alike...

PS: if you modify the heel you'll lose the warranty too

 

[whyachi]

I just checked the SG and Firebird / Thunderbird, both bass and guitar styles, and all of them offer contoured heels, but its not going to look like a set neck.

 

[Mor Paul]

Hey, Nando, your L5 still on hold?

 

[Nando Vallart]

Hey, Nando, your L5 still on hold?

Yeah... I start now Physical Therapy in Campinas (100km/60miles) away from São Paulo, if I have the chance to have a free day in São Paulo I'll see if I can play a little with it... lets see...

 

[Finch]

This is what the "contoured heel" of the SG Bass look like

Theres a pretty noticeable gap there and it would take a heck of a lot of modifying to get a set neck look. I think it makes things a little more comfortable but you will find all kinds of varying opinions on that and the impact it has on tone etc.

 

[Spider]

Thanks for your thoughts, everyone. Just to say, I'm looking to build a guitar not a bass, if that makes any differences. I do play bass, but I'm happy with my old Fender Jazz and don't plan to move away from that anytime soon!