O
oldmanriver
Guest
Well, my VIP body and Warmoth neck came about two weeks ago, and things are not going as smoothly as hoped.
I don't have a soldering iron at the moment so there has been little work to be done thus far, but I was able to drill a couple holes for the tuners and the truss rod and control cavity covers. The first problem I ran into was with the truss rod cover. When I was screwing the screws for the truss rod cover, I noticed they were going in a little tight. Things still felt alright, though. The slots in the heads of the screws were holding up pretty well and weren't stripping out at all. I had my last screw in almost all the way, and then suddenly the whole head of the screw breaks clean off. I was devastated. And now there is an entire headless screw embedded in the front of my headstock. I am very frustrated and distraught over this.
Second, there was the control pots. I was making sure all the electronics would fit properly and seeing how all the hardware would look. When I tried to mount the pots, I noticed that the holes are drilled straight vertically down into the carved top of the body, rather than at an angle to accommodate the body's curvature. This meant the nut couldn't even lay flat on the body. I ordered the non-recessed PRS style control configuration, but I still assumed this would be taken into consideration. One small edge of the nut touches the body while most of it is floating a few millimeters above. In addition the knobs I ordered don't even fit the pot's shaft, which I consider unacceptable considering both were supplied by Warmoth.
And just now I was fitting the neck to the body for the first time, and the neck screws were going in VERY tight. I could hardly budge them by the end and the slots in the screw heads have already started stripping out. They are also protruding at a terrible angle out from the neck plate, and I even used the neck plate pad that Warmoth sells. Again, this is very frustrating.
I haven't yet attempted the final assembly or setup. I am worried about what other problems are likely waiting to reveal themselves. This whole process has been very discouraging for me. I dropped $1100 on the body and neck and it seems that it all went to waste. I still believe that Warmoth exhibits excellent craftsmanship, but the hardware that they supply is just simply shit. It is possible that I will not be using Warmoth again.
That said, there is still an itch inside me to own something high quality and custom designed. I could very well have a much better experience next time with Warmoth if I find ways around the problems I encountered with this build, such as avoiding a carved top body and contoured heel, and buying all hardware from another supplier. I'm now wanting a dual p90 LP junior type guitar, so we'll see on that. It's not like I have any money left though, which is still pretty damn frustrating. But there is still some ray of hope, I suppose.
I just needed to get this off my chest. I'm embarrassed, honestly. I almost feel like I'm the one with the problem, not Warmoth, because it seems that basically everyone here has had nothing but positive experiences with their builds. Please feel free to way in on this, and if you have any advice to give, it would be very much appreciated.
I don't have a soldering iron at the moment so there has been little work to be done thus far, but I was able to drill a couple holes for the tuners and the truss rod and control cavity covers. The first problem I ran into was with the truss rod cover. When I was screwing the screws for the truss rod cover, I noticed they were going in a little tight. Things still felt alright, though. The slots in the heads of the screws were holding up pretty well and weren't stripping out at all. I had my last screw in almost all the way, and then suddenly the whole head of the screw breaks clean off. I was devastated. And now there is an entire headless screw embedded in the front of my headstock. I am very frustrated and distraught over this.
Second, there was the control pots. I was making sure all the electronics would fit properly and seeing how all the hardware would look. When I tried to mount the pots, I noticed that the holes are drilled straight vertically down into the carved top of the body, rather than at an angle to accommodate the body's curvature. This meant the nut couldn't even lay flat on the body. I ordered the non-recessed PRS style control configuration, but I still assumed this would be taken into consideration. One small edge of the nut touches the body while most of it is floating a few millimeters above. In addition the knobs I ordered don't even fit the pot's shaft, which I consider unacceptable considering both were supplied by Warmoth.
And just now I was fitting the neck to the body for the first time, and the neck screws were going in VERY tight. I could hardly budge them by the end and the slots in the screw heads have already started stripping out. They are also protruding at a terrible angle out from the neck plate, and I even used the neck plate pad that Warmoth sells. Again, this is very frustrating.
I haven't yet attempted the final assembly or setup. I am worried about what other problems are likely waiting to reveal themselves. This whole process has been very discouraging for me. I dropped $1100 on the body and neck and it seems that it all went to waste. I still believe that Warmoth exhibits excellent craftsmanship, but the hardware that they supply is just simply shit. It is possible that I will not be using Warmoth again.
That said, there is still an itch inside me to own something high quality and custom designed. I could very well have a much better experience next time with Warmoth if I find ways around the problems I encountered with this build, such as avoiding a carved top body and contoured heel, and buying all hardware from another supplier. I'm now wanting a dual p90 LP junior type guitar, so we'll see on that. It's not like I have any money left though, which is still pretty damn frustrating. But there is still some ray of hope, I suppose.
I just needed to get this off my chest. I'm embarrassed, honestly. I almost feel like I'm the one with the problem, not Warmoth, because it seems that basically everyone here has had nothing but positive experiences with their builds. Please feel free to way in on this, and if you have any advice to give, it would be very much appreciated.