Ideas questions for my first Soloist build

ToneGrinder

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Hello, new to the forum, getting ready to plan a build for my first Soloist.  Here is what I'm going for:

-  Warmoth roasted alder flat top with figured walnut veneer, satin clear finish.
-  Musikraft roasted birdseye maple neck, ebony fretboard, SS 6100 frets, no inlays (or just an offset double inlay on the 12th fret). Warmoth does not offer roasted birdseye maple or rolled fretboard edges.
-  Hipshot Contour Tremolo Bridge and locking tuners (Chrome)
-  Dimarzio AT-1 in the bridge and Chopper in the neck.
-  5-way blade selector (bridge, bridge/neck parallel, bridge/neck series, neck only parallel, neck only series) volume, no tone pot.

A few questions:

1. For recessed Hipshot Contour trem, should I select the small neck pocket angle?  I seem to recall that being an option, but now I don't see it...
2.  I would prefer a squared off fretboard at the 22nd fret.  I see some Soloists in the gallery that have that, not sure how to achieve that.  For those that opted for that look, did you select the tele neck pocket and neck heel? Also, some necks seem to have a fretboard that extends beyond the neck pocket (even 22-fret ones) and are squared off instead of round like on a strat.
3.  Do Warmoth bodies come with pilot holes drilled for the strap buttons?  Seems like a minor detail, but would be nice not to have to worry about.
4.  If I opt for standard Fender pattern holes to be drilled on the body and the neck, will a Musikraft neck fit the Warmoth body without having to do any woodworking?
5.  Hipshot trem is not an option on the Warmoth configurator, but I can't imagine it to be that uncommon... What should I select, and do I need to send them the bridge?

All for now, will hopefully post progress once I have parts ordered.
 
Welcome to the forum. Looking forward to seeing your progress on your project. It sounds like a fun one.

Don't know anything about the Hipshot Contour trem but I can answer a couple other questions you have.

The squared off fretboards are standard on the 24-3/4" conversion necks. The 25-1/2" scale necks are rounded. They fit into a standard Strat (rounded) neck pocket. I never ordered a neck with a Tele heel but I expect the fretboard is the same on those. A quick question to Warmoth would answer that.

Warmoth bodies aren't drilled for strap button pilot holes but that's no big deal to do yourself.

I don't know if a Musikraft neck will fit but you could order the neck from Warmoth and there would be no question. Also, if you order a conversion neck, you'd have the squared fretboard you like.

To get the Hipshot trem routed, you would need to ask Warmoth sales if they can do that. They're easy people to talk to and very knowledgeable. 253-845-0403 Give them a call, they're there 9am - 5pm Western time on weekdays.
 
1. Usually, you only need to worry about angled neck pockets if you're going to install a very tall bridge. Recessed is counter to that, so no.
2. Squared off fretboard ends only show up on Tele necks and conversion necks. Standard neck is 22 frets, somewhat rounded, like a Strat neck.
3. No pilot holes for strap buttons.
4. If Musikraft follows Fender standard, it shouldn't be a problem.
5. If there's no option listed in the builder for a particular bridge route/drill pattern, there are some listed here (scroll to end) that they will do for an additional charge. If yours isn't listed there, then you'll have to do some research on what the Hipshot bridge emulates, if such a thing exists. Since you're asking for recessed, your chances of finding something are probably lower, but you won't know until you do the research.
 
It may not be apparent that the 22 fret necks have a fretboard extension that sticks beyond the heel of the neck over the pickguard. The shape if the fretboard heel is not necessarily the same as the heel of the neck itself. The squared fretboard you like the look of is just the extension. Here's a photo I took to show that. The neck on the left is a 24-3/4" scale conversion neck and the one on the right is a 25-1/2" scale neck.
 

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Thank you all for your responses - looks like that answers all but question #4, which I will research some more.

One other question I thought of:  Instead of a neck mounting plate, is there a way to do recessed washers, like Ibanez does on their rounded heel contours with a Warmoth contoured heel?  I would think it would just be a matter of widening the diameter of the pilot hole to a certain depth to accommodate the washers...
 
Them musikraft kramer beak heads are sick, also they do charvel 2 1/4 heels and 2 3/16 fenders, and a company called kne do a soloist style body which will take 2 1/4 necks
 
Per the bridge...Hipshot Contour

It is designed to retrofit any guitar using the American Standard tremolo routing convention. No additional routing required!  Ref: Hipshot Website.

Therefore you would need the American Standard Strat Tremolo rout, which is not recessed and does not require an angled pocket. Which leads me to ask if you were looking for a recessed trem maybe you need a different bridge.

The 25 1/2" necks could have been squared off by the customer.

Musikraft neck hole positions should match up with the Warmoth body ones.
 
Hi Stratamania,

I would like to float it and not have it decked - not a fan of tilting it forward.  Something like the Wilkinson semi-recessed rout might be the ticket just to be able to set it level and have a bit of room for pull (I'm only looking for about a step for vibrato and flutter).  Here are some links with pics as examples:

http://www.kieselguitarsbbs.com/viewtopic.php?t=48995&start=100

http://www.kieselguitarsbbs.com/viewtopic.php?t=49999
 
It should float without a problem. Probably more of an issue if someone wanted to deck it.

I have not tried the Hipshot contour but I would expect it to be able to float enough to pull up about a step on the G.

Of course, you could go the other way and choose a rout that is recessed and a bridge accordingly. There is even a rout for a non-fine tuner Floyd if you wanted to do that.

 
I think the Wilkinson semi-recessed rout will work - I'll still send them the bridge to be on the safe side, and have them install the posts.  I'll give Warmoth a call to confirm - maybe they won't charge me the $45 since it's technically an existing option, even though it's not a listed bridge.
 
ToneGrinder, take a look at the thread linked below that I found just now.

http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=27634.0

and http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=3789.0

Did you buy the Hipshot Contour yet as I am wondering if perhaps a different bridge may be a better way to go?

If you are not so keen on the Wilkinson bridge the vg300 looks a little different but will fit the Wilkinson recessed and studs available from Warmoth.

https://g-gotoh.com/international/product/vg300.html
 
Thanks for researching that, Stratamania - I had seen those posts, and it seems in both cases that they did not plan properly for that bridge.  I have already purchased the Hipshot, so I'm pretty intent on using it, but I'll definitely talk to Warmoth about it ahead of time to make sure they drill for the proper bushing size.  :)
 
No problem I seemed to remember there was a post a while back and I found it quite quickly.

Definitely worth asking Warmoth ahead of time and getting the holes sorted out for the bushings. 

It does not seem that in the thread link I posted that it was reported back whether the poster, in the end, got hold of some Gotoh bushings and tried the Hipshot Contour on the Gotoh / Wilkinson bushings and studs. Can't see why that would not work.
 
So here's the deal:  Warmoth will not do a recess route for the Hipshot trem.  Out of the box options are:

1.  Wilkinson bridge since they have a route for that - possible option.
2.  Floyd Rose - No, don't want a FR
3.  Send in the bridge for a custom route, which will function like a standard Fender Trem.  The guy I spoke with suggested I could raise the studs enough to get the bridge plate off the body enough to have a little bit of backward play, and compensate by lowering the saddles.  The Hipshot diagram indicates a bridge height of 0.305 inches.  That would work for me, IF that is correct in practice.  I'll be using SS 6100 frets, so I'm hoping I can achieve decent string action and still have maybe 1/8 in play between the bridge plate and the body.  A little bit of forward lean might be ok, but I want to keep it level as much as possible.

Thoughts?
 
According to Hipshot, the contour is s drop-in replacement for the Fender American Standard bridge. Get the body routed/drilled for that, and you've got the bridge you want, albeit not recessed. Doesn't need to be recessed; you can install it slightly high as suggested and still be able to pull it sharp, just not as much as something like a Floyd.

I normally do that with Wilkinsons or Schaller bridges and have plenty of room for sharping. Even only sitting an 1/8" up, the way the angles work out you'd be surprised at how well that works out. Plenty of range, unless you wanna break strings.
 
ToneGrinder said:
...  I could raise the studs enough to get the bridge plate off the body enough to have a little bit of backward play, and compensate by lowering the saddles.  ...  A little bit of forward lean might be ok, but I want to keep it level as much as possible.

This is exactly how I set up all of the American Standard and Wilkinson (two post) bridges I work on. I put both E saddles on the plate and adjust the inner saddles so they match the radius of the neck. From there I move the bridge up and down to the desired action based on what feels good and doesn't fret out in large bends.

I also shoot to keep the tops of the outside saddles directly in line with the strings so there's a smooth transition between saddle and string. Adjust the tension on the springs to compensate for string pull. You'll probably wind up going back and forth between height adjustment and spring adjustment until you get it balanced and set level.

Remember to set intonation first and re-intone at the end and you're good to go.
 
Cagey said:
According to Hipshot, the contour is s drop-in replacement for the Fender American Standard bridge. Get the body routed/drilled for that, and you've got the bridge you want, albeit not recessed. Doesn't need to be recessed; you can install it slightly high as suggested and still be able to pull it sharp, just not as much as something like a Floyd.

I normally do that with Wilkinsons or Schaller bridges and have plenty of room for sharping. Even only sitting an 1/8" up, the way the angles work out you'd be surprised at how well that works out. Plenty of range, unless you wanna break strings.

Thanks Cagey - Warmoth doesn't seem to agree with Hipshot's statement on this, so they urged me to send them the bridge.  It would be nice if they added Hipshot to their list of CNC programs, since it's pretty common by now...
 
MikeW said:
ToneGrinder said:
...  I could raise the studs enough to get the bridge plate off the body enough to have a little bit of backward play, and compensate by lowering the saddles.  ...  A little bit of forward lean might be ok, but I want to keep it level as much as possible.

This is exactly how I set up all of the American Standard and Wilkinson (two post) bridges I work on. I put both E saddles on the plate and adjust the inner saddles so they match the radius of the neck. From there I move the bridge up and down to the desired action based on what feels good and doesn't fret out in large bends.

I also shoot to keep the tops of the outside saddles directly in line with the strings so there's a smooth transition between saddle and string. Adjust the tension on the springs to compensate for string pull. You'll probably wind up going back and forth between height adjustment and spring adjustment until you get it balanced and set level.

Remember to set intonation first and re-intone at the end and you're good to go.

Thanks Mike for the details on that - another upshot is that if I want to deck the bridge at some point I can do so...
 
Far be it from me to argue with Warmoth. They've made a few more bodies than I have  :laughing7:
 
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