Is it worth building a guitar?

[stubhead]

Well, in my opinion your ducks are already pretty much in a row, because of this:

[size=12pt]I've always likes building things. I guess it makes it more "yours" knowing you built it.

I've done plenty of setups on both my guitars, and also refretted one of them,[/size]

My dad always had a workshop set up, his dad (my grandfather) was a carpenter who built the house they lived in... I distinctly remember getting a sabre saw for my 6th or 7th birthday - I ran around sawing up scrap for days. It didn't occur to me for a very long time that my dad wanted a sabre saw around, but he couldn't afford one because he had to buy my birthday present... :laughing3:

So, it never even occurred to me that I "couldn't" or "shouldn't" change pickups, dress frets, route big holes in old Fenders etc. :blob7:
Most of my Warmoths (hell, ALL) are oddball in one way or another - I simply wanted something that no manufacturer was making, and having done my own fretwork for creeping on thirty years now, I'll be hornswaggled if I'll pay some "custom" guy $2,000 to build something I can do better.

Like, I wanted a little, light travel guitar so I built a Warmoth Mustang with a hardtail string-through bridge, real pickups, real tuners, and big juicy 6100 frets - then when Fender re-introduced the Mustang, they kept every single one of the authentic, VINTAGE details that made it such a crappy guitar - banjo frets, an impossible whammy, pickups that don't and tuners that won't. :icon_scratch:

Have you ever, ever, EVER priced custom basses?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6_1Pw1xm9U

I wanted a short-scale, five-string high C bass, so I used a Warmoth G5 body (with a special-ordered pickup placement - $40 upcharge)  and had them make the neck without side dots. Then I put the bridge on 3.5" northwards, made new 30.5" scale side dots with white epoxy and had what I wanted. Of course then sneaky Warmoth began making 32" and 30" scale basses a few years later, but mine is still the PEANUT BUDDHA and it will still eat yo momma. I wanted John McLaughlin's scalloped neck on Steve Morse's rocket-science-wired telecaster body, I wanted a seven string that DIDN'T look like a Dungeons 'n' Dragons toy, it just goes on and on....

Honestly now - a Jackson Dinky - it isn't really ALL you ever wanted, now was it?
heh, heh, heh... :evil4: :evil4: :evil4:

 

[JimBeed]

Don't do it... !  Don't even think about doing it!!
You have been warned..
Warmoth is evil and addictive.. you cant just build one..  :laughing7:

One? what is this word you speak of here!  :evil4:

 

[newpatch]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts...

Street Avenger,

I'd like to see that Warren D inspired guitar since it's what I'm going for...

As for the research, I've done most of it a year or two ago. I've looked at different woods, necks, etc., but in the end all I'm looking for is something basic, alder body, maple neck, nothing fancy, well maybe if I'm up to it, choosing a Hawaiian Koa body instead...

For now, I'll do more research as suggested.

dinkyguitar

 

[Danuda]

I love the guitar I built.  I liked it so much I sold my PRS.

 

[Jusatele]

I love the guitar I built.  I liked it so much I sold my PRS.

Have played My PRS twice since I finished Barn Door
can say this, I could have bought a Mexi Tele for half of what I have in BD
Or a AmStd for around the same
And I did all the labor so add in the cost of that to a build and it goes up a lot, Building a axe based on warmoth parts is not cheap.
But Just look at the monthly GOM contest. There are Boutique Shop quality guitars being turned out around here.

and then the pride factor, I was playing Saturday a week ago, was on break and just sitting down in the corner enjoying a beer when this HM type walks up to me and ask where i got the guitar, when i explained i built it, he asked how much to build him one. Ya know that made me feel good, but I explained he could do it himself and gave him the URL.

 

[DangerousR6]

I have a buuuuuuunch of Jackson Dinky's, all mine are Japanese Dinky's pre Fender. And made when the Jap versions were just as good as the US ones, and I love each and everyone one of them. They are all amazing and awesome to play, however, my personal builds have just that little extra special feel to them.  arty07:

 

[blueruins]

Another thing you may want to keep in mind is resale value...You can make some of your money back if you choose to sell the guitar by parting it out on ebay or the like, but it is hard to get any decent return on your investment for a Warmoth.

I know that I run the other way when I see one on an auction because you never know what kind of meth lab the thing was built in.  Many of us are learning on the job when we build these monstrosities..in my case not exactly hand-crafted by a gifted luthier.

I love the strat I've built so far, but I would be embarassed to try to sell it to somebody knowing the hack job I did in the electronics and the sketchy paint job.  I'll probably be tearing it apart and putting it back together countless times before I get it even  close to right.

On the plus side I've finally found the perfect neck contour and I love the feel of the 10-16 compound radius.  The pickups I took a flyer on worked out perfectly, and I went and accidentally carved the nut almost perfectly on my first try...didn't expect that to go so well.

And yes I want to keep building more...and it is expensive...but I'm learning something every day and some day I just might be ready to bust out the router and scroll saw and really waste some fine woods.

I think you get out what you put in with music and this is one great way to learn a lot and keep it fresh.

 

[Strat Avenger]

I have 3 Warmoth projects and 2 of them are very well done and match exactly what I set out to do. The 2nd one could be best described a s a Work In Progress (for a very long time) where my choice of components have clashed with each other and things have not gone so smoothly. So while everyone is trumpeting the advantage of being able to spec out wood selections, pickups etc. just be aware - through diligent research - that sometimes, some parts won't go with what you are wanting to do.

For example, I like heavy electric guitars. If I could get the solid bodied version of a Gretsch White Falcon in solid mahogany I'd be in 7th heaven, even though it would throw my back out! In this 2nd project, I though that getting an all maple body would be the bee's knees, nice and heavy, good sustaining properties etc. WRONG. I had also planned to shove an EMG system into that body, but that pickup/ body wood combo (with a maple neck with ebony fretboard!)  proved very sterile to the point it would have irritated most people's ears. Also when speccing out your body and neck, you have to be 100% certain that you have all things covered. I forgot to spec out a battery box, and only found I could not fit the batteries into the tight cavity routs on that particular shape of body when I got it all in and tried to assemble. But even jerry-rigging a 9v battery and stringing it up, you could tell the combo was not a match....That EMG system now is housed in a mahogany body, quilt maple top body and a koa neck with an ebony board, and it is no surprises that the more mellower woods give the EMGs a better environment to work in.. But the 2nd project is still lingering on and I have found other obstacles with my later pickup choice that is challenging me. I may have to consider a 3rd pair of pickups yet.....

In short, do your research, ask a lot of questions (I wasn't on this forum when I started that 2nd project - or the forum wasn't around then), be 100% certain of what tonal goal you wanna get and find out what wood combos and pickup selections best achieve that. This forum is great for asking questions, but more importantly, there's a stack of completed projects you can see have come together and the combos used by the owners to get that look and sound.

What Marko - er, The Central Scrutinizer - said about it being addictive is true too. GAS is a horrid disease. :sad:

Yes, there are pros and cons. In my case, I already knew exactly what I wanted.

You could put EMGs on a slab of balsa wood and they still sound like EMGs. Almost defeats the purpose of having a solid maple body.

I thought I knew exactly what I wanted too!  Dismissing my projects when you have no idea WHY I did these, (by saying "Pfft EMGs - why bother spending on a maple body") is quite naive I think.... I am happy with the EMGs in the current guitar.

I'm far from naive when it comes to electric guitars. I have 25 years of experience. Passive pickups allow more of that natural wood tone to come through. They just respond differently.  I simply stated my opinion of the EMGs based upon that experience. You obviously like them, and that is your prerogative. You should have what you like.

 

[OzziePete]

I have 3 Warmoth projects and 2 of them are very well done and match exactly what I set out to do. The 2nd one could be best described a s a Work In Progress (for a very long time) where my choice of components have clashed with each other and things have not gone so smoothly. So while everyone is trumpeting the advantage of being able to spec out wood selections, pickups etc. just be aware - through diligent research - that sometimes, some parts won't go with what you are wanting to do.

For example, I like heavy electric guitars. If I could get the solid bodied version of a Gretsch White Falcon in solid mahogany I'd be in 7th heaven, even though it would throw my back out! In this 2nd project, I though that getting an all maple body would be the bee's knees, nice and heavy, good sustaining properties etc. WRONG. I had also planned to shove an EMG system into that body, but that pickup/ body wood combo (with a maple neck with ebony fretboard!)  proved very sterile to the point it would have irritated most people's ears. Also when speccing out your body and neck, you have to be 100% certain that you have all things covered. I forgot to spec out a battery box, and only found I could not fit the batteries into the tight cavity routs on that particular shape of body when I got it all in and tried to assemble. But even jerry-rigging a 9v battery and stringing it up, you could tell the combo was not a match....That EMG system now is housed in a mahogany body, quilt maple top body and a koa neck with an ebony board, and it is no surprises that the more mellower woods give the EMGs a better environment to work in.. But the 2nd project is still lingering on and I have found other obstacles with my later pickup choice that is challenging me. I may have to consider a 3rd pair of pickups yet.....

In short, do your research, ask a lot of questions (I wasn't on this forum when I started that 2nd project - or the forum wasn't around then), be 100% certain of what tonal goal you wanna get and find out what wood combos and pickup selections best achieve that. This forum is great for asking questions, but more importantly, there's a stack of completed projects you can see have come together and the combos used by the owners to get that look and sound.

What Marko - er, The Central Scrutinizer - said about it being addictive is true too. GAS is a horrid disease. :sad:

Yes, there are pros and cons. In my case, I already knew exactly what I wanted.

You could put EMGs on a slab of balsa wood and they still sound like EMGs. Almost defeats the purpose of having a solid maple body.

I thought I knew exactly what I wanted too!  Dismissing my projects when you have no idea WHY I did these, (by saying "Pfft EMGs - why bother spending on a maple body") is quite naive I think.... I am happy with the EMGs in the current guitar.

I'm far from naive when it comes to electric guitars. I have 25 years of experience. Passive pickups allow more of that natural wood tone to come through. They just respond differently.  I simply stated my opinion of the EMGs based upon that experience. You obviously like them, and that is your prerogative. You should have what you like.

No. You generalise too much.

The #2 project involved putting in EMGs , so I bought them. I have heard EMGs from the likes of Dave Gilmour & Iva Davies (Icehouse) live, also heard some jazz guys doing very clean and bell like tones with them, so I knew the voicing they spin on their pickups. The #2 project has a theme. The EMGs were a part, in keeping with that theme.

I have had over 30 years of off/on playing, tried to break into recording engineering but found my ears damaged, so backed away from that. Done some roadie work for friends many years ago.

In recent times I have acquired some gear to do home recording, something I had to stop doing over 10 years ago, due to changes in my life at that time. I won't bore you with the details, but it wasn't exactly a fun ride. Playing guitar was often the last thing I wanted to do.

Do I like EMGs? Well, yes AND no. I appreciate the efforts they have made to get their technology to this point ( I also like their solderless system tho that can have some restrictions) and I do like the less noise. Soundwise, they are OK, they are workable, they won't embarrass me. I have noticed that the sound hits the amp at a more consistent rate and the dynamics might be less than a passive pickup. They do pick up the nuances of the guitar, but then there's the preamp processing the sound. Sometimes this 'processing'  can be noticed in the sound. I'm no poster boy for EMG or any other pickup manufacturer, many have their good products and also some real dud pickups too.

It was a case of me having some expensive pickups hanging around, not being able to fit into the guitar I wanted them for - and then finding they didn't sound good in that configuration anyways, and decided to build another guitar project to accommodate the EMGs.

 

[stubhead]

Plus if you build a Warmoth you get to get in fights with us, and we can do it UP with style, panache and brute delicacy....  :rock-on:

 

[Cagey]

I love the guitar I built.  I liked it so much I sold my PRS.

It's funny how often you hear of PRS guitars being treated like red-headed step-children. I mean, for as nice as they are and as much as they cost, you'd think people would hoard and protect them like the family jewels. But, no. They get sold at the drop of a hat, loaned out easily, traded off, etc. Maybe my experience in that regard is unique, but that's just the way it has always seemed to me. People will hoard and defend raggedy-assed old Gibsons like they're the last male child of a dynasty when it's actually just a profoundly retarded mistake that should have been aborted as the tumor it started off as, but a PRS Custom 24? Sell it. Put wheels on it. Get it outa here. There's just no loyalty or love.

 

[Disco Scottie]

I love the guitar I built.  I liked it so much I sold my PRS.

It's funny how often you hear of PRS guitars being treated like red-headed step-children. I mean, for as nice as they are and as much as they cost, you'd think people would hoard and protect them like the family jewels. But, no. They get sold at the drop of a hat, loaned out easily, traded off, etc. Maybe my experience in that regard is unique, but that's just the way it has always seemed to me. People will hoard and defend raggedy-assed old Gibsons like they're the last male child of a dynasty when it's actually just a profoundly retarded mistake that should have been aborted as the tumor it started off as, but a PRS Custom 24? Sell it. Put wheels on it. Get it outa here. There's just no loyalty or love.

I'm loyal to each of my nine PRS guitars, one of which has been my #1 since 1991. There's plenty of other PRS-philes around, the Birds and Moons forum is full of 'em.

 

[Jusatele]

yeA fresh meat into the frey to devour during moments of nastyness.
we love to have long heated discussions

 

[Jusatele]

I love the guitar I built.  I liked it so much I sold my PRS.

It's funny how often you hear of PRS guitars being treated like red-headed step-children. I mean, for as nice as they are and as much as they cost, you'd think people would hoard and protect them like the family jewels. But, no. They get sold at the drop of a hat, loaned out easily, traded off, etc. Maybe my experience in that regard is unique, but that's just the way it has always seemed to me. People will hoard and defend raggedy-assed old Gibsons like they're the last male child of a dynasty when it's actually just a profoundly retarded mistake that should have been aborted as the tumor it started off as, but a PRS Custom 24? Sell it. Put wheels on it. Get it outa here. There's just no loyalty or love.

I love my PRS, just I am infatuated with BARN DOOR  right now, I bought my PRS after taking a few new LPs off the wall and trying them out, All I could think was that if this is what Gibson is offering at this price range then they have lost it. I mean fit and finish was terrible, and the played like shite. I walked over to the PRS display and asked for the one with the 3 soap bars and the birds, the sales man went on to tell me how it was a 10 top, Really a nice top, and had the artist package. (in other words had a uber nice setup job and had been gone over with a fine tooth comb. I pluged it into a Vox, spent a few seconds tuning the amp in and launched into a 30 minute foray of Jimi Hendrix and Lynard Skynard songs. I remember looking up at the salesman and he had the case out and was asking if I wanted any picks or strings. My wife had bought me the guitar as soon as she saw me zone out in the middle of Machine Gun as I started beating the body to keep the sustain going, she said the sales guy was freaking out. Anyway it has always been one of my favorites, ranks right behind my 62 Tele but I can see that she now has some stiff competition from Barn Door. Actually not as much as I claim as BD is nasty and Prissy is all about the classic rock, What is driving me nuts now is my new 335 clone , Molley, she is so F*&^(*& sweet to play southern rock through I have been playing Marshall Tucker and the Allman Brothers in the cd player just to have an excuse to pick her up, I bought the Duane Allman anthology book just to pick his slide playing to death I like Molley so much. Strange I only have one strap for here and most my guitars have 3 or more.

anyway, any PRS Custom 22 or 24, McCarty, Santana, or the like is really a great axe, I do not see me selling mine

 

[DangerousR6]

I love the guitar I built.  I liked it so much I sold my PRS.

It's funny how often you hear of PRS guitars being treated like red-headed step-children. I mean, for as nice as they are and as much as they cost, you'd think people would hoard and protect them like the family jewels. But, no. They get sold at the drop of a hat, loaned out easily, traded off, etc. Maybe my experience in that regard is unique, but that's just the way it has always seemed to me. People will hoard and defend raggedy-assed old Gibsons like they're the last male child of a dynasty when it's actually just a profoundly retarded mistake that should have been aborted as the tumor it started off as, but a PRS Custom 24? Sell it. Put wheels on it. Get it outa here. There's just no loyalty or love.

Or maybe it's because they just plain ass SUCK, never been impressed with them....I will say I like the single cut version better than the rest....

 

[Cagey]

I would never say they suck. I rather like them, actually. They're fine instruments in a large field of mediocrity. They're a tad pricey, but if you want high quality and American manufacturing from an established builder when the Koreans can put out better guitars than Gibson, what's a mother to do?

 

[Danuda]

I would never say they suck. I rather like them, actually. They're fine instruments in a large field of mediocrity. They're a tad pricey, but if you want high quality and American manufacturing from an established builder when the Koreans can put out better guitars than Gibson, what's a mother to do?

My PRS was a Korean make.  The guitar was a great guitar and played really well.  I just hate having something nice like that and watching it sit collecting dust.  It was too similar in sound to my Tele, but it just did not have the edge that the Tele had.  If I would have built a standard tele with standard tele pickups I would have kept it as tonally it would have given me more variety.  My new build I am going to try and get some pickups to sound significantly different than my SD Phat cats in the Tele to avoid this problem.

 

[Cagey]

I'm the same way. If something isn't being used, then get rid of it. If it's a serviceable piece of gear, somebody will want it. Why eat up valuable real estate and storage space with dead weight? Turn it into cash and buy something that will get used. Lord knows there's a new toy every day that demands your attention <grin>

 

[mayfly]

I'm the same way. If something isn't being used, then get rid of it. If it's a serviceable piece of gear, somebody will want it. Why eat up valuable real estate and storage space with dead weight? Turn it into cash and buy something that will get used. Lord knows there's a new toy every day that demands your attention <grin>

I'm with this guy.  I'm about to consign out the last two mayfly amps ever made. 

But they are some nice ones!

 

[Cagey]

Should post some pictures of those babies. Maybe someone here would want one.