Just placed an order for my first Warmoth body.....

[Vol. Knob]

It was a 27 minute phone call.  I made the poor fellow run back to the shop no less than 4 times to check for my specially requested options and top wood availability (they were out of my first and second choices!!  DOH!!!).   

In the end...  I ordered...

Thinline, Mahogony, Rear Routed, Two F holes, Bubinga Top, routed for two P-90's, and routed for a recessed Tune-O-Matic with angled string pattern.  I'm having them mount the Tune-O-Matic studs as well.

I have a Goncalo Alves neck with marblewood fingerboard from another Lutier that will go on this baby. 

 

I have 4 knobs ordered from some ebay fellow that are made from Goncalo Alves, I figure it'd be pretty cool to have them match the neck.  ( http://cgi.ebay.com/GONCALO-ALVES-WOOD-GUITAR-BASS-3-4-KNOBS-6mm-SATIN_W0QQitemZ370118654819QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar_Accessories?_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116 )

The pickups are gonna be Reed James Custom ( http://www.reedjamescustom.com ) P-90s with exotic wood covers, I've already placed the order and spoke with him several times about magnets, winds and tonal needs.  I'm supposed to call him by tomorow to give him the final word on what wood to use.  Since the top is gonna be Bubinga, I'll need to go with darker wood...  Hmmm...  decisions decisions.
Should I go with Bocote P-90s

or Asian Satinwood?

or or or... he has loads of wood samples on his site that I keep cruising back to drool over...  Perhaps cocobolo?

 

[stratplayer1]

wow, i like the idea. cant wait to see the finished product

 

[Vol. Knob]

Macassar Ebony would look good against bubinga, don't you think?

I'm fricking chomping at the bit.  arg! 

This is gonna be a long 6 weeks.......

 

[dbw]

I like the flame satinwood ones... the others are too busy for me.

Did you order a Strat neck pocket?  Neck looks like it's 22 frets so I guess it's OK either way.

That fretboard is AWESOME.  This guitar is gonna put the "zotic" back in "exotic" ... I don't know what that means but it sounded good in my head.  arty07:

 

[Vol. Knob]

Yes sir.  I ordered the strat neck pocket.  There were a few choices I made that declared my project "unreturnable".

Side jack mount and an electrosocket.  I'll drill the conrol holes since they won't when you get a second F hole.  I wanted to have them route and access hole under the upper horn so I can mount a toggle, Les Paul style, but they wouldnt.  I'm still gonna try to get that done myself.  Otherwise its gonna get busy down there in the control area. two volumes and two tones.

I've thought about getting even weirder and do a "blender pot" instead of a switch.  Is that too weird?  I suppose it could be done without a toggle at all since there's gonna be two volumes, like my trusty Squier Jazz bass. 

When I'm done, we'll have ourselves a veritable hurricaine of swirling woodgrain.  If all goes well, she'll sound pretty sweet too.  P-90s are being wound to vintage specs with both alnico 5 and 2 magnets each.  I'm a single coil man at heart. 

 

[Xplorervoodoo]

I'm dittoing dbw here...  that fretboard is AMAZING.  Can't wait to see the finished product.

 

[dbw]

Blend pot is a little wacky... I think switches are just too damn useful.  I have a rotary switch on one of my Warmoths and even that is a little inconvenient... you don't realize how often you want to quickly switch pickups until you CAN'T.

Disclaimer: this paragraph is a flight of fancy, I don't recommend anyone try it... but to speculate on how you could get a LP switch in there:  You might be able to drill sideways through the "core" of the thinline from the control cavity using a dremel or a really small drill... I wouldn't attempt it myself but if you're handy you can probably git 'er done.  Then you run your wires from the control cavity across the core and out through the far f-hole and solder them to the switch.  Then drill a hole for the switch in the LP location, attach the switch to some sort of bent-hanger tool you dream up, put it back through the f-hole and with much cursing and frustration, push it back up into the hole you drilled for it... put the nut on and you're done.

This would be really awesome but also really hard.  You could also get a hole saw and cut yourself an access panel behind the switch.  I wouldn't have the heart, personally

 

[tfarny]

Wow somebody's got wood! This will definitely be a project that I want to see, but not necessarily emulate.
Nothing wrong with a pickup blender, my bass works that way (blend, vol, tone), it's very intuitive and easy to adjust. Center detent on the pot is important. But why get two volumes AND a blender? Seems like two ways to get the same result when one would be more elegant.

 

[Vol. Knob]

Wow somebody's got wood! This will definitely be a project that I want to see, but not necessarily emulate.

Ha!  My wife says the same thing.  She thinks I'm gonna make it too busy looking.  Actually, its gonna be a simple guitar.  I'm just trying to keep the plastic down to bare minimum, and I figure if a guitar is made of wood, then I don't wanna hide it behind paint. 

I placed the order an hour ago and I already find myself planning my next one.  Whats wrong with me?

 

[exalted]

I placed the order an hour ago and I already find myself planning my next one.  Whats wrong with me?

You have too much money. Give me some.  :icon_biggrin:

 

[Vol. Knob]

I placed the order an hour ago and I already find myself planning my next one.  Whats wrong with me?

You have too much money. Give me some.  :icon_biggrin:

If I could, I wouldnt hesitate.  I'm quite broke, just like everyone else these days.  I have 3 kids, 2 stepkids, a wife, morgage, car payments, doctors to pay, lawyers to pay, etc. etc. etc...  I sold my two mid '80s Squier Stratocasters and an Alverez 6 string bass to make all this happen.  A myriad of reasons motivated me.  Suffice to say that stress and turmoil have been weighing me down.  I'm weathering the storm like a champ, but I need something threaputic like this to get me through it all with a smile on my face.  I've wanted to build a guitar from warmoth parts since the '80s.  I've never spent more than $500 on a guitar and usually just trade with other guitarist friends.  I've never had the cash to just plunk down on anything spectacular or unique. 

I just decided to start pursuing a vision I've  had for years.  A guitar rig I with no visible logos.  As much DIY as I can manage.  The resources are out there.  So far, I have all the parts for one guitar ordered.  Then there'll be a second..  then.. who knows.  I've spent far more money on more uselsess things in the past. 

 

[exalted]

I just decided to start pursuing a vision I've  had for years.  A guitar rig I with no visible logos.  As much DIY as I can manage.  The resources are out there.  So far, I have all the parts for one guitar ordered.  Then there'll be a second..  then.. who knows.  I've spent far more money on more uselsess things in the past. 

Well congratulations on making progress toward your goal. It looks like she's gonna be a beaut!

As for wasting money, I hear you. I don't even know where it all goes...

 

[DangerousR6]

Sounds badass and the neck is tight, seen their stuff on Ebay before. Pick ups are sweet to, but a bit to pricey for me. But cool none the less.. :icon_thumright:

 

[Vol. Knob]

Sounds badass and the neck is tight, seen their stuff on Ebay before. Pick ups are sweet to, but a bit to pricey for me. But cool none the less.. :icon_thumright:

I was wondering if anyone would recognize the neck, it was on ebay last week.  Karosa necks have a spotty reputation so far.  On the Harmony Central customer reviews they get either a 1 or a 10, never anything in between.  I've posted inquiries on other forums.  It seems that his earlier necks were...  well... early reviews are less than stellar.  As he's made more, it seems they get better.  One guy on the TDPRI said he had three, one unuseable, one was okay, one was killer.

Oddly enough, mine showed up on my doorstep today, my daughter called me after school to ask if she should bring in the long triangular box on the porch.

after looking it over, the pics don't do it justice.  There are three very very very minor issues in the finish, more wood related with the Marblewood fingerboard.  Nothing I'd fault the builder for, and nothing anyone but me would notice.  Its smooth and well put together.  One thing that I will be emailing him a "Heads Up" about is the hole for the D string tuner appears to not line up evenly from front to back.  THis can be fixed by me, or if I need to, by Scotty (the go-to guy in KC for guitar repair).  Still, It came in at around $90 after shipping.  If I have to spend another $100 to fix any problems, then it was still a steal for a Goncalo Alves neck with such and insanely figured fretboard.  And I don't think it will come to that.  It looks like its one of his good ones.  Still, it will be at least 6 weeks until I can bolt it on and see.


Karosa Necks website... 
http://www.handbuiltguitarnecks.com/

 

[Tempest]

Cool I live in KC to.  And nice neck!  we need some more pics.

 

[Vol. Knob]

Cool I live in KC to.  And nice neck!  we need some more pics.

What part of KC?  I live in Shawnee just around the corner and down the street from Mountain Music.  I typicaly hang out at Javanaut in midtown of 39th, that coffee shop is like every midtown musician's extra living room, Alex (the proprietor and longtime friend) is gonna have bands play on the patio this coming spring.  He has a killer Martin and a Godin LGXT, he does a good Bob Weir impersonation.  Plus he's got excellent taste in music and what you hear in the shop is all from his personal collection, so you'll hear some amazing Jazz from Coltrane one minute, Bob Dylan the next, followed by early Black Sabbath, the Buena Vista Social Club, Lead Belly, and of course, The Grateful Dead. 

 

[Nando Vallart]

I would say: buy the two woods you showed us and put on the body when it's finished... keep the one you like the most, sell or keep the other for future projects (send me a PM if you decide to sell, perhaps I'll be interested  :laughing7

 

[Tempest]

Cool I live in KC to.  And nice neck!  we need some more pics.

What part of KC?  I live in Shawnee just around the corner and down the street from Mountain Music.  I typicaly hang out at Javanaut in midtown of 39th, that coffee shop is like every midtown musician's extra living room, Alex (the proprietor and longtime friend) is gonna have bands play on the patio this coming spring.  He has a killer Martin and a Godin LGXT, he does a good Bob Weir impersonation.  Plus he's got excellent taste in music and what you hear in the shop is all from his personal collection, so you'll hear some amazing Jazz from Coltrane one minute, Bob Dylan the next, followed by early Black Sabbath, the Buena Vista Social Club, Lead Belly, and of course, The Grateful Dead. 

Well I actually live in Lee's Summit.  But it's pretty close

 

[Vol. Knob]

Well I actually live in Lee's Summit.  But it's pretty close

Our keyboardist lives in Lees Scummit.  Our soundman just lost an election there this past November.