Last few questions before I place my first order... (excited)

[Last Triumph]

If I can get my ass into gear, I hope to place my first Warmoth order tomorrow....  :guitarplayer2:

Last few decisions to be made...

Here's a few of questions for y'all with some experience of such matters.

1) I've decided on a Madagascan Ebony fretboard - stuck between Canary, Wenge and Rosewood - any thoughts or experiences between the three in terms of tone and feel?

2) Really like the 'night swan' custom inlays - I still use the fret markers for playing, even today - with many of them being near the bottom of the fret board, especially around the 12th, does anyone find that their fingers hide them and prevent you seeing precisely where you are on the board whilst playing?

3) Can a peg head veneer with a finish, go on a raw neck head stock?

4) Warmoth or Variax head stock - hardly any difference in the sahpe other than the M/C heads are directly opposite each other - I prefer the Warmoth shape, but is there any advantage to the Variax M/C positions that i need to know about be fore i discard them?


Thanks guys!

 

[Danuda]

No experience in most of your questions, but as far as fret markers.  If your fingers cover one on the lower you can always see the side dots.

 

[bagman67]

I have a wenge neck and a canary neck, both standard thin, both with stainless 6115 frets, and the difference is subtle but it's there.  The canary is more uniform to the touch compared to the wenge, which does have a very open grain, and that's detectable when you play.  That said, the wenge is very slick and dry feeling, which I find gratifying.  Both of them are lovely, and my preference for the wenge is not an intense one.


As for fret markers, I think as long as you also have side markers, and don't have pathological tunnel vision that inhibits your view of the other fret markers, you should be fine with the nightswan design.  You could also perhaps look into whether Warmoth could do a lefty nightswan, so the markers are arrayed in a mirror image from the standard right-handed nightswan design.




HOpe this helps - sounds like you'll have a beauty no matter what.

Bagman

 

[Cagey]

1) I've decided on a Madagascan Ebony fretboard - stuck between Canary, Wenge and Rosewood - any thoughts or experiences between the three in terms of tone and feel?

Canary and Rosewood feel about the same. Wenge is a much more open grain, but it's a harder, denser wood so it seems to play faster.

2) Really like the 'night swan' custom inlays - I still use the fret markers for playing, even today - with many of them being near the bottom of the fret board, especially around the 12th, does anyone find that their fingers hide them and prevent you seeing precisely where you are on the board whilst playing?

Usually, you use the dots to see where to go, not where you are. So, it shouldn't be as much of a problem as you might imagine. Besides, the swan inlays are sorta wide. They're not going to cover as easily as dots.

3) Can a peg head veneer with a finish, go on a raw neck head stock?

No. Or, at least not according to their website. But, you can always call. Sometimes it's possible to do things in certain situations that can't be done in all situations, so they don't put those things in the standard builder.

4) Warmoth or Variax head stock - hardly any difference in the sahpe other than the M/C heads are directly opposite each other - I prefer the Warmoth shape, but is there any advantage to the Variax M/C positions that i need to know about be fore i discard them?

Not that I'm aware of.

 

[Last Triumph]

Thanks guys - really appreciate all your input.

Here's what my final build spec should look like..... (Left handed)

VIP (HXH)
Black Korina
Select Quilt maple Top
Dark Cherry burst front and back, natural masked binding
Neck wood to be decided, Warmoth head stock, 24.75"
Select Madagascan ebony board - Compound 10"-16"
Night Swan inlays
Gold 6150 frets
Nut - Graph Tech Black TUSQ XL
Gold Schaller Mini lockers
Gold Gotoh 510 wrap around bridge
Cream/black Zebra DiMarzio Norton - Bridge - Frameless, direct mount
Cream/black Zebra DiMarzio Air Norton - neck - Frameless, direct mount
Probably just the one recessed PRS control for the pickup switch only, no tone or volume.
Gold round electrosocket jack
'009 - '042 Ernie ball Super Slinkys



So.... other than the neck wood, that's pretty much it.

How do you think that'll sound?

I'm hoping it will be rich, full, fat and warm with just enough bite to keep the top end alive and with a beautiful crystal clean tone when needed?

Given the above spec, any further thoughts on the neck wood choice in terms of what will work, look or sound best? I'm tempted by the rosewood, but can be swayed either way at this stage. Too much choice is killing me!

Thoughts an opinions welcome.

 

[Cagey]

Every time I think I know or can guess what something is going to sound like when I'm done building it, I get surprised. There are just too many variables. However, the pickups are the biggest of the lot, so you can make some pretty wild tonal adjustments simply by changing those rather than regretting any wood/hardware choices you made.

 

[Orpheo]

I have had 3 raw necks that recieved a peghead veneer, but they werent finished by warmoth. maybe that helps?

 

[AprioriMark]

Man, I'd go with Canary if it's down to Rosewood or Canary.  Canary against that body finish with the figured ebony will be really classy.  I agree with Cagey that the two woods feel similar to the touch, though I find Canary to be slightly lighter weight.  Maybe that's a skewed perception, but it's one that I have based on my experiences with the neckwoods. 

-Mark

 

[Stew]

The other thing with the neck woods you're looking at is that they cover three different tonalities. The differences may be subtle (or not so according to some) but the canary is likely the brightest, rosewood the darkest with the wenge somewhere in the middle. http://www.warmoth.com/Guitar/Necks/NeckWoods.aspx

Most would say that the neck wood has more of effect on the overall tone than the body wood. But given that the body wood (probably) has some effect, and that Korina is said to add a bit more mid range, then you may want to choose the neck that best compliments the Korina tonally. For example, Rosewood/Korina may get you more in the Les Paul ballpark than Canary/Korina if that's what you're looking for.

As Cagey said, there are so many variables that it makes it almost impossible to predict. But we way it up and roll the dice and then tweak the result (or not if you get lucky) until you're smiling. For what it's worth, of the three you're looking at I've only tried the canary (on my W strat) ... but I must say it's very, very nice  :icon_thumright:

 

[Jusatele]

In a way, this is an art. in another way it is a science.
sometimes I do not know which I am doing.

 

[Last Triumph]

Thanks guys.

I'll have a look at canary today and see what happens.

Woke up this morning with two doubts - gold hardware and night swan inlays.....

Is gold hardware a bit naff?  In some respects it looks very luxurious, but in other situations I worry it might look at but OTT and 'obvious'

As for the nightswan.... dunno, maybe a bit 80's....? Might look at trapizoid or abelone normal dots....?

I take it stars are a bit of a no go area?

 

[Cagey]

Those are all matters of taste. Some think gold is a bit ostentatious, but silver (chrome) draws the eye quicker so that argument doesn't carry. Gold is a warmer color, while silver is on the cold side, if that matters. If you really want to look demure, then go black. Matches anything. Another argument against gold is that the plating is generally very, very thin, so it wears off relatively quickly compared to chrome plating. In either case, some people's perspiration is hard on any plating, so again black may work better.

As for the inlays, whatever floats your boat. I'm seeing a growing trend toward no inlays at all. It's getting popular enough that it's a standard choice in Warmoth's neck builder. Certainly anything more complex than a dot is going to draw criticism from some people. How many? Tough to say. I suspect the more unusual the inlay, the larger the group of objectors will be. Then there's the matter of inlay material. Mother of pearl may be a bit too gaudy for some, while cream or ivory may be too bland.

At the end of the day, there's no accounting for taste. Unless you're building the instrument for someone else, the main thing you have to do is please yourself.

I can understand your anxiety here, but keep this in mind: Warmoth makes very good parts. It's kinda like ordering a Mercedes. There's just no wrong model/color. They're all great. So, rest assured that no matter what you decide on, it's going to be very satisfying.

 

[downhomerock]

Autobat ought to support your gold hardware decision. 

 

[Last Triumph]

The order is going in tonight (afternoon for you guys)..... hooray.

The next few hours will see make my final decisions.

Only choices now are:-

Canary or Indian Rosewood - might be a toss of a coin, but rosewood is edging it at the moment.

Abalone dots or pearloid trapezoid - the dots are nice but I loved the trapezoid on the Les Paul.... nightswan isn't happening - far too 'Kramer'

Natural masked or Ivoroid binding

I've ditched the cherry burst and it is going to be Tigers eye* which will go really well with the gold hardware.



Tigers Eye..... There are some bodies in the showcase with a finish called Copperhead which is very similar to Tigers eye but a little bit less yellow..... Looks lovely, but I can't find it on any of the builders, anywhere?

Is this available?



So.....


Abalone dots or Pearloid Trapezoid
Natural Mask - Ivoroid Binding (cream and black zebra HB's remember)
Canary or India Rosewood (will be using a peghead vaneer)
Tigers Eye or Copperhead*      *If available?




Hmmmmm decisions.



Most of those will be down to personal taste, but I'd appreciate thoughts on the choice of binding on a VIP with tigers eye/Copperhead.


Copperhead available?

 

[AprioriMark]

When it comes to the finish, call and ask, or email sales.  There's a lot that can be done if you're ready to order.  For Tiger's Eye, I'd go with a Rosewood neck.

-Mark

 

[Cagey]

I bought a Tiger Eye finish Strat body some time back... the neck I used is in there somewhere, too. That body has the "masked binding".

In that same thread is DBU's Soloist "Burn Unit", which looks like the it may be the "Copperhead" finish, but I'm not sure. No binding, but it doesn't need it, either.

This is more or less what my Strat looks like now, although this picture is old... switches have been changed...

Trap markers look cool, but if you're buying an exotic wood neck you're going to cover a lot of it up with those. Plus, it'll feel like plastic. I'd do the dots, or nothing at all, but that's just me.

You'll also notice the difference between black vs. gold hardware on those two. Plus, he's gone without the face fret markers altogether. It's a pretty classy look, if you ask me.

 

[Last Triumph]

I *think* that soloist is Amber dye..... beautiful either way!

Here is a sample of Tigers eye from the site...

Here is copperhead for comparison - note it is a little less yellow in the middle which I like...

Abalone Dots...

Pearloid Trapezoid...

And the EXACT board they will sit on...

Decisions.....



Oh, and what nut???  Tempted with brass for the looks, but the graph tech seems good for tone. Anyone tried a brass nut?


EDIT:- Decided on natural masked binding.  :laughing7:
EDIT:- Decided on a Rosewood neck.  :toothy10:

 

[Orpheo]

You'd have to cut the brass nut yourself, warmoth won't do it. Besides, graphtech is easier to work with, and it is more slippery. So: less tuning issues.

 

[Last Triumph]

You'd have to cut the brass nut yourself, warmoth won't do it. Besides, graphtech is easier to work with, and it is more slippery. So: less tuning issues.

Thanks, order placed, see new thread!