Lesson learned

[richship]

So I was on the Guitar Fetish site getting a couple things for my VW build and saw that they had a body section. I have a Warmoth bass neck I found on Craigslist (complete with Hipshot hardware) and figured how could I go wrong at $55 for a finished P-Bass body?

When I got it, the body was lightweight as advertised (probably too much), and the finish was fine. The problem was the neck pocket. It wasn't even close to fitting the neck. Plus the mounting holes were far off enough to be unusable (but not so far off to not be in the way for new ones). And the depth of the pocket was too deep, so that that when I got the neck in, the fretboard had no gap for the pickguard. The holes threw me off so that when I fit the neck it was crooked and fixing it left a gap.

So lesson learned, crap body in trash, Warmoth body ordered (unfinished swamp ash from showcase that should look good natural).

 

[Cagey]

It happened to me, too. No matter how many times I'm taught the lesson "cynicism pays", somehow I need to relearn it after a bit. I think it's what turns us old guys into curmudgeons <grin>

Having read of other people's similar experiences with these "too good to be true" bodies and necks you can get out of the Pacific Rim, I think I've narrowed down how to recognize the clinkers: they won't list specs. If they don't say what the neck pocket or heel dimensions are on bodies/necks, it's almost certainly because they're wrong. Some hardware parts are that way, too. Bridge and tailpiece mounting posts will be a few thousandths larger/smaller than a standard hole. Switches will have metric dimensions vs. SAE, and so on.

There are some good deals to be had, but you really have to exercise due diligence before you take advantage of them. If you can't get the answers you need, you have to assume someone has an ulterior motive for keeping them from you, and good sense should tell you to walk away.