Leveling the Frets and dressing them as a paid extra feature?

[vanstry]

Okay, bought my first neck and the frets had been leveled, dressed, rounded off and polished.
I thought that was how Warmoth sold them, until somebody told me no, that's not typical.
And while it's always nice to get lucky I wondered, how much would it cost Warmoth to offer this service on the necks that they sell?

I have no idea how long it takes them to do it, probably less time than me, because they're all pros and have a shop. But it might be worth looking into offering it as a service, if it doesn't cost too much.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

Okay, bought my first neck and the frets had been leveled, dressed, rounded off and polished.
I thought that was how Warmoth sold them, until somebody told me no, that's not typical.
And while it's always nice to get lucky I wondered, how much would it cost Warmoth to offer this service on the necks that they sell?

I have no idea how long it takes them to do it, probably less time than me, because they're all pros and have a shop. But it might be worth looking into offering it as a service, if it doesn't cost too much.

Not practical.
A setup is a very personal, subjective part of one's relationship with their instrument, and since they don't put any neck mounting screws in the pre-drilled holes, that would not be possible.
A good setup takes measurements into consideration from a neck that is under string tension in order to counter for that tension when de-strung and un-mounted from the body.
Warmoth makes parts, not guitars. 

Parts are installed and custom adjustments made for the end user by a qualified tech, whether that tech is the end user or a hired contractor. 

It's too subjective a request to apply to parts in a production paced manufacturing facility.

Guitars on the other hand, are sometimes setup by higher ended Guitar manufacturers like Jackson, PRS, Suhr, & ESP.

Allparts, Mighty Mite, & Stewmac are other parts manufacturers that also do NOT level/crown/dress frets for the same reason that Warmoth does not.

 

[aarontunes]

Doing fine fretwork on a neck that isn't yet part of a guitar would be a waste of money for the customer. You would just end up paying for it twice.

 

[BigSteve22]

Doing fine fretwork on a neck that isn't yet part of a guitar would be a waste of money for the customer. You would just end up paying for it twice.

I think Kevin might disagree. He did a fabulous job on my JM neck, never had the body.

I don't think the Op is talking about final set-up here, just level and dress, maybe bring the nut slots into the ball park. Just about any spare "body" could be used as long as the customer let you know what gauge strings he used and action he was looking for. Mounted it to a proper jig, there's no reason a good tech can't give you a good running start...

 

[AirCap]

To the OP - this is something an experienced luthier handles - not a manufacturer. Whether it's a good idea for Warmoth to do is moot. This is just the nature of things.

 

[BigSteve22]

AC, don't get me wrong, I agree that an experienced tech or luthier should be the one to do fret work, I just think a company that makes the parts could be trusted to hire qualified people if they wanted to offer the service.

 

[AirCap]

OK, but don't expect them to do it for free. In fact, I expect they would charge TWICE what an aftermarket shop would charge. AND - it still might need to be touched up again once it's in the owner's hands. I'm telling you - what you think and want is NOT real world.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

OK, but don't expect them to do it for free. In fact, I expect they would charge TWICE what an aftermarket shop would charge. AND - it still might need to be touched up again once it's in the owner's hands. I'm telling you - what you think and want is NOT real world.

Especially in the fast production paced environment that Warmoth is.

 

[TBurst Std]

Doing fine fretwork on a neck that isn't yet part of a guitar would be a waste of money for the customer. You would just end up paying for it twice.

I think Kevin might disagree. He did a fabulous job on my JM neck, never had the body.

I don't think the Op is talking about final set-up here, just level and dress, maybe bring the nut slots into the ball park. Just about any spare "body" could be used as long as the customer let you know what gauge strings he used and action he was looking for. Mounted it to a proper jig, there's no reason a good tech can't give you a good running start...

Keep in mind Kevin has a neck jig so he can have it under tension.

 

[Cagey]

The neck jig + dummy body is pretty handy. It lets me put the neck in a real-life situation unstrung, and once strung up it also makes it playable so I can beat on it a bit to make sure none of the frets boink out on deep bends, etc.