Musikraft sucks!!!

[jackthehack]

I've bought 3 Musickraft necks, all 3-4 years ago:

1.) They make a "hard" symmetrical '57 V-neck profile that they must have set the CNC machining from an original '57 neck from; if you've ever owned/played a '57 Strat you'll knowwhat I'm talking about. Got one from Jamerson on eBay for a reasonable price; bought the other directly from Musickraft to do an upgrade for a guy that liked by neck and wanted a dupe, as he'd owned a '57 V-neck Strat when he was a kid. The axe I used the neck on is here: http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=234.0
2.) About the same timeframe, bought another neck, kingwood on flame maple from Jamerson, mainly because it was a relativelyl cheap and had a really unique figuring in the kingwood fretboard, used on this build: http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=6166.0

In both cases, the neck butt appears to be at a slightly different angle and needed to have some serious sanding done by my setup guy to get the action set right in a Warmoth neck pocket. The neck with the Kingwood fretboard has been back to the shop twice and can't be set up to my liking; i.e., action has to be too high south of the 12th fret to make it work, and I have one of the best setup guys in the world (people ship vintage Gibsons/Martins to him to get work done)

Overall you can get better quality wood/workmanship at the same or lower price from Warmoth unless something slips by at a low price at the Jamerson store on eBay, but even then after you pay for rework, you've spent more money.

I would have to agree with the previous post comparing MightMite parts to Squire.

I wouldn't do business with USACG based in reportage from people who have and the bullsh*t on their website.

 

[Wyliee]

Just a word of caution here folks.  Don't let this become haters-r-us.  That would not be in keeping with board guidelines.  Keep it factual, respectful and constructive.

 

[old_metal_head]

Just a word of caution here folks.  Don't let this become haters-r-us.  That would not be in keeping with board guidelines.  Keep it factual, respectful and constructive.

I just thought we could all learn from other builders experience. I don't enjoy buying parts that don't live up.

Here is what I know:

Carvin - The first guitar kit I bought and built was a swamp ash Bolt+ with a maple neck. It was excellent. After it was finished I thought I was champion. Then I bought a laid-out neck where the fretboard radius was off center to the treble side. I could not get it to ever play well. I did the frets, the nut, nothing would work. I took pictures with work's super MACRO digital camera and sent them to customer service and the only response I got was "That shouldn't effect playability at all."

WD -  I just finished an all WD parts Strat that consisted of a gloss black alder body, a satin maple/rosewood neck, and black hardware. It cost $500 for everything. It went together well. I had to do the frets but that was expected. The KA pickups even sound okay. I'd say it is good as a Fender US Strat.

Allparts - I buy tons of hardware from allparts and it is good stuff. I only used one Allparts neck and it was on par with the WD neck.

KnE - I bought several bodies from Mitch. They are consistent and not very expensive. I found them good for learning how to finish (without stripping paint first).

Musikraft - I tried necks from Jamerson off eBay. They were unusable with a single-action truss rod and back bow.

MightyMite - I built a strat from all MM parts for a student. He wanted humbuckers. He didn't have ton's of cash. I order all of their top-of-the-line parts. The body had what looked like curly maple on top but it was so thin I could not measure. The BE maple/ebony neck came finished and with a plastic nut. It looked like the finish was applied with a brush. I stripped to bare wood, refinished, did the frets, and put in a new nut. Ugh. Everything went together okay but it sounded deader than dead. I tried different pickups and none made any difference. It looked nice.

 

[jackthehack]

Just a word of caution here folks.  Don't let this become haters-r-us.  That would not be in keeping with board guidelines.  Keep it factual, respectful and constructive.

What post(s) are you referring to? Mine are "factual" based on experience and included pics. If people want to vent on stuff they tried/bought from other vendors and issue caveat emptors to other board users, I don't see how that is any sort of issue.

 

[Wyliee]

Just a word of caution here folks.  Don't let this become haters-r-us.  That would not be in keeping with board guidelines.  Keep it factual, respectful and constructive.

What post(s) are you referring to? Mine are "factual" based on experience and included pics. If people want to vent on stuff they tried/bought from other vendors and issue caveat emptors to other board users, I don't see how that is any sort of issue.

Jack, not a reference to any specific comment.  Think of it more as a pre-emptive strike.  Starting off a thread as 'xxxxx sucks!' can already set an inflammatory tone.  'Disappointed with xxxx' or 'Problem with xxxx' gets the same information across.  There's already been another thread pop up of 'Carvin sucks.'  The community of UnofficialWarmoth has a good track record of assessing situations based on its merits and not hype or hyperbole.  It doesn't matter if we're discussing a company (including Warmoth) or a person, let's keep those standards high.  Again, this is not meant to stiffle the discussion, just asking that it remain respectful and constructive.  ccasion14:

 

[treyhaislip]

Apologies in advance for resurrecting an old thread but this one came up in a Google search as the first page/selection.

I have had 4 Warmoth necks, 1 Allparts, 1 Mighty Mite, 1 Musikraft neck and I just ordered another one from Musikraft (Unfortunately, Warmoth could not get the options I wanted for this build–Charvel Pro Mod/Jackson Adrian Smith similar neck profile, dark roasting, aged clay inlays & side dots.)

My thoughts are Warmoth and Musikraft offer the highest quality work on all of the ones I've used. In Fender terms I would put Warmoth and Musikraft as MIA while the Allparts and Mighty Mite would be MIM Fender quality.

Musikraft offers rolled edges, which is sets them apart from Warmoth in my mind. I absolutely love my Warmoth necks but all 4 of them needed a slight filing on the edges to get the frets even with the fretboard. Not a knock against them, just a noticeable difference. The Allparts and Mighty Mites also needed the edges filed but needed additional fretwork in general. IMO, no parts neck will be perfect upon assembly, but the Warmoth and Musikraft needed the least amount of setup.

For choices Warmoth sets themselves apart. Tons of combinations to choose one–so many wood choices not to mention and you can actually pick out the piece you want (premium for this service but still awesome.) Musikraft does offer more back profiles and lets you decide how light/dark you want your neck roasted but they don't have the wood and inlay options (minus aged clay) like Warmoth. Allparts and Mighty Mites necks are not customizable–you basically have Maple necks with either Maple or Rosewood boards.

I have not tried WD Music necks nor USA Custom Guitars necks but I have heard good things about them. I have not had to return anything to Musikraft yet, but a Roasted Maple neck from Warmoth came in cracked and they replaced it with the only cost to me was the return shipping (no shipping cost of the replacement neck.)

 

[bagman67]

Virtually all the opinions I have read on USACG stuff have been positive, but I have heard in this forum that there has been a recent change in ownership or control, and something went sidewise on a recent order.  You may find it worthwhile to investigate if you decide to experiment with their parts. 

 

[treyhaislip]

Virtually all the opinions I have read on USACG stuff have been positive, but I have heard in this forum that there has been a recent change in ownership or control, and something went sidewise on a recent order.  You may find it worthwhile to investigate if you decide to experiment with their parts.

I did not hear about the change of ownership! I knew Suhr had something similar happen but that was the only recent one I'm aware of.

Between Warmoth and Musikraft I'm very happy–the choices between the two give me everything I want for electric guitars.

 

[aarontunes]

Virtually all the opinions I have read on USACG stuff have been positive, but I have heard in this forum that there has been a recent change in ownership or control, and something went sidewise on a recent order.  You may find it worthwhile to investigate if you decide to experiment with their parts.

I heard that here too, and have been combing the interwebs ever since for verification from another source. As yet have seen nothing.

 

[stratamania]

AFAIK Suhr, has not had a change of ownership. There is talk of an investment firm getting involved. There is a thread on TGP about it along with the requisite speculation.

 

[treyhaislip]

AFAIK Suhr, has not had a change of ownership. There is talk of an investment firm getting involved. There is a thread on TGP about it along with the requisite speculation.

This is the article I was aware of on Suhr: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/avalanche-intl-agrees-buy-js-123450613.html

Haven't heard anything recently though.

 

[GilgaFrank]

I built a mighty Mite partscaster once, it was ok for the money but not great. The alignment of the neck was slightly off, I think the drill holes were in the wrong place so the strings never quite ran exactly parallel to the neck. Looked nice though, even had a drop top in a nicely finished burr maple and the neck had a really thick slab fingerboard in nice dark rosewood. I just felt that they'd spent more time and effort making it look nice rather than fit together properly.