My Warmoth V

[Ivandrov]

Hello, I'm a long time lurker of the forums here. I've been dreaming the dream in the builder thinking about what guitars I would build if I had the money. Recently in May, I had in fact acquired the funds to start with one. So I picked my favorite, a Flying V Jackson style.






Body
Model: V-K
Orientation: Right handed
F-Holes: None
Scale: 25-1/2"
Wood: Flame Maple on Mahogany
Rout: Rear Rout
Pickup Rout: Humbucker (Neck), None (Middle), Humbucker (Brdg)
Controls: X-V-T-Tog (V)
Bridge: 2 TEK
Jack Rout: 7/8" (22mm) Side Jack Hole
Neck Pocket: Strat® Shape
Mounting Holes: Standard 4 Bolt
Contours: Contoured Heel
Battery Box: No Battery Box Rout
Top Finish: Black Dye
Back Finish: Black
Finish Type: Gloss Finish
Clean Line: Yes

Neck
Style: Arcade
Construction: Modern Tiltback Construction
Orientation: Right Handed Reverse
Neck Wood: Maple
Fingerboard Wood: Ebony (Black)
Nut Width: 1-3/4"
Back Shape: 59 roundback
Fret Size: SS6100 (Stainless)
Tuner Ream: Sperzel (25/64")
Radius: 10-16" Compound
Scale: 25-1/2"
Fret #: 22
Mounting Holes: Standard 4 Bolt
Pre-Cut Installed String Nut: GraphTech Black TUSQ XL - Standard Nut
Inlays: No Inlay
Side Dots: Mother Of Pearl Side Dots
Additional non builder items: Gloss black neck back with matching flame maple veneer pegface

Quite an adventure building this one. Spent close to $3,000 between the parts and tools. Don't regret it, the build process was great.

I started with the neck:

Not much to do, I reversed and installed the sperzel tuners and leveled and dressed the frets. Uneventful but the neck turned into this beauty



I then started on the body.

I first drilled all of the holes required to mount the pickup rings. I did the black metal ring on top of the black plastic ring for both and I also drilled holes for the Schaller strap locks. Originally I had put the strap lock on the side of the guitar but this was causing severe neck dive issues so later put it on the back as close to the neck plate as possible. This fixed the neck dive.

I installed the hardware and electronics, I installed a 2tek bridge and put in a 59 for the neck and a JB for the bridge and went with some alpha linear 500K long shaft pots in the end. The wiring in this thing went through 2 iterations. Here is the first.

This was a phase shift and series parallel wiring setup I had going for the first time. However, I found that the tone differences weren't really noticeable and I did not like the audio taper behavior of the original pots, it was also difficult to find switchable pots with long shafts and linear behavior so I ditched that and went with the alpha pots and a basic two humbucker 3 way switch setup which somehow ended up looking more complicated even though it was far simpler. I don't have a picture for it though.

Then came final assembly and setup. I did the usual stuff including cutting the nut down. Put some Cleartone 10-52 strings on it. and here is the final result! These pictures were taken in August directly after final assembly



Here is a picture taken today in December with a much better camera


I do have funds and ideas for another guitar right now. But, I have no urge to build another one. I just love this guitar way too much. She directly represents my personality. Dark and sharp on first glance, but once you take a closer look, you can't help but notice the finer elements in the darkness, the classic nickel plated pickups, the precision 2tek bridge, that absolutely gorgeous flame maple grain.

She is great to play, perfectly wedges into your thighs in the classical position, you can let go and lean back and she sits there as if she was on a stand. Great to play standing up as well.

She is extremely versatile sound wise, I find myself going from heavy metal to clean acoustic stuff frequently and dabble in between.

Can't have asked for a better instrument.  :headbang5

 

[davegardner0]

Nice looking guitar! I like how you went all black without being featureless, very cool. Like you said there are some interesting features upon closer inspection.

What do you think of the 2tek bridge? Those things sound really cool in theory but I've never had the opportunity to try one out.

 

[rgand]

That came out really nice. Good job, there. You'll get many hours of enjoyment with that one.

Welcome to the forum. Looking forward to more of your posts.

 

[Ivandrov]

What do you think of the 2tek bridge? Those things sound really cool in theory but I've never had the opportunity to try one out.

I can't say, the only other guitar I've played frequently is my heavily modified Dean Vendetta that had a pretty crappy fender vibrato on it, poor girl is just sitting under my bed not being played.

Seems to do its job of getting rid of the singing strings you are not trying to play. Pretty nice sustain too and it looks great. Is it worth the money? Not sure.

 

[Cagey]

Nice job! She's a beauty!

 

[Logrinn]

That is one killer looking guitar. Fantastic! :headbang:

 

[Verne Bunsen]

Nice work! Congratulations on your new axe, and welcome to the forum!

 

[MikeW]

Oh hell yes! That's a gorgeous instrument. Congrats.

I know what you mean about losing the urge to build another. Don't worry brother, it'll pass. Before long you'll be wondering what else you can build to fill in the gaps. Or, if you're like me, you'll let your friends play it a bit and they'll love it so much that you'll wind up building them instruments as well.

 

[Blackouts]

That's a beautiful guitar !

And this from someone not usually a fan of 'pointy' instruments....

Nor am I usually a fan of reverse headstocks but this works really well !

Great job !

 

[Ivandrov]

Thank you everyone for the kind words.  :icon_biggrin:

If I do ever decide to build another Warmoth, it'll probably be a Gecko bass. I don't see myself getting another guitar any time soon.

 

[Mad Hatter]

That thing is awesome!  I tend to go a little Strat/Tele-blind on here.  They're fine and all, but I like seeing someone off the beaten path, and I love dyed quilt tops.  Looks like you built a gorgeous workhorse.  Nothing has better upper fret access than a V.  Tasteful build!! 

 

[bagman67]

I'm not convinced the V is a good idea under any circumstance, but if you're gonna go with it, by God, that's the way it ought to be done.  Nice work!