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Necks in the showcase without front inlays.

Cagey said:
It's the same way with paying for things you aren't getting. You can say when you do get them that they're free, but that's bullshit. TNSTAAFL (There's No Such Thing As A Free Lunch)
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The pedant in me has to correct you.  The catchphrase predates but was popularized by Heinlein's "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress":


TANSTAAFL - There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.


(often pronounced in the coterie of nerds with whom I am occasionally found as "tan-staffle.")


But forensic linguistics aside, I agree.  When one orders a neck without inlays, that's a windfall to Warmoth - not that I begrudge it, but there it is.





 
I guess fret installation is well integrated into their process and given the minimal amount of fretwork they perform (I'm not not complaining here), I can buy the "standard fretwork is free, so no fretwork is no cheaper". It's obviously not free, but I don't think fretting is a huge part of the global cost of a neck either. They produce lots of necks, so their cost rationale is not the same as the one of a small builder.

If they offered to not drill tuner holes, would you say it should qualify for a discount too?
 
Of course. Anything that reduces their cost, be it labor or material or both, should be passed along.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not a commie. But there's a reason Cadillacs and Mercedes cost more than Fords and Chevys. If you don't want the super-plush high-performance ride, you don't pay for it. Warmoth is clearly the high end of necks and bodies, but why pay for options you aren't getting?
 
Cagey said:
But there's a reason Cadillacs and Mercedes cost more than Fords and Chevys.
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You've worked a lot closer to the automotive industry than I have, so I gotta respect your superior knowledge base on this topic --  but I do know the margins for the luxury marques are a helluva lot better than they are for the prole-mobiles.  It's not just about parts and labor - it's about marketing.  Or as we call it at my house, bullish!t.
 
You're right. I probably should have come up with a better analogy. When it comes to cars, there's generally very little difference in the underlying design. Fact is, many of them are built on the same assembly lines from identical parts, save a few differentiating trim bits.
 
Cagey said:
Of course. Anything that reduces their cost, be it labor or material or both, should be passed along.
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I agree with this principle, but this isn't that precisely the small builder rationale? When you factor in production scale, I am not sure you can look at it the same way (and it is the reason why some options, which do not call for more work, but to greater attention since it's less frequent, cost more).

There might be other commercial factors — for instance, if they offered necks with no frets for less $, how many people would go cheap and get one like that, have frets sloppily installed, only to see the next person playing that neck saying "I tried a warmoth neck, and it sucks" all over the internetz? Selling necks for the same price whether frets are installed or not reduces that risk.

(now, there will always people complaining about the fret ends, but none of them will have a reason to say "it sucks", and most of them will be happy to say it was "perfect out of the box")
 
That's a good point. Better to insure a level of quality than let fate have its way with your name.
 
I'd like to see that, too. We just need more people who buy necks without inlays, so Warmoth is convinced  to speculate and put them up in the showcase. As it stands, they're playing by the numbers which say the vast majority want inlays. You can't do what you want, you have to do what the customers want if you expect to sell product.
 
Cagey said:
I'd like to see that, too. We just need more people who buy necks without inlays, so Warmoth is convinced  to speculate and put them up in the showcase. As it stands, they're playing by the numbers which say the vast majority want inlays. You can't do what you want, you have to do what the customers want if you expect to sell product.
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It is true. I am in nursing school right now and I am having to write all these research papers.  On one we had to read an article about how many businesses due to trying to listen to everyone and appeasing them.  The research in that paper showed that the successful businesses were the ones that paid attention to the data of what costumers wanted rather then to what a few say... even if I believe that no inlays is the future  :laughing11:
 
Ahhh haahhh! Atta boy Warmoth.

VMS8091a.jpg

Could probably just sand the finish off the back n burnish it. Warranty Shmorenty  :)
 
Cagey said:
MINE!
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Did you really get it Cagey?? I went to ogle it a bit more this morn and it's already gone!  :sad: Dam I thought it would look so good with a violin finish or something like that.  What is the word on Afra? Some one is stoked  :toothy10:
 
Yeah, I bought it. Too nice to let go by, and all the specs were perfect for me.

Afra is a nice wood, very similar to Canary. Almost can't tell them apart, really. They must have pulled some out of the storage/drying bins, because I haven't seen any on the showcase and it wasn't a selection in the builder for probably about a year now. I have another Afra neck with an Afra fretboard that I like really well. Polishes up beautifully. It's the one featured in the "Polishing Raw Necks" thread I started some time back.
 
Well I am stoked for you! Can't wait to see what you build with it!! If I wasn't a broke student it woulda been mine  :laughing7:  It is gonna look good on whatever you put it on.
 
I was thinking another Tele, but I already have 4 so I should probably look at something else. Maybe a Velocity... with binding.
 
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