Newbie

[juwel1998]

Hello you all....,

I am a newbie to building guitars. I was actually planning to get a Fender team/master built - but find it kind of expensive. Next thought join a building course (which will be kind of expensive) where you learn everything from scratch - but in the end can say I did everything by myself - including winding my own PU's.
Since long time I know about the Warmoth-website, but don't really have the guts to order anything - and right now I don't even have any money - but I am dreaming.

Actually the body might not be the real problem - rather the neck is my biggest hurdle. All those different fret sizes, the different possibilities of choosing a neck profile (which could be the right one for me?) and on...........

I am from Germany, so everything has to be fitting, otherwise I literally threw money out of the window.

I really would love to order bit by bit, but I am not sure yet if I want to have a back or front route for a strat, all type of things I am not quite sure yet.

I have been reading many posts and envy all those who can build together a guitar from the parts bought.

That's it for my introduction

Good Bye  JULIA

 

[bagman67]

Welcome, Julia -

We're glad to have new people join us, and would be happy to provide aid wherever possible.

When you consider the neck profile, I think your best bet would be to play as many guitars as possible to get a feel for what you like, and then determine which of Warmoth's profiles comes closest to that.

As for the other options - I think whatever you decide on for the first one, you will find that if you build one and it's successful, you'll want to build another, and another, and another...

Peace

Bagman

 

[juwel1998]

Hello Bagman,

thx for your welcome.  OK, well I have about 4 factory guitars:  1x Ibanez acoustic, I like the neck on that one a lot, it's just that the closer it gets to the body it's getting too thick.
I have 1x LP Slash DTB there the profile is a little thin for me, the 2x Fender RSS's I have are still thin for me.
Not to misunderstand I can play all 3 of them, it's just that on the Ibanez my left hand seems to feel most comfortable.

Isn't that profile toooo thick for an e-guitar?


I caught the build / trying to build my own guitar virus a long time ago, reading about self built guitars in several German forums.
And I am endagered to become hooked and depended on this - it's like a drug, right.

C U  JULIA

 

[Nando Vallart]

Welcome aboard!!
The best thing to do is measure the thickness of this acoustic... Probably it's the measure that I found on Ibanez website: 20mm at 1st fret and 21mm at 12th fret... This would lead you to the Standard Thin. But I believe that it might be thicker than it, as you say it's thicker than Slash ( 60's profile, thin) and Fender (very much the Standard Thin). So far, I'd think on the '59 Roundback... It's thick, but not insane thick...

Is it too thick for electric? Depends on personal preference. I like thick necks... Can't play in those Ibanez 19mm thing... There are people who like Fatback/Boatneck like me and people that like Wizard, like Gregg... Nobody is right nor wrong... If you're willing to try a fatter neck than usuall, you can have the benefits from thick neck: TONE!

Therefore, *MY* advice would be: '59 Roundback!

 

[toronado]

Welcome and Servus (I'm also from Germany)!

I wouldn't worry too much about the neck profile.
My bandmate has a Warmoth split Jazzmaster with a standard thin neck. It plays really well although I'd prefer a bit more "beef".
Somewhere in the future I'd like to build another Warmoth (my first one was a Jazz Bass), either a Tele Thinline or a split Jazzmaster. Then I'll go for the '59 neck profile. A lot of people over here in the forum seem to like it.

 

[juwel1998]

Hello Fernando,

as I went through the Ibanez website, desperately seeking (no, not Susan  :toothy10: :icon_biggrin the sizes fo the neck, I found the following......
Neck thickness at the first fret:  22,0 mm  = 7/8"   and   at 7th fret: 24,0 mm = 15/16".

If always gaining 2,0 mm every 6 frets that would make it 26,0 mm at 13th and 28 on 19th fret.....
I don't know all the sizes of the options given for the custom neck, like you mention '59 Roundback, Boat, Fat, SRV, Clapton, Wolfgang, Wizard.....
I actually thought about Boat or Fat could be the right choice, since the Ibanez seems to be quite thick.
But then I don't really know, I would need to feel those type of necks, but I cannot just hop over to the USA (I live in Germany) and try it all out.

And if they have those choices in my local guitar store, I don't really know.

Well, you see, got a lot of thinking to do.......  What is the size of the "Wizard" neck?

Bye for now  JULIA

 

[juwel1998]

Hey and SERVUS toronado,

are you from Bavaria?  What about worrying about the fret-sizes, I don't know too much about that either. All those difficulties......
But that's what Forums are for right......?

Bye y'all  JULIA

 

[toronado]

hey,

yes I'm in Munich. ccasion14:

Get the popular choices for fret sizes on Fender type guitars (such as 6105 or 6150) an forget about it. They are popular for a reason and in the end it really doesn't matter all too much.

 

[Nando Vallart]

Here you can see the measures:
http://www.warmoth.com/Guitar/Necks/BackContours.aspx

With the measures you say I think even more on '59...

 

[Strat Avenger]

How long have you been playing guitar? If you've been playing for any length of time, you should have an idea of what neck profile and frets you like. If not, I suggest trying out various different guitars at your local music stores until you find what is most comfortable for you.

 

[bagman67]

How long have you been playing guitar? If you've been playing for any length of time, you should have an idea of what neck profile and frets you like. If not, I suggest trying out various different guitars at your local music stores until you find what is most comfortable for you.

I played for a loooong time (7-8 years) before I discovered boatnecks - it was a revelation.  Just sayin' - having your hand in the game for a long time doesn't make you knowledgeable about what you haven't experienced.

 

[ORCRiST]

Hello Bagman,

thx for your welcome.  OK, well I have about 4 factory guitars:  1x Ibanez acoustic, I like the neck on that one a lot, it's just that the closer it gets to the body it's getting too thick.
I have 1x LP Slash DTB there the profile is a little thin for me, the 2x Fender RSS's I have are still thin for me.
Not to misunderstand I can play all 3 of them, it's just that on the Ibanez my left hand seems to feel most comfortable.

Isn't that profile toooo thick for an e-guitar?


I caught the build / trying to build my own guitar virus a long time ago, reading about self built guitars in several German forums.
And I am endagered to become hooked and depended on this - it's like a drug, right.

C U  JULIA

Welcome to the forums Julia! I'm glad to see you're finally here.  ccasion14:  (Julia and I have been trading PM's the last week or so). To translate the above quote for the other children,
Julia has a love for one Mr. Richie Sambora and Bon Jovi. She's managed to find and get her hands on two rather rare Richie Sambora Signature stratocasters (in Germany no less) aka
the 'RSS' strats listed above.

As posted, she's got the building bug - but needs some details, facts, and ideas about where to go with her dream guitar... so (as I see its already happening) lets help her out and give her some guidance/advice!

:icon_thumright:


ORCRiST

 

[mayfly]

Hi Julia and welcome.  You will find this place full of good ideas and helpful people.  And you'll really like your warmoth - I have 7 of them now!

Regarding the neck profile, If you really like that Ibanez neck, please find some machinist calipers and measure it.  Don't use the on-line measurements - they are likely to be incorrect.  Once you have those measurements, then you will have a better understanding of what neck may work best.  By the way, I tried 3 different warmoth neck profiles before I found the one that works best for me. 

Have fun,

Mayfly

 

[llmtelecaster]

Welcome to the boards!

As I'm sure many have already mentioned, you probably already know what feels good to you. So take some measurements of guitars you already own or have access to if you can and then go from there. If you aren't able to do this, I would recommend just going with the "standard thin" option. It's not too thin, and not too thick either. It's what I have on all 4 of my Warmoth necks and I have no problems with it.

The same applies for fret size & material. For me, I like a smooth, gliding feel when I play. So stainless steel 6100 frets were perfect. I also do a lot of bending, so a smooth fret and minimal contact with the fingerboard is ideal. Stainless frets will also last much longer than standard nickel silver frets. And since they are jumbo, I figure I can get 2 fret levelings done on each neck before having to do a total refret or trash the neck altogether. But the 6105 frets are really popular and are probably the best "happy medium" when it comes to fret size.

Unfortunately in the world of guitar assembly, even when you have a pretty good idea what you want, there is still a lot of trial-and-error involved. The wealth of options can be both a blessing and a curse. You're doing the best thing you can do, which is ask questions and get opinions from others.

Good luck.

 

[riverbluff]

Welcome Julia,

Sometimes the number of choices when starting to build are guitar dirve you a bit crazy...  But once you narrow down what you like it makes it soooo much easier.

I am also in Germany near Kaiserslaturn.

V/R
Bill

 

[juwel1998]

@ toronado,

hope you have a lot of fun "auf der Wies'n" to the others "Oktoberfest". 


@ riverbluff / Bill,

glad to see there's someone closer to me than Munich, even though it's still (at my speed) an about 2 hour drive (around 65-70 mp/h).
Maybe by next year when I get that stuff, I could come to K-town if I need some help for building the stuffs together.


@ both of you.

It's cool to know that there seem to be Germans here around as well, I figured as much and actually hoped you'd see "my" beginner thread.


@ ORCRiST,

thx a lot for your welcome over here as well. And I really appreciate our PM's alot. Up to now, you've been a great person to write with. :icon_biggrin: :toothy10: ccasion14:
Maybe the last icon might happen within the next coming years, who knows. Anyway you'll drink some German beer and me some other fluid........(like water, tea  :toothy12.


Bye for now everyone
JULIA