Newcomer and first time Warmoth build

[Hagwood]

Hello all, Newcomer here from Texas, and planning my first Warmoth build. I’ve done several partscasters and have been restoring vintage amps and speakers for decades, so I am experienced with both electronics and woodworking. I’m really looking forward to custom designing my own ‘dream guitar’.

I’ve been lurking in the forum for a while looking for advice and tips and tricks, and also watching Aaron’s YouTube videos, and you guys are a great source of information. Would it be appropriate to list my build plan and a few questions I’m stuck on ? Or is there a better forum for that ? Thanks again.

 

[teleme01]

I want to know what your dream build is,

 

[mayfly]

Sure it's appropriate! We are appropriate folks!

 

[Hagwood]

Ha ha, thanks. So I already have a few 'Superstrats' and my David Gilmour Black Strat replica, so I'm wanting something different. I have come to enjoy playing my Les Paul the most over the years, so I'm thinking of a double cut Les Paul style, similar to a PRS 594. So.....

VIP Carved Top Body
Mahogany Core Wood
Quilted Maple DL or Unique Choice
Humbucker
None
Humbucker
Strat Controls
Hardtail
Gotoh Wraparound
White Binding
No Finish

I'm going to do a Blue Dye Burst with all black hardware and Ebony Fretboard (Still deciding on the neck). I've been practicing dying some scrap maple and have gotten pretty good at the burst.

Planning on the following pickups and hardware:
Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates, Zebra
Schaller Signum wraparound bridge - black
Undecided on controls, but want coil splitting capability
Schaller M6 Locking Tuners - black

A few questions I have.
I really want this to be special, and I'm worried about the quilted maple I may receive if I just pick the standard Quilted Maple DL, but the Unique Choice is going to put this body over $850. Any experiences people have with the regular quilted maple DL would be appreciated.

The dims on the Gotoh wraparound route are very close to what Schaller publishes for their dims, but not exact. Does anyone have experience using this bridge on that route ? I would really rather install my own studs, as I just want to do as much of the build myself as possible, but would it be safer to send the bridge in to Warmoth ?

Thanks for all the help on this site so far, and any other suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[bagman67]

Sure it's appropriate! We are appropriate folks!

Speak for yourself, buddy. Not all of us are Canadian.

 

[bagman67]

I'm going to do a Blue Dye Burst with all black hardware and Ebony Fretboard (Still deciding on the neck). I've been practicing dying some scrap maple and have gotten pretty good at the burst.

Isn't it amazing to learn first-hand how simple some of these processes are? You can turn a smooth, featureless wood surface into crazy magic in under a minute with dyes.

Of course, the next part - filling the grain and getting a nice, uniform clear coat on it - is a whole 'nother story.

A few questions I have.
I really want this to be special, and I'm worried about the quilted maple I may receive if I just pick the standard Quilted Maple DL, but the Unique Choice is going to put this body over $850. Any experiences people have with the regular quilted maple DL would be appreciated.

Off-the-rack quilted maple is going to be plenty attractive. If there's something that just calls out your name in the night, yeah, it might be worthwhile to pay the extra tariff; but the Warmoth crew don't disappoint when left to their own devices.

 

[Hagwood]

Of course, the next part - filling the grain and getting a nice, uniform clear coat on it - is a whole 'nother story.

Exactly, been working on that as well, and have a lot of experience with both poly and nitro. I know it may not be the popular opinion, but I'm probably going with poly as I want it to stay pristine and not 'age'.....

Off-the-rack quilted maple is going to be plenty attractive. If there's something that just calls out your name in the night, yeah, it might be worthwhile to pay the extra tariff; but the Warmoth crew don't disappoint when left to their own devices.

Thanks, that is very good to know.

 

[bagman67]

Exactly, been working on that as well, and have a lot of experience with both poly and nitro. I know it may not be the popular opinion, but I'm probably going with poly as I want it to stay pristine and not 'age'.....

Popular opinion is worth what you pay for it. Around here, we subscribe to the philosophy of "it's YOUR guitar, make it the way YOU want it, and devil take the hindmost."

Also, welcome aboard. I look forward to seeing your build come together.

 

[Hagwood]

Also, welcome aboard. I look forward to seeing your build come together.

Thanks, can't wait to get started, now just have to wait for it to arrive....... I do have a Warmoth Strat neck coming in sooner though for another build, so that will give me something to do while waiting

 

[Don O]

I bought this carved top VIP off-the-shelf from them in 2018. You won’t be disappointed ! Good luck with your build.

 

[teleme01]

I have a 335 type build with pearly gates and have it wired with split to single coil. It sounds good with either the bridge or the neck in single coil mode, I like the pearly gates.

Off-the-rack quilted maple is going to be plenty attractive.

I have not been disappointed with any of the shop choices I have received.

 

[Hagwood]

I bought this carved top VIP off-the-shelf from them in 2018. You won’t be disappointed ! Good luck with your build.

View attachment 63127

Oh Man, that’s beautiful ! Exactly what I’m hoping for. Thanks.

 

[David.Bernstein]

I did a VIP build a few years ago with the Gotoh wraparound choice. But instead of that I installed the golden age wraparound from stewmac. Fit perfectly and is a very nice and well designed bridge.

 

[u.9]

Welcome!

My very limited and old (2003-04) experience with Warmoth's figured maple is, in a word: generous. This goes for both bodies and necks, quilt and flame, standard and 3A requests.

My first build with standard quilt was probably at least a 3A figure. For my second build, I requested a very subtly figured top as I wanted more of the wavy grain rather than the curly figure (this was before Unique Choice when they had a "hand-picked" option; for $25 they'd select a plank that most matched what you wanted from what was on hand that day). I got a top that was a bit curlier than I wanted but was still stunning. I can provide pics of both if it helps.

FWIW, Warmoth now uses descriptions like, "high," "very high," and "super high" grade on the Showcase but "3A" and "5A" in the builder. I think there's a post around here that explains this? Also, I have trouble understanding how they grade figure sometimes. I've seen pieces that look 3A+ to me but are listed as standard grade, and some that I think are very high but listed as high grade. It must be an expert skill, like wine tasting or gemstone selecting

It's hard to justify the Unique Choice price tag sometimes. What ends up swaying me to bite is knowing that I could have that guitar for the rest of my life, whereas I've bought solid vehicles for the price of a build that lasted only a fraction of the time. That and, if I don't spend it, some faceless company or Uncle Sam will spend it for me on something I'll never have

 

[stratamania]

@Hagwood welcome to the forum.

The Schaller Signum dimensions are close enough to the Gotoh wrap around rout to be for practical purposes the same for the width between the mounting studs. The Schaller bushings may work but for a better fit, it might be worth sourcing some Gotoh Wraparound stud and bushings, suitable for M8. Use the Gotoh bushings in the body and then use the M8 posts from the Signum. That is the approach I would go with.

 

[Hagwood]

I did a VIP build a few years ago with the Gotoh wraparound choice. But instead of that I installed the golden age wraparound from stewmac. Fit perfectly and is a very nice and well designed bridge.

Thanks, I did look at that bridge on StewMac, but it did not appear to come in black. Good to know it fit.

 

[Hagwood]

@Hagwood welcome to the forum.

The Schaller Signum dimensions are close enough to the Gotoh wrap around rout to be for practical purposes the same for the width between the mounting studs. The Schaller bushings may work but for a better fit, it might be worth sourcing some Gotoh Wraparound stud and bushings, suitable for M8. Use the Gotoh bushings in the body and then use the M8 posts from the Signum. That is the approach I would go with.

Thank You, great info ! So as long as I am comfortable installing the studs there is no advantage to sending in the bridge ? I see they mention angling the neck pocket for the gotoh option, not sure I understand that.

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome and great information !

 

[teleme01]

If the body is finished then it might be worth letting warmoth install the studs, if unfinished, you need to make sure you insert them preferably with a press so that your studs don't screw in sideways and also dont forget the ground wire. I have never had studs installed for me, but I also have ran into all the above pitfalls

 

[teleme01]

I'm curious about the wrap around bridge placement. Would the bridge be in the same place as a tom, and could you use a trapeze... I'm guessing yes with shims?