PLEASE MORE HARDTAIL STRAT BODIES ON SHOWCASE, tired of tremelo guitars....

[thephatboi]

HI, I am an avid guitar builder and have bought many bodies and necks from Warmoth, and have always been super happy with the quality and workmanship you guys do. I am disapointed though that when I am looking for a non tremelo strat body on your showcase (which is often) there is always a much smaller selection than the tremelo bodies. Frankly, I have alot of clients who are over the whole tremelo thing and want the better sustain and simplicity you get with a hard tail bridge. I wish you guys built more hardtail strat bodies for the showcase, I can't tell you how many times I have found the perfect body on your showcase only to find it had a tremelo route and so I passed on it. Is there any way to make more hardtails and route the tremelo after the body is purchased, like you do with fret selection? Recently I am looking for a nice hardtail Black Korina strat body and the selection is quite small. And with a wood like BK, I am afraid to custom order a body since the grain varies so wildlly, I want to see the body I am going to get. Thanks again for your excellent work and for listening, just would like to see more hardtail strat bodies, particulary in mahogany, Korina and swamp ash. I feel hardtail guitars sound better than tremelo guitars with more sustain and less hassle and many other players must agree, since I keep getting orders to build non tremelo guitars. Regards, Sean Ingoldsby

 

[ocguy106]

I agree 100%...I am sure Warmoth has done there homework and knows what moves the most hence the showcase. But if there were a way to route the bridge selection after the fact like they do with pickups that would be awesome.

 

[ByteFrenzy]

I wonder why so many people attach so much importance to what goes into the showcase? I mean, the only difference between the showcase and ordering custom is a few weeks of nerve racking suspense... Considering that nearly every option you don't see in the showcase, lefty, hardtail, whatever, is available for free with a custom order, and you will probably wind up with as nice a piece of wood as any you see in the showcase without paying a premium... I really should shut up, this is going to give the good people at W wrong ideas...

 

[dbw]

I wonder why so many people attach so much importance to what goes into the showcase? I mean, the only difference between the showcase and ordering custom is a few weeks of nerve racking suspense... Considering that nearly every option you don't see in the showcase, lefty, hardtail, whatever, is available for free with a custom order, and you will probably wind up with as nice a piece of wood as any you see in the showcase without paying a premium... I really should shut up, this is going to give the good people at W wrong ideas...

The showcase stuff is generally cheaper, especially finished stuff.  I think Warmoth puts a good amount of hardtail stuff out there...

 

[chuck7]

I agree as well.  I posted a similar suggestion a while back.  Though I want more bodies with no tremolo route, and no pickup routes.  I believe the answer was that the unrouted bodies don't sell as fast.  I guess its kinda like why you have to paint the walls in your house a neutral color to sell it.  People have no imagination! 

As far as the importance of the showcase, some people like to know exactly what they are buying.  The op stated that he is nervous about getting Black Korina because of the variance in the look of the wood.  I can defiantly understand that.  I have seen some Black Korina on this board that I though was absolutely stunning, and I have seen some that was just "meh".  Personally, I don't mind custom ordering, but it would be great to find exactly what I want on the showcase as well. 

 

[dbw]

Though I want more bodies with no tremolo route, and no pickup routes.

+1 to THAT.  I posted the exact same suggestion.

 

[tfarny]

+1 again. And I also want to point out that the OP specifically mentioned Black Korina and wanting to see the grain on it before buying - I'm exactly the same with Korina and Ash to a lesser extent. It's also nice to know the weight.

Also: Stop routing every tele with tele routes!
Also: Stop routing every LP and VIP with dual HBs!!! Lots of people buy Warmoths because they want to do something different, your pre-routing gives them fewer showcase options.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

That's why there are "custom" options.  The showcase is just a "in stock" catalog of available instruments, you can still order something with a hardtail just like something you saw in the showcase.

 

[Multifruit]

I agree to the topic, but demand determines supply.
If there are more people who want tremolo routings, there'll be more bodies with it.

 

[ByteFrenzy]

The showcase could be more useful if more bodies were put up unrouted. Now just about every single body that holds my attention for more than an instant turns out to have some horrible combination of bridge and pu rout. Or on closer inspection it turns out to be front routed. Of course some things will probably never show up in the showcase, like necks with the front dots omitted, which I happen to fancy.

 

[Kostas]

The showcase could be more useful if more bodies were put up unrouted...

:icon_thumright:

 

[thephatboi]

I agree as a general policy it would be nice for bodies to be in a more "raw" state, with no pickup routs, tremelo etc. Leave those options to the end user who buys the body, just like frets on a neck.  I am aware that the showcase is overflow or in stock items but as I said in the start of this thread I like to see the wood I am getting, particularly with certain woods like korina or ash and you can't do that when you custom order. I am still amazed at how many tremelo bodies are out there, both at Warmoth and on ebay in general, but as a music producer and studio owner, I hardly ever hear tremelos being used in alot of modern music......so why is everybody supposedly buying them, and buying more expensive bridges (tremelos obviously cost more than hardtails), is it just to be cool cause a strat is "supposed" to have a tremelo? I don't really get it. I actually believe if there were more hardtail bodies available, more poeple would buy them, as I am  fairly sure alot of trem bodies get put together with "locked or blocked" tremelos anyway. So what is the point of boring more holes in your nice wood, paying more for a bridge, more complicated setup, only to not use the tremelo.....sorry to rant  I assume the purpose of Warmoth's showcase is to move/sell more items. I think they would move alot more and alot faster if these suggestions were taken into account; wait on the pickup and tremelo routing until the end user specifies what they want. I have passed on alot of bodies that had the wood I wanted but were already routed for something I didn't want, I am sure alot of people here have done the same....

 

[ildar]

I agree as well.  I posted a similar suggestion a while back.  Though I want more bodies with no tremolo route, and no pickup routes.  I believe the answer was that the unrouted bodies don't sell as fast.  I guess its kinda like why you have to paint the walls in your house a neutral color to sell it.  People have no imagination! 

It's more likely that not everyone loves what you love. We all tend to believe that we have impeccable taste, and how can anyone NOT love that three tone burst hardtail strat with a 21 fret neck, etc...?
All of thise dragon burst bodies that have been languishing in the showcase...that's quite an imaginative color, no?

 

[bpmorton777]

Ildar:

I think there are only 5 dragonburst bodys left in the showcase. I dont think they look all that bad myself as long as you got the right combo of plastics and hardware.

Brian

 

[DocNrock]

What would be nice is if the hardtail options were drilled only upon purchase.  I searched the showcase and zero of the strat bodies were drilled for a Schaller 475.  All were drilled for vintage Strat bridges.

 

[tfarny]

Yeah I've never heard of anybody using that 475. Why did you choose it?

 

[ildar]

Ildar:

I think there are only 5 dragonburst bodys left in the showcase. I dont think they look all that bad myself as long as you got the right combo of plastics and hardware.

Brian

Yeah, there are only a few left, but they've been there for quite a while.
My point was though, imagination is in the eye (mind?) of the beholder, as is the desirablility of a certain body configuration. Like a hardtail Strat or a Tele headstock shape makes me ill, what I love would probably make someone else puke. But I get that.

 

[Wyliee]

I agree as a general policy it would be nice for bodies to be in a more "raw" state, with no pickup routs, tremelo etc. Leave those options to the end user who buys the body, just like frets on a neck.  ....  ....I think they would move alot more and alot faster if these suggestions were taken into account; wait on the pickup and tremelo routing until the end user specifies what they want. I have passed on alot of bodies that had the wood I wanted but were already routed for something I didn't want, I am sure alot of people here have done the same....

It might sound more convenient to leave the bulk of the routings out, but this can make the bodies *more* difficult to sell.  The best explanation I can offer is it can be more difficult for many customers to envision how the body would look with routing.  Hence, the routing choice you see so often in the Showcase.

As far as top routed strats go, single/single/single is the base configuration and can be re-routed to accomodate a wide range of routs. (ie. HSH, SSH, etc...)  The same goes with teles, where a pickguard will cover any odd routing choices.

 

[tfarny]

Can we modify the suggestion then; when a really nice body comes out, say the korina comes out with a great look, hold off on some of them? I'm sure your guys bread and butter is in alder strats and teles that are pretty interchangeable, but the more unusual stuff could sometimes go without a rout. You gotta think about the broader market but you also gotta satisfy the rabid obsessives who help you guys get the word out.

 

[ByteFrenzy]

As far as top routed strats go, single/single/single is the base configuration and can be re-routed to accomodate a wide range of routs. (ie. HSH, SSH, etc...)  The same goes with teles, where a pickguard will cover any odd routing choices.

What is this obsession you guys have with hiding every outstanding body behind a hideous piece of plastic? Some of us actually do buy rear routed bodies once in a while...

Can we modify the suggestion then; when a really nice body comes out, say the korina comes out with a great look, hold off on some of them? I'm sure your guys bread and butter is in alder strats and teles that are pretty interchangeable, but the more unusual stuff could sometimes go without a rout. You gotta think about the broader market but you also gotta satisfy the rabid obsessives who help you guys get the word out.

+1 to that. And if it doesn't sell in a week or two it can still be routed.