Please Talk Me Into A Warmoth

[DoomdooM]

So I've looked at Warmoth stuff for ages but never pulled the trigger. I've been playing guitar/bass about 26 years and really wanted a Mustang for a bit now, however my options from Fender are rather limited. There's very few choices for MIA and the MIM all seem to be in color/fretboard combos that I simply cannot do.

I've thought about buying a vintage one from the 70's but wouldn't want to do that and then swap out the pickups since I need a noise-cancelling option.


My main hang up... is the price. For a body and neck the way I want them, I'm looking at $900 shipped plus about $500+ for hardware/pups.
Now yea, I think its well worth it for the extra $200 over a new MIA Fender to have all the options I want... however $1400 on the used market can offer a lot of really nice guitars.
American tele's are in the $800 range, 70's SG, 90's PRS ce, Heritage, G&L ASAT etc.

FWIW I'm thinking rosewood neck/fretboard, no inlays, reverse headstock.
        Purple frost body, black pg,  chrome hardware since i cant find a black bridge anywhere...
        likely dimarzio tonezone bridge and bc neck OR Fralin/kinman noiseless p90's

 

[Rick]

I'd recommend you peruse three sections of this site.  The build section, the section for the specific guitar, and the guitar of the month.

 

[Cactus Jack]

Here are a few reason's why I'm a big fan of Warmoth:

If you want USA custom shop quality, 100% custom builds, Warmoth is the only place to go. If you're good with mass produced off the shelf models, then Warmoth won't work for you. Given the specs you listed, if they are what you really want, Warmoth is perfect for you.

 

[rgand]

If you really want your dream guitar, build it and you'll never regret it.

Of course, if you get hooked on the build process, you're toast.  :laughing11:

 

[Hendrix]

if you want common stuff , like solid colour body , maple neck etc , 2nd hand can have better deals and save time 

or for common stuff you can still get better wood than MIM fender for around same price ( if you put it together yourself .)

warmth for me is for not common stuff , and I don't want to pay 3~10 times of price and waiting for 2 years on custom shop .  and they know guitar culture, some of them play in band , so they get things done in right way even you ask for some crazy idea .

crazy ideas some others part shop may either said no or not understanding do it wrong way .

 

[mayfly]

To the OP,

If you are a serious player and can't get what you need in any way other than a custom instrument, then Warmoth is for you.  Speaking for myself, I need a big neck (broke my thumb years ago and can't deal with skinny necks), and I need a B-Bender.  I also need really good pickups, SS frets, locking tuners, great paint, raw wood necks, etc etc.  For me there was no other way - it had to be Warmoth.

 

[arealken]

"Talk me into a Warmoth"

 

[Cagey]

So I've looked at Warmoth stuff for ages but never pulled the trigger. I've been playing guitar/bass about 26 years and really wanted a Mustang for a bit now, however my options from Fender are rather limited. There's very few choices for MIA and the MIM all seem to be in color/fretboard combos that I simply cannot do.

I've thought about buying a vintage one from the 70's but wouldn't want to do that and then swap out the pickups since I need a noise-cancelling option.


My main hang up... is the price. For a body and neck the way I want them, I'm looking at $900 shipped plus about $500+ for hardware/pups.
Now yea, I think its well worth it for the extra $200 over a new MIA Fender to have all the options I want... however $1400 on the used market can offer a lot of really nice guitars.
American tele's are in the $800 range, 70's SG, 90's PRS ce, Heritage, G&L ASAT etc.

FWIW I'm thinking rosewood neck/fretboard, no inlays, reverse headstock.
        Purple frost body, black pg,  chrome hardware since i cant find a black bridge anywhere...
        likely dimarzio tonezone bridge and bc neck OR Fralin/kinman noiseless p90's

 

[Cagey]

So I've looked at Warmoth stuff for ages but never pulled the trigger. I've been playing guitar/bass about 26 years and really wanted a Mustang for a bit now, however my options from Fender are rather limited. There's very few choices for MIA and the MIM all seem to be in color/fretboard combos that I simply cannot do.

I've thought about buying a vintage one from the 70's but wouldn't want to do that and then swap out the pickups since I need a noise-cancelling option.


My main hang up... is the price. For a body and neck the way I want them, I'm looking at $900 shipped plus about $500+ for hardware/pups.
Now yea, I think its well worth it for the extra $200 over a new MIA Fender to have all the options I want... however $1400 on the used market can offer a lot of really nice guitars.
American tele's are in the $800 range, 70's SG, 90's PRS ce, Heritage, G&L ASAT etc.

FWIW I'm thinking rosewood neck/fretboard, no inlays, reverse headstock.
        Purple frost body, black pg,  chrome hardware since i cant find a black bridge anywhere...
        likely dimarzio tonezone bridge and bc neck OR Fralin/kinman noiseless p90's

I think you've answered your own question - do you want that you want, or want others say that you want? Warmoth offers you lotsa options, so you don't have to compromise, and usually for less money. Thats' really what keeps them business. Beating Fender at their own game is more their business than anything else. The quality/value is unsurpassed.

Many of us here want to not only apply our own customization options that are either not now available otherwise, or never were.

It's up to you... do you want that you want, or what [insert famous player here] wants?

 

[TheGreatRedDragon]

You might pay a little more than you would with an off-the-shelf guitar but you get exactly what you want, no compromise.

It's worth it.

 

[stratamania]

I am not going to talk you into it as you need to decide for yourself.

However if the $1400 is a hang up because you could use the money for something else maybe there is another way to move forward based on need rather than want.

Go to the showcase and get the cheapest neck and body with the specs you want, add your hardware and if you like the result playability wise etc you can always replace the body and neck over time and resell the first body and/or neck or build a second one. If you find however it has not worked out for you the costs of trying are less.

 

[Cagey]

That's how I got started back 100 years ago. Had a perfectly fine Strat body I just couldn't get next to, so I replaced it with a Warmoth. It went on from there until it was an entirely new guitar that I liked on helluva lot more, but in the end had two guitars. Sold the Strat, which financed the next one, and so on, and so on, and...

It's addicting, getting exactly what you want.

 

[stratamania]

That's how I got started back 100 years ago. Had a perfectly fine Strat body I just couldn't get next to, so I replaced it with a Warmoth. It went on from there until it was an entirely new guitar that I liked on helluva lot more, but in the end had two guitars. Sold the Strat, which financed the next one, and so on, and so on, and...

It's addicting, getting exactly what you want.

Indeed. I have a couple of projects to finish and they could easily morph into more.

 

[Vulpez]

One big advantage I've found with Warmoth as far as price is the fact that, no matter how much the build costs in total, you're still buying parts.

You can totally just order the body, wait a bit, save some money, and then get the neck and just slowly keep adding parts whenever it's financially convenient for you. Not exactly instant gratification, but, I felt better about it than I would have if I'd blown the full price on an MIA Fender... Especially considering it's got exactly what I want on it.

 

[rauchman]

OP, I was in your shoes about a year ago.  I had hemmed and hawed on a Warmoth build since I saw their ads in the back of guitar magazines in the mid 80's.

I took the leap last year.  I'm normally a Les Paul / Strat player, but wanted something a little different and built a Tele.  There was A LOT of research on every aspect of the variables offered.  Woods, pickup routes, bridge, neck profile, frets, tuners, knobs, pots, .....everything that goes into a guitar.

All I can say is, the guitar came out better than I expected and it is a true joy to play.  All in was about $1k (includes finishing supplies and what not), since I used a showroom body and neck, not using exotic woods (swamp ash body / roasted maple neck).  I did the finish myself using TruOil, and by doing so, also saved a bunch of $.

This process has really spoiled me for buying an off the rack guitar.  In reality, if I bought what I built at a store, I'm guessing it would 50-100% more expensive.  I don't have the money for a $2k+ guitar.  I'm fortunate I bought my Les Paul Custom new in '92 for $1,275.  Now, they're pushing $5k.  There is no way I could buy a guitar for that much and not have my wife take violent action to certain body parts.  With the Warmoth, I can build a seriously quality guitar for an affordable price, and also decide every detail of the build.

My Shorecaster that I built....

 

[JWR]

From a strictly financial perspective, I'd first question my long term motives for the instrument.  Will I want to sell it at some point?  Much more challenging to resell a custom instrument than anything branded.  Second, what type?  If Fenderish, nothing to lose.  I will always buy Gibson and Rickenbacker, but Fenderish to me is fair game.  Third, I'd venture to say that a lot of the builds purposely have no logo or a custom logo for the instrument.  If you are proud to play an instrument you built, with no logo or marketing, or the Warmoth logo, you are probably ready to proceed.  If you want it to be something else, by adding an after market brand logo, maybe you should buy off the rack. 

 

[ByteFrenzy]

Weird about this thread is that usually people ask us to talk them OUT of buiying (yet another) Warmoth...

 

[stratamania]

Weird about this thread is that usually people ask us to talk them OUT of buiying (yet another) Warmoth...

Don't do it..... err alright then...no wait... go ahead  :icon_scratch:

 

[WindsurfMaui]

Your right it is expensive for a no name instrument. So to start, if one of your problems is the neck feel/parts is to buy a neck with the shape/frets/nut/tuners you want and attach it to your Fender MIA, MIM etc ( make sure your guitar can take a Warmoth replacement neck) and play that for a while. Maybe that is all you really need. But after a while if you want more you can then buy a body and put the neck on that body.
(FYI if you do buy a neck make sure you get stainless steel frets. Once you experience them you will never go back.)

 

[BigSteve22]

Bottom line: If you know what you want, but can't find it, build it yourself. Tremendous satisfaction is just a happy by product.... :icon_thumright: