pro neck vs vintage standard neck

C

Cobretti86

Junior Member
Messages
29
Hello,

I have a dilemma.  I want to get a 3a flame maple strat neck from warmoth and I wanted to have black binding on the neck.  Now, as you may know, warmoth only offers binding on the Pro neck because it's thicker than the vintage standard.  I would've had no problem going with the Pro but after googling and reading various forums (not including this one) I hear a lot of bad things about the Pro necks and people say to go with the vintage standards instead.  I've heard things like they're heavier, tone isn't as good (sounds more "plinky" thank "twangy"), etc.  Can someone who's owned or played one or both of these necks please offer a little insight here. Thanks!
 
Full disclosure:  I have never played a Warmoth vintage-style neck. 


However, I have three "Pro" necks, and they all have equal or better fit-and-finish than any Fender or Gibion neck I've played (and I have played quite a few).  Anyone whose Warmoth Pro neck sounded more "plinky" than "twangy" was probably dealing with crappy setup - nut slots too deep, action set too low, stuff like that - or with electronics issues that resulted in effed-up tone.
 
Boris Bubbanov said: "I got the Pro series neck with two truss rods. The wizard profile and 6105 tall narrow frets.

The neck plays really wells. Super fast and the 6105 frets are a pleasure. It looks great to, birds eye maple.

However! my tone now sucks. I lost all my woody tone. It sounds overly bright and tight sounding. More ping than twang. I'm guessing I have to much metal and not enough wood.

And to top it off it made my guitar neck heavy. I have a very light weight ash body.

Right now I'm having my guitar tech reshape the mighty might and install 6105 frets.

/sigh Another experimental part to sell on Ebay."
 
Well, there is the issue of wood-to-metal ratio being less with the wizard profile necks.  That's likely to have some effect on tone.  How much effect is probably more a matter of religion than of science, given the state of true objective data-gathering in such matters.  All that can conclusively be stated is "All these factors are interdependent."


It's also possible that Boris got a bum neck - the cost to reduce the defect rate to zero is mighty high, so every once in a while a lemon gets out the door.  Beyond that, well, look into Warmoth's return policy in case you don't like what you get.  And try searching this forum for instances where folks discuss their wizard profile necks and draw some conclusions on the basis of their experience as well.  It's definitely good you're doing research. 


In any case, good luck and welcome aboard!


Bagman
 
Seems like we see a few of these threads every year.  Neck "sound" will vary from neck to neck of the same material and the same construction, to a degree.  All three of Warmoth's build types are great, and I own multiple examples of each.  I also own guitars from major manufacturers and boutique builders.  I consider myself an armchair expert on the reality of build quality.

First, some facts:
1) The difference in thickness of the fingerboards on Vintage Modern/Total Vintage necks and Warmoth Pro necks is .05".  It isn't a lot thicker.
2) Warmoth Pro necks use a double expanding truss rod.  It's a little heavier, and can affect tone somewhat, depending on the neck.  I have Total Vintage necks (and Fender necks) that are brighter and "chimier" than Warmoth pro necks I own, however.  The difference isn't huge.  They also have a side-adjust to the truss rod, which is awesome.
3) Tone is impossible to quantify, especially on internet forums.  I do not believe that WP, VM or TV neck construction are in any way "better," one from another.  I do believe that Warmoth is second to none, with few in the same ballpark. 
4) Internet warriors are fools.  People who couldn't afford a W neck will spout BS night and day about what "they've heard."  People who bought a neck and then put it on a guitar with cheap or inappropriate pickups will complain about how the neck sounded "thin" or "lifeless."  Obviously, there are fanbois too, but I'm not one of them.  I'm the first to rant about issues I have with any manufacturer.

Lastly, my opinion:  You won't regret a black bound, flamed maple neck from Warmoth.  Warmoth's maple is visually amazing, and sonically very solid.  I will put a regular maple W neck up against anything out there.  It's really great stuff.  What sort of body are you putting this on?

-Mark

edit: I would *not* get a Warmoth Pro neck with the Wizard contour if I wanted a warm sound.  In fact, I've never owned a thinner neck that had anything close to a "warm" or "woody" sound, no matter who made it.  There's a reason that most people consider "more wood" to equal "more tone."  I believe that necks comprise a good % of your overall sound, and I'm sure Bagman is right about the wood-to-metal ratio.
 
AprioriMark said:
I would *not* get a Warmoth Pro neck with the Wizard contour if I wanted a warm sound.  In fact, I've never owned a thinner neck that had anything close to a "warm" or "woody" sound, no matter who made it.  There's a reason that most people consider "more wood" to equal "more tone."  I believe that necks comprise a good % of your overall sound, and I'm sure Bagman is right about the wood-to-metal ratio.
Click to expand...

This: +1.

I have a Maple/Maple Wizard profile Pro construction neck on my current #1 strat. It's playability is awesome, but the tone is brighter and tighter than the standard thin profile on my American Standard. IMHO, the presence/lack of material on a neck due to it's back contour contributes more to the timbre of the guitar rather than it's tone. I think tone is more of a function of electronics.
 
"Boris Bubbanov" is a legendary mega-poster over at TDPRI, legendary because he, umm, posts a lot. He has a long-standing preference for single-action truss rods, the same kind that Warmoth sells in their vintage series, and the only kind you can get at USA Custom guitar.

And I do think that the issue of the ratio of metal-to-wood in a neck probably does affect tone, but it's never been adequately studied or quantified, for a couple of reasons. One is that tone is so subjective, and the other is that everything related to the tone "caused" by one thing or another can be compensated for with adjustments to all the other causative factors. It would be very interesting to take two necks, made from adjacent slabs of maple from the same tree, and manufacture one into a single-action trussrod neck, and the other into a double-action trussrod neck (Bubbanov's description of it as having "two trussrods" is an indication of his lack of objectivity, here). And then, figure out some way to string them up and put them on a neutral tone strumming machine (so that playing styles weren't altered to account for the tone) and record the results, then analyze them? With... ummm... something.

A lot of great music has been played on necks with a single-acting trussrod, and a lot of great music has been played on guitars with a double-acting trussrod. And the replacement neck industry largely got it's start because of all the Fender necks that were warping and twisting after 10 or 15 years (sometimes quicker). I personally have never found something "wrong" with the tone of Warmoth's modern series necks, but there are a lot of ways to adjust tone, and the Bubbanovs of the world tend to to believe in a single, magic, "mojo"-powered solution to the tone quest, where I see a multiplicity of ways to get the same results. Welcome to guitar geekworld.
 
The body would be a HSS strat style.  Black korina solid body with quilt maple top.  top dyed blue and back cleared.  all hardware black (wilkinsons vs100 trem, pickguard (Black/white/black), tuners, strap locks, etc). three white s.duncan pickups (bridge: TB-4, middle: srv v-rails, neck: cool rails. Black binding on the body (matching b/binding on maple neck).  Also, a contoured heel.
 
Man, that sounds sweet.  If you're local to the Puyallup/Tacoma WA area, I'd be happy to let you check out a few necks.

-Mark
 
Thanks, Mark.  I wish I were close but I'm actually VERY far away haha.  St. John's, Newfoundland (13 miles from Cape Spear. The most easterly point in N.America), Canada!  :rock-on:
 
ANy opinions on inlays?  I was thinking regular black dots but there are other options: black nightswan, black trapazoid, block, black shark fin, etc.
 
I think it depends on how cool the fretboard figuring is, haha.  If you're not paying extra for a really nice board, I'd go with black blocks.  If you are, black dots, abalone dots or nothing.  Also, vintage tint? 

-Mark
 
JUST PLACED MY ORDER.  OVER $1700 IN TOTAL.  I WILL LIST DETAILS OF THE CUSTOM BODY AND NECK....

Category Option
Model Standard Stratocaster®
Orientation Right handed
Laminate Top Quilt Maple
Core Wood Black Korina
Top/Rear Rout Top Rout
Bridge,Trem Wilkinson Tremolo
Output Jack Strat® Top Jack Rout
Mounting Holes Standard 4 Bolt
Tummy Cut Tummy Cut
Forearm Contour Forearm Contour
Countoured Heel Contoured Heel
Body Binding, Top Black Binding
Stud Install Use inserts from bridge on order
Finish Blue Dye
Finish Clear Gloss
Scale 25-1/2 inch
Pickup Rout, Top Strat®, Strat®, Humbucker
Neck Pocket Strat® Shape





Category Option
Headstock Stratocaster®
Construction Warmoth Pro
Orientation Right Handed
Shaft Wood 3A Flame Maple
Fingerboard Wood 3A Flame Maple
Nut Width 1 11/16"
Back Contour 59 roundback
Fretwire 6150
Tuner ream Schaller (25/64", 11/32")
Mounting Options Standard 4 Bolt
Fret Number 22
Radius 10-16" Compound
Inlays Black Face Dots
Binding Black
Nut Install GraphTech Black TUSQ XL
Neck Finish Vint Tint Satin Nitro
Scale 25-1/2 in.
 
Sounds like a tasty build you've got there, Cobretti.  Congrats.  We'll look forward to drooling over the photos when the parts arrive!
 
Yeah, man.  Welcome to the club of builder addicts.  I'll bet you an ENTIRE 5 dollars that you've built another within a year.

-Mark
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

M
Fender American Professional I Telecaster Neck Fit?
Replies
1
Views
523
stratamania
stratamania
M
Telecaster Neck Pickup Route - Too Small?
Replies
5
Views
473
mayfly
mayfly
P
A couple of Soloist questions…
Replies
12
Views
1K
Wazatron
Wazatron
E
Sand the Neck or the Pocket?
Replies
13
Views
1K
EdSherry1
E
TheMechanic
New guy (to the forum) with a Warmoth build in the midst…
Replies
10
Views
1K
stratamania
stratamania
Back
Top