Questions about the 7/8 S-type

T

tnipe

Newbie
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Hi everyone! I've been lurking around the Warmoth site for a while now, and I've been eying a 7/8 strat, which seems perfect for me. It will be a H/S guitar with rear routing.

I initially wanted to go roasted alder body, roasted maple neck with rosewood fretboard.

But does anyone have experience with a 7/8 strat here, and does the reduced body mass impact the sound in any way? Also, since the scale length is shorter, would it be an idea to use a brighter fretboard wood like maple or ebony to make up for the shorter scale length?
 
I think of 24-3/4" guitars as sounding more "natural" with a rosewood or ebony fretboard due to those being popular in Gibson models.

One of the advantages of the shorter scale is the sound you get from a shorter scale.

The body mass question is really up to how a person feels. I personally have experienced that the type of grain structure and density affect the sound of a guitar. That would mean that for the same weight a 7/8 guitar would be more dense than a regualr strat.

I wouldnt worry about it honestly.
 
Apart from scale length, there are some other factors which affect brightness in a 7/8th guitar. The Warmoth double truss-rod tends to make the necks brighter IMO. Probably the bigger factor is the re-positioned neck pickup due to the 24 Fret neck. It will not be the same as a regular strat, but it can be good for people who want something a bit more like a Gi*son. I read on the forum, some people say the 7/8 guitars were brighter than they expected, but it obviously depends on what they expected. In my view, it would be fine to choose whatever fretboard you like, as I don't think it's going to make a big difference to the outcome. I used Pau Ferro on a Roasted maple back, but Ziricote or Rosewood would be cool as well. I found the 7/8 Warmoth neck and layout worked well with some noiseless neck pickups such as Dimarzio Area 58 which is more of a fat blues tone. I also tried Dimarzio Cruiser in the neck, but the brightness wasn't adequate for what I wanted. I believe it was due to the Cruiser's inherent warm tone combined with the 24.75" scale length.
 
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I wouldn’t worry. I have a Brian May which is basically a 7/8 with a 24 fret reposition. Fretboard is ebony and it’s not too bright.
 
Thanks for the input guys. I see the modern neck is the only option for the 7/8 guitars. I’ve heard that these sound different than the vintage or vintage modern, and that the modern construction is less resonant? Any experiences with that?
 
TBurst Std said:
I wouldn’t worry. I have a Brian May which is basically a 7/8 with a 24 fret reposition. Fretboard is ebony and it’s not too bright.
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How the electronics on that? I’ve played some that are noisy in anything but the bridge/middle combo, and others that are dead quiet.
 
tnipe said:
Thanks for the input guys. I see the modern neck is the only option for the 7/8 guitars. I’ve heard that these sound different than the vintage or vintage modern, and that the modern construction is less resonant? Any experiences with that?
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idk, man, in my experience the modern necks are not brighter than the other types. i second guessed myself (one more than first guessing oneself) but the Big A's video above confirmed my memory. the vintage modern is by far the brightest, imo. the modern is almost mellow but maybe its just a perceived side effect of having phatter mids

Edit - oops, meant to quote reply @JohnnyHardtail
 
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tnipe said:
Cool! Is there any reason why the 7/8 neck is only offered with the modern construction?
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Simply because that's all it was ever programmed as. Modern construction necks offer the most options - binding, inlay choices, etc, so it was done as Modern construction and left at that. At this time there are no plans to do it in other constructions or offer any other headstock shapes.
 
I have listened to the Warmoth demo video and I'm only comparing the Vintage/Modern to the Modern construction. I have no first hand experience of Warmoth "Vintage neck".

To me the Vintage/Modern has the fullest tone. In this case it sounds pretty typical of a one-piece maple neck. I hear that it has boosted mids which is often described as a "snappy" strat tone which a lot of people seem to like. I'll go on a limb and claim the tone would have brighter top-end, less mids and more dry sounding if you substitute an Ebony fretboard instead of one-piece maple construction. IMO this is similar, but more extreme effect to using a rosewood fretboard which I believe take away mids, but increases the top-end brightness. However a lot of guitar players don't hear the same way that I do. Most guitar players seem to hear "More mids" -> brighter guitar, but to me it sounds fatter and loses clarity with gain.

The Modern construction demo in the video sounds to me like it has less mids than the Vintage/Modern, so I think it takes away some of the character of the maple neck. Despite this, I got the impression the Modern constuction its brighter in the top-end. Although I do not have spectrum analyser app hard-coded in my brain, I would guess its picks up a couple of dB around the 3kHz point. To me it's not a bad thing, as I believe the high frequency content is important if you want the chimey and glassy highs from a strat. Typically it gives a more cutting sound using the neck pickup into an overdriven blues amp. That's my interpretation of what I hear and is the basis for my comments.
 
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JohnnyHardtail said:
I have listened to the Warmoth demo video and I'm only comparing the Vintage/Modern to the Modern construction. I have no first hand experience of Warmoth "Vintage neck".

To me the Vintage/Modern has the fullest tone. In this case it sounds pretty typical of a one-piece maple neck. I hear that it has boosted mids which is often described as a "snappy" strat tone and a lot of people seem to like. I'll go on a limb and claim the tone would have brighter top-end, less mids and more dry sounding if you substitute and Ebony fretboard instead of one-piece maple construction. IMO this is similar, but more extreme effect to using a rosewood fretboard which I believe take away mids, but increases the top-end brightness. However a lot of guitar players don't hear the same way that I do. Most guitar players seem to hear "More mids" -> brighter guitar, but to me it sounds fatter and loses clarity with gain.

The Modern construction demo in the video sounds to me like it has less mids than the Vintage/Modern, so I think it takes away some of the character of the maple neck. Despite this, I got the impression the Modern constuction its brighter in the top-end. Although I do not have spectrum analyser app hard-coded in my brain, I would guess its picks up a couple of dB around the 3kHz point. To me it's not a bad thing, as I believe the high frequency content is important if you want the chimey and glassy highs from a strat. Typically it gives a more cutting sound using the neck pickup into an overdriven blues amp. That's my interpretation of what I hear and is the basis for my comments.
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it's wild that we listened to the same thing and have the opposite perception. The v/m to me is so clearly brighter than the modern it makes my teeth hurt. the modern has a #gentle but obvious roll-off on the top end. or at least, thats what my MDR-7506 'phones are tellin my gray matter

c'est la vie (French for "seize the carp")
 
JohnnyHardtail said:
I have listened to the Warmoth demo video and I'm only comparing the Vintage/Modern to the Modern construction. I have no first hand experience of Warmoth "Vintage neck".

To me the Vintage/Modern has the fullest tone. In this case it sounds pretty typical of a one-piece maple neck. I hear that it has boosted mids which is often described as a "snappy" strat tone which a lot of people seem to like. I'll go on a limb and claim the tone would have brighter top-end, less mids and more dry sounding if you substitute an Ebony fretboard instead of one-piece maple construction. IMO this is similar, but more extreme effect to using a rosewood fretboard which I believe take away mids, but increases the top-end brightness. However a lot of guitar players don't hear the same way that I do. Most guitar players seem to hear "More mids" -> brighter guitar, but to me it sounds fatter and loses clarity with gain.

The Modern construction demo in the video sounds to me like it has less mids than the Vintage/Modern, so I think it takes away some of the character of the maple neck. Despite this, I got the impression the Modern constuction its brighter in the top-end. Although I do not have spectrum analyser app hard-coded in my brain, I would guess its picks up a couple of dB around the 3kHz point. To me it's not a bad thing, as I believe the high frequency content is important if you want the chimey and glassy highs from a strat. Typically it gives a more cutting sound using the neck pickup into an overdriven blues amp. That's my interpretation of what I hear and is the basis for my comments.
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I have 8 Warmoth necks (soon 9) all either vintage modern or modern. All maple, some with rosewood boards. What I can say is I have always enjoyed necking with modern and vintage modern, but can't really see doing that with a vintage. Though some are in great shape I suppose.
 
aarontunes said:
Simply because that's all it was ever programmed as. Modern construction necks offer the most options - binding, inlay choices, etc, so it was done as Modern construction and left at that. At this time there are no plans to do it in other constructions or offer any other headstock shapes.
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I would really love to see a tiltback option and maybe the vortex headstock but I also get that the 7/8 stuff is very niche.
 
Thanks for the input guys. I have a vintage modern neck, which sounds great to me.

All I have left to decide is 41 or 42mm nut width, neck profile and rosewood or ebony fretboard.

I have the standard thin, which is great. My favorite neck profile is the older PRS Regular neck. Curious about the Clapton neck, as I enjoy a V neck. The diagram shows it as very close to the standard thin, but the specs say it’s significantly thicker, especially at the 12th fret.
 
The only tonal onjections I have about various construction techniques offered is that I don't like the tone that comes out of my mouth with heel adjust truss rods. Please can we let this die. Drive a hex wrench into the heart of that beast once and for all
 
I've built a 7/8 T-style, chambered alder. It has a 24-fret Gibson scale neck. It is routed for humbuckers. I wanted something light, and I also wanted something with the Gibson scale. It fits the bill and sounds great. I will say with the light body, and the modern construction neck, it is slightly "neck heavy". I've adjusted for that by putting the strap peg a couple of inches lower (closer to the jack). And my guitar strap itself has a suede backing with gives good grip on my shoulder. It's a non-issue for me. I love the guitar.

Question for the thread: What type of guitar cases best fit the 7/8 guitars? Do you use regular-sized S or T cases, and add a towel, or can you get a true fitting 7/8 case out there somewhere?
 
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