Realistically speaking, how much should I budget for a complete warmoth build?

[The_Lerxst]

For my birthday this year I've decided to finally go for it and build myself a parts guitar so that I can have something with everything I want in it.  I'm a college student, but I work a lot during the summer and make enough that I can probably save up about $1000-$1500 by my birthday to make a guitar.  The general build idea is:

-Soloist body, Mini H neck/H Bridge config, White paint, back rout...Mahogany probably?

-Floyd Rose Bridge (that's the only thing I'm worried about price wise)

- Finished 24.75 conversion neck, satin nitro probably.  Maple neck/Ebony Fretboard, nothing else too fancy here

I know that's not too descriptive but I'm just looking to see how much everyone else ends up spending on a parts guitar here.

 

[jp8848]

Though I built a Gecko 5 bass, body and neck was $825.  Pickups, hardware and all wiring and luthier costs ran me right at $1900.

 

[Jumble Jumble]

Your $1500 will do you well.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

Run your specs through the neck and body builder without ordering. 

 

[Cagey]

Run your specs through the neck and body builder without ordering.

Exactly. You can spec out all the parts and even put them in the cart, which will keep a running total.

 

[Patrick from Davis]

That is enough to build one.  I have made some more than that, but I went crazy and bought niche custom pickups that were expensive.  Almost done with that now, almost...
Patrick

 

[AutoBat]

If you're cost concious Guitar Fetish has a licensed Floyd that at least 1 other member uses:

http://www.guitarfetish.com/NEW-Heavy-Duty-Dual-Locking-Floyd-Rose-Trem-BRASSSTEEL_p_518.html
They've got it in black and gold finish as well.

 

[swarfrat]

I think mine broke down:
Body $250
Neck $300
Bridge $100
Tuners, pickups, pickguard, screws, misc hardware $150 (GFS)
Tru-Oil, scotchbrite, ... $15-20

I came off with a heck of a lot of guitar for the money I put into it.

 

[greywolf]

I would say at least $1000 , if you are on the edge on some areas, wait until you can get what youu really want .  In the long run it's cheaper .. been there.

 

[Cagey]

I always figure $300-$400 for a body, $300-$400 for a neck and $300-$400 for hardware/pickups. That translates into $900-$1,200 for a top-notch high-quality instrument built to your personal specs. Of course, you can move money around - say you get a neck for $200, you could add $100-$200 to the body budget, or get some boutique pickups. And naturally, you can spend more overall, but you're probably just buying cosmetics at that point.

Anyway, if you keep that sort of budget guideline in mind, you still have $300 left out of a $1,500 budget that you could use to stock up on beer or pay for professional services such as assembly/fretwork/setup/etc.

Also, don't forget you need a case and strap.

 

[Alfang]

And don't forget, you can save money by doing the finish yourself, even if you don't want to finish the body, doing a raw neck with tru oil or tung oil or something along those lines is pretty cheap and easy

 

[swarfrat]

W supplied finish on neck and body both - while a fair price for excellent quality work - significantly impacts the overall project cost. If you're on a budget stay away from factory finish, carved tops, and stick to Strat and Tele bodies. The showcase is your friend, unless of course your dream guitar is a statistical outlier. (If you're after a left handed, hollow L-5 in canary, with a  scalloped fatback ebony 12 string neck with maple fingerboard...  you're gonna have to take your lumps, pay the man, and wait for what seems like forever.)

Most people will say 'it's your dream guitar - make it exactly how you want'. That's great, but if budget is constrained - focus on the specific items that are the essence of what you're trying to achieve.

 

[JCizzle]

What about just upgrading the block on the licensed Floyd? Seems like a cheap upgrade that would save some cash.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

That won't harden the knife edges any more.

 

[line6man]

And don't forget, you can save money by doing the finish yourself, even if you don't want to finish the body, doing a raw neck with tru oil or tung oil or something along those lines is pretty cheap and easy

Why buy necks that need a finish at all?
Raw woods play much better, and depending on what you choose, can end up being cheaper than Maple or Mahogany, as well.

 

[Ace Flibble]

Always budget an extra couple of hundred than you think you need. That way you won't leave yourself bankrupt nor will you run into any problems if you realise you forgot something in your planning.

 

[SalsaNChips]

The custom Warmoth Tele I am building, after it's all said and done, will wind up costing me about $200.00 more than an off the shelf Fender American Standard Telecaster. And I am getting a fully customized instrument that is better in every way. I'd say that is a worthwhile investment of $200.00.

 

[Danuda]

I agree with Cagey's approximation on hardware costs.  After screws, pickups, neck plates, electronics ect you are going to be around $300-$400.  If you get expensive pickups then you will be more.  I spent about $350 for my hardware when I did my tele with SD Phat cats.  The body and neck the sky is the limit.  My body cost less than $200, same with the neck.  I had all the parts for around $725 ish.  The finish cost me about $100 to do, but I had a lot of colors and had to do it twice because I wasn't happy with the first go.  To be honest, if you are finishing the guitar yourself and you are not doing tru-oil.  You save very little money finishing it yourself.  After all the sandpaper and rattle cans you are talking about a small amount of money.  Only paint it yourself if you want the satisfaction, not to save money.  The maybe $80 you save won't make up for the HOURS of work.  Heck, you may not even save $80.  Lacquer is very toxic so you will need to buy a special mask (no the cheap dust masks won't do anything) and those are around $30.

 

[SalsaNChips]

You save very little money finishing it yourself.  After all the sandpaper and rattle cans you are talking about a small amount of money.  Only paint it yourself if you want the satisfaction, not to save money.  The maybe $80 you save won't make up for the HOURS of work.

I would like to echo this sentiment. I have refinished a number of old milsurp rifles and am pretty good with minwax stain, polyurethane finishes and especially Tung Oil. Both of my M1 Garands ('43 & '44) came with period correct (but not original) cartouched birch & walnut stocks that were 60+ years old, soaked in oil, gouged, mouldy, etc. By the time I got done with them, they had a glass smooth, inch-deep Tung Oil finish like a new Remington. Same for my '42 Karabin 98K and '38 Vintovka Mosina 91/30. But it took me WEEKS of applying, sanding, working my way down to 600 grit, then 800, re-applying, etc. The reason I learned to do it myself was love of the restoration and there was nobody else to do it that I trusted. I considered doing my own finish (Tung Oil or maybe a gloss poly) on my Tele build but in the final analysis, the amount of work required to get a quality finish could not justify the cost savings and the finish Warmoth applies looks as good as anything I would have been able to do myself. I will get plenty of "warm fuzzy" from my guitar just playing it and know I selected all the components and did the main assembly and set up. More power to folks that want to do their own finishing, it's just not for me.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

Because besides needing a finish, Line6man, Maple and Mahogany do have a sound.