So I've Never Done This...

C

Creepies

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Hello everyone, and nice to meet you!

So I've had a great urge for the past few months to build a guitar, as my Dad has a beautiful Warmoth strat (which is by far the pride of our collection).

To make a long story short, I was browsing the showcase when a beautiful carved top LP caught my eye. It's a chambered mahogany body with an AMAZING quilt top...Exactly what I wanted, and one of the prettiest looking guitar bodies I've ever seen. I ordered it on Sunday and it was shipped today  :icon_biggrin:.

I guess my question is this: is it okay to just mix and match the "creation" steps as you see fit? I have NO idea if it's best to order a neck next, pickups, bridge, etc...

I'm about 95% sure I'll need to be babied through this entire process (hey, might be fun for you, though  :toothy10: ). I have the idea when I open that box next Friday and stare upon the face of beauty, the process is only going to get tougher.

Thanks!

Jason



 
Hello and welcome!

Not sure how you feel about doing it, but what *I* would do, would be to order each part as I've decided on it.

I mean, not much sense in ordering a neck next if you haven't gotten anything set in stone, right?  Make the easy decisions first, like hardware, then move into the tougher, more opinionated decisions like neck styles/woods, and pickups...

But most of all, just enjoy the process  :icon_thumright:
 
Xplorervoodoo said:
Hello and welcome!

Not sure how you feel about doing it, but what *I* would do, would be to order each part as I've decided on it.

I mean, not much sense in ordering a neck next if you haven't gotten anything set in stone, right?  Make the easy decisions first, like hardware, then move into the tougher, more opinionated decisions like neck styles/woods, and pickups...

But most of all, just enjoy the process  :icon_thumright:

Welcome, as well, and +1 to what Xplorervoodoo said!
 
Buy the body before someone else does.  When you see the neck you want, grab that one.  Everything else, you can get from any number of sources, including Warmoth... so there's no huge rush.  I just ordered a neck and body and most of the hardware for my third, but I'm still debating pickups, and I'm not sure if I want push-pull pots or not, so that's waiting too.  Don't rush and you'll end up with something amazing.   :)
 
Hey I agree don't rush, but I think it's better to think about what, overall, would work well together - pick a neck wood together with the pickups, and decide on the hardware and gold/black/silver pieces at the same time. Also don't be afraid to custom order - their custom made stuff is absolutely just as good as showcase. I would definitely wait to see the body, then make a kind of overall plan if possible - what kinds of stuff do you want to play, how should it sound. Good luck and post pics of that body!
 
Wow, you guys are fast  :eek:.

I'm glad to hear that there's no "best way" to get the build going - this makes it much, much easier for me... I'll certainly keep you all posted on my plans and ideas. Actually, I have a few questions right now :).

As far as pickups go - the body I ordered is routed for humbuckers. I love the look and sound of p-90's, but they seem longer and thinner than hums...Will p-90's fit in a body routed for humbuckers? I'm not too worried about this one as I haven't even decided on what pickups to go with, and I'd be just as happy with hums as p-90s...but I know they make hum sized p-90's as well.

As far as neck woods go - I absolutely love the feel and playability of maple necks, but Warmoth has like 20 kinds of neck woods that I've never played, so I was wondering if there are any other neck woods with a nice, slick feel and bright sound that anyone here swears by. I see that Padouk, Pau Ferro, and Bloodwood are also bright sounding, and Ziricote is nice and slick looking... Decisions, decisions...

Thanks again, this place is GREAT!

Jason



 
No, p-90's won't fit in Humbucker routs, but like you said, they do make Hum-sized p-90's, so that's an option.

As far as slick and bright...  That's pretty much Bloodwood to a tee.
 
First of all, welcome to the forum!  :icon_thumright:

Yes, you'll have to ask a P90 in humbucker cover, Bare Knuckle, Rio Grande, Seymour Duncan (and probably others too) do it... R.G. and BK are the most liked in this forum...

Wood on the neck: Which color is the guitar?? surely you can find something that matches that bright sound that you want, matching the color... (for example, a bloodwood neck would look awful in a green or blue guitar...)
 
NonsenseTele said:
First of all, welcome to the forum!  :icon_thumright:

Yes, you'll have to ask a P90 in humbucker cover, Bare Knuckle, Rio Grande, Seymour Duncan (and probably others too) do it... R.G. and BK are the most liked in this forum...

Wood on the neck: Which color is the guitar?? surely you can find something that matches that bright sound that you want, matching the color... (for example, a bloodwood neck would look awful in a green or blue guitar...)

I've been doing a lot of reading on Bare Knuckles and they're definitely on the top of my list. Can't seem to find a single bad review of them :).

Here's a few pics of the body:


 
Mr Orpheo here can give you a "bad" one from Bare Knuckle Nailbomb... but I would say that probably is something like: he didn't like it or couldn't adapt it to his rig... not that it's bad, and it's the only "bad review" that I've ever know...

Then, congrats! this body is top notch!
I would say that a rosewood or wenge or ziricote (for youe bright tone wish) is what will match this color better....


Remember to be careful, it's not a body that you will find any day of your life, what means, call your dad to help you, as he is experienced with Warmoths...
 
Well, the pictures make it easy - a birdseye maple neck would distract from the top, an ebony board is too dark and a rosewood one is too red, so it has to be a plain maple neck with a pau ferro board, the standard thin's weird for a Les Paul so it has to be a SRV, boatneck or '59 if it's a 25.5" scale, or a boatneck if it's a conversion, with a Warmoth or Variax headstock. Unless you go wenge....
See, wasn't that easy? :hello2:

(heh, heh, heh....)
 
WOW . . .
you possess one of many Warmoth Crown Jewels

Congrats.
you might want to spend some time thinking about the wiring. i.e. push-pull concentric,coil-tap,etc...

I would suggest a cream toggle.and make sure you get a LP headstock.

Cheers :eek:ccasion14:
 
kreig said:
WOW . . .
you possess one of many Warmoth Crown Jewels

Congrats.
you might want to spend some time thinking about the wiring. i.e. push-pull concentric,coil-tap,etc...

I would suggest a cream toggle.and make sure you get a LP headstock.

Cheers :eek:ccasion14:

Thanks!

Definitely gonna go with cream toggle and LP headstock - couldn't have it any other way  :toothy10:. I haven't even thought a bit about wiring; push-pull, concentric, coil-tap... Basically a foreign language to me  :eek:.

Stubhead - Err, exactly what I was thinking...I think...
 
If it were me I'd put a wenge neck on that with an ebony fretboard - bound with matching binding.
 
Making progress: I am completely in love with the idea of coil tapping both pickups. How difficult is this process? Seems like it's worth a lot of trouble to me...  :evil4:

Oh, and to make you happy NonsenseTele, I'm definitely thinking a Ziricote fretboard. WAY too sexy to ignore. Look at this thing! If I could get a fretboard looking even half as good as that, I'd be in heaven...Also decided I want an unfinished neck, so there's a number of different woods eliminated.

Whoo!
 
                             

                  http://www.warmoth.com/banner.cfm?itemID=15  hmmm ... if they come in creme , this is what I probably would install

                  it should'nt be difficult at all.

                  and I would have stainless steel 6100 jumbo frets on your neck . Stainless steel is'nt going to wear like nickle frets

                  and ... well , I have jumbo's on ALL my guitars  "once you go jumbo, you never go back"

                  I looked for a neck to recommend, but I did'nt see anything that I thought would be  "THE" right one ,yet !

                  Have a great 3 -day week-end  :eek:ccasion14:
 
Coil tapping is no biggie...as long as you make sure to get 4-Conductor pups.  Just go slow and keep the wiring diagram available.

Welcome to the Boards!  :toothy10:
 
kreig said:
                               

                   http://www.warmoth.com/banner.cfm?itemID=15   hmmm ... if they come in creme , this is what I probably would install

                   it should'nt be difficult at all.

                   and I would have stainless steel 6100 jumbo frets on your neck . Stainless steel is'nt going to wear like nickle frets

                   and ... well , I have jumbo's on ALL my guitars  "once you go jumbo, you never go back"

                   I looked for a neck to recommend, but I did'nt see anything that I thought would be  "THE" right one ,yet !

                   Have a great 3 -day week-end  :eek:ccasion14:

Must...resist...SS frets...Ivoroid...binding...GAH!

Gotta go nickel ;).

Thanks for the pups suggestions, yet another item to look into :).
 
Serious, Stainless Stell frets... You'll never need a refret nor levelling... period.





Kreig, some guys here told about the P-rails... if I remember it right, the Humbucker mode and single coil worked, but a P90 sounded nothing like a P90... so.. :dontknow:

Mississippi Queen for the win!  :evil4: (or a Pig 90 in humbucker size in brigde to extra punchness)
 
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