The "Unofficial Warmoth" Donation Guitar

[alexreinhold]

Hi all,

As some of you know, some amazing folks on this site have decided to donate for a Flying V we will donate for charity. A big shout out to @Rick, @vernschrock and @aarontunes and the whole amazing Warmoth team to make this happen!

Yesterday, the neck donated by @vernschrock arrived, @Rick donated pickups and spare parts were donated by Warmoth, as facilitated by @aarontunes Here are some pics of the neck and the body. Will take pictures as I will assemble it in the coming weeks.

For more info: Warmoth customer service is epic but puts me in a dilemma. Help needed! | Unofficial Warmoth Forum
The sister guitar can be found here: "Off Menu": Black Korina Flying V with Zitricote Ken Lawrence Neck | Unofficial Warmoth Forum
Specs: VK Body (Black Korina), Arcade neck (Ebony Macassar, Roasted Maple), Gotoh 510 Bridge, 2x DiMarzio humbuckers, other fun gimmicks.

 

[vernschrock]

That neck looks so good!!! Very nice. They did such a great job choosing the fretboard to go with the roasted maple. The whole guitar is coming together!

Thanks for the accolades, Alex. I appreciate it.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

This is wonderful. I’m in the process of getting “Nigel” ready to donate to a kid at church in need of a good guitar as currently he only has access to a Costco Starcaster.

This is Warmoth “Paying It Forward” big time!

 

[bagman67]

This is wonderful. I’m in the process of getting “Nigel” ready to donate to a kid at church in need of a good guitar as currently he only has access to a Costco Starcaster.

This is Warmoth “Paying It Forward” big time!

Do you need anything for this build? I have a wide range of parts I can contribute.

 

[alexreinhold]

Update time: Unfortunately, I have been so busy at work that I couldn't find any spare time to work on this guitar but then I was "saved" by an old long-forgotten force: Covid. So I had a few days at home to get to work.

First, I had to order a few more missing parts: dome knobs, string retainer bar and neck screws (HUGE challenge given that the body has a contoured heel pocket).

Then, I decided that @Rick 's pickups will look best without pickup rings and hence I had to fill the pickup cavities with wood:


Afterwards, I spent about 100 hours watching olympics while attaching copper shield tape:
.

Next up: Wiring. I went for a classic Hum-Hum-Toggle Switch with no push-pull shenanigans or similar:


so far sooooo gooood (wait until next message...)

 

[aarontunes]

I'm on the edge of my seat.....

 

[aarontunes]

Also, hope you're feeling better!

 

[Rick]

Man ... that is looking sweet!

 

[stratamania]

Yikes, I also got Covid a couple of weeks back, it has knocked me about badly but gradually managing to do a bit more.

 

[alexreinhold]

I'm on the edge of my seat.....

lol, sorry. Got pulled into meetings. Here's the not so good news then... I am the king of destroying tuner bushings. This is the second time now that I screw in a tuner and the bushing breaks in an unrepairable way. Either I am really unlucky or I am just too strong without noticing. But all jokes aside, this is quality issue one should not expect from quality companies like Gotoh. Here's proof:




But rest assured, we will soon be able to continue because I found a UK company that sells single Gotoh SG381 tuners for 10€ (+15€ shipping lol) called Glued to Music. So I hope I will be receiving that one soon. Until then, no G-string, i.e. I will always be in tune!

 

[mayfly]

wow! Remind me not to ask you to test my products!


.... or actually maybe I should get you to test my products...

 

[JacobJames]

Quote that one: "Until then, no G-string, i.e. I will always be in tune!"

That's why I laughed. Sorry about Covid. No fun. I have a Lego wolverine wedged between an acoustic G String and the head. He's my G.

 

[vernschrock]

Man that's looking really good. I really like the care you put into the copper taping. Sorry about the covid, hope you're feeling better. I had an issue with my G String tuner as well. I'm looking forward to more updates!!!

 

[alexreinhold]

wow! Remind me not to ask you to test my products!


.... or actually maybe I should get you to test my products...

in all seriousness though. Shouldn't a tuner be able to withstand being screwed in tightly?

 

[vernschrock]

in all seriousness though. Shouldn't a tuner be able to withstand being screwed in tightly?

It should. I guess it depends on what you consider tight. I’m sure someone on here knows the exact torque that different fasteners should be tightened to. I don’t go that far. I know that I’m the type of guy that wants to tighten the crap out of things. I have to make a conscious effort to just “snug” things down when working on a guitar. Sure, you don’t want the tuner flopping around, but it probably doesn’t really need to be tightened to the point that you can’t torque a small 5” or 6” wrench any more.

The tiny screws used in guitar parts are even worse. You can barely tighten them to any point before they start stripping out the wood!!!

 

[rauchman]

Wow, that is fantastic!!!! Beautiful work, and a beautiful idea!

 

[alexreinhold]

It should. I guess it depends on what you consider tight. I’m sure someone on here knows the exact torque that different fasteners should be tightened to. I don’t go that far. I know that I’m the type of guy that wants to tighten the crap out of things. I have to make a conscious effort to just “snug” things down when working on a guitar. Sure, you don’t want the tuner flopping around, but it probably doesn’t really need to be tightened to the point that you can’t torque a small 5” or 6” wrench any more.

The tiny screws used in guitar parts are even worse. You can barely tighten them to any point before they start stripping out the wood!!!

100%. I didn't overdo it on this one. I just tightened until I heard a crack - 0 elbow grease...

 

[vernschrock]

From the picture, it looks like it sheared off really clean. I would say it was weak from the beginning.

 

[alexreinhold]

Update time: the guitar is coming along really well. The wood / silver combination is incredibly beautiful.

1. Fret leveling and crowning not needed because - yet another perfectly level Warmoth neck.
2. I need y'all to vote because of a small dilemma. We need a string retainer bar to keep things in tune with the Arcade neck. However, the Warmoth stock truss rod cover is too wide for both to fit (see pics below). Should we go for

1. black plastic Les Paul shape
2. silver Les Paul shape
3. no truss rod cover

. .
3. I got neck plate screws (2 Fender, 2 Warwick; looks a bit off but gives the guitar a nice character) and knobs. Also I added a custom neckplate with my logo and called the guitar Off Menu II "UW". All that's missing now are the last parts (truss rod cover and missing tuner). Once they arrive, I only have to adjust everything. Here's the status quo:

 

[stratamania]

Here is another idea for a truss rod cover, see link below.

Low cost truss rod cover for tilt back necks

First off I want to thank Senior Member, Stratamania. Several months ago I posted a question about the possibility of using a Warmoth Gibson conversion neck on a Fender Acoustasonic. Stratamania quickly posted a full analysis of the issues I might encounter. Utilizing his expert advice I...

unofficialwarmoth.com