Warmoth as good as Fender and Gibson?

[rgjmce]

i'm gonna build a warmoth strat, probably gonna cost me bout €800 (i'm in europe), building it cause i can't buy the guitar i want from fender, meaning HSH mahogany strat with good punchy pups. Will it be as good as a fender, buying the best wood etc from warmoth

 

[Nando Vallart]

Better... All woods from Warmoth are as good, the A's grade you see are in figuration (look)

Welcome to the board

 

[ocguy106]

It will not be as good as Fender....but it will deffinately be about 10x better then fender!!!!!

 

[chrisg]

The quality of Warmoth parts is excellent.  Will it be as good as Fender? - It will be better providing you use other good quality components; the care taken during construction; and the setup when you have it finished.

I'm not disappointed with mine.

 

[Nando Vallart]

Mind that it'll need a fret dress and you'll have to bolt the neck on body, do the shielding, make the holes to the tuners, some small things like this...
If you're not used to work on things like this, a visit to a luthier to put it together will be really good!

 

[rockskate4x]

the necks and bodies are much better than fender necks and bodies, but the quality of the final product depends on the other components, construction, and setup. For help with locating quality parts and tips throughout the building process, this forum is full of information that can help you build the guitar you want and make it much better than a fender.

 

[rgjmce]

thanks for the replies, i am going with top notch hardware seymour duncan pups, fender bridge, shaller tuners etc, so it should be a savage guitar when done.
My main concerns were quality of wood and general workmanship

 

[blue313]

Both quality of woods and workmanship are both excellent from Warmoth.  I haven't run across anything substandard so far.

Aside from that, are you sure about the Fender (hardtail/tremolo?) bridge?  There are better choices for a scratch build.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

That's how my first Warmoth started.  I could buy a Warmoth the way I wanted, or spend more money modding a Fender.  For an off the shelf Fender you would settle for, and not choose, neck radius, nut width, scale length, fret size, neck construction, tuner style and size, neck/fretboard/body woods, pickup routing, bridge style, finish, etc.  In short, everything.

It if matters, lately I've seen more aftermarket Fenders than Fenders.  My guitar player Warmoth necked his Strat.  Another friend has an all Warmoth Strat.  Another friend has a Warmoth necked Tele.  Although not Warmoth, another friend has an Allparts bodied Strat.  I saw a show recently with a guy playing a Warmoth Tele.  

It seems to be a consistent philosophy that your happiness with your Warmoth purchase will be limited by your choices and how well the final setup is done.  Assembly is not a setup.  Have no fear about the Warmoth quality.  They don't stay in business and have repeat customers by producing subpar products.  

 

[ss396]

i think warmoth guitars can be better than stock gibson's and fender's no problem. i dont think anything other than warmoth is in my future. i have an alder body, maple/pau ferro neck strat that sounds  as good as and is easier to play than a buscarino(he only builds 5k to 25k archtops now) custom built strat. warmoth is insanely good for the money, you just have to get it set up properly and your in the zone.

 

[tfarny]

+1 to those who said that you need careful construction and setup. The Warmoth parts are the best I've ever seen. For vintage style hardware, people usually say Callaham is a great source. For a two-point trem, you could look at hipshot or wilkinson, or probably some others. I have had very good experiences with everything I get from Gotoh, it's not the most expensive but their stuff is very well machined and nicely plated.
Fender is not considered a top hardware maker.
Duncans are good, you might want to do some googling about more 'special' makers though if you have a particular sound in mind for the pickups. People here are especially keen on Rio Grande, Bare Knuckle, Lollar, Fralin, Bill Lawrence, and Dimarzio depending on the style and application.

 

[-CB-]

Better than regular production, maybe better than custom shop... depending on who's doing the assembly, the care taken etc.

 

[chrisg]

The other advantage with building your own is that you can get the wood / colours / hardware that you want.  You can build your own custom shop at a fraction of the cost and in less time than it would take to get a similar item through Fender.  In particular the wood and finish options are spectacular.

 

[bbl4ck]

Aside from that, are you sure about the Fender (hardtail/tremolo?) bridge?  There are better choices for a scratch build.

For vintage style hardware, people usually say Callaham is a great source. For a two-point trem, you could look at hipshot or wilkinson, or probably some others.
Fender is not considered a top hardware maker.

+1 to questioning Fender hardware quality...  :icon_thumright:

I think there are much better manufactures of hardware than Fender. 
I too have heard and read great things about Callaham and Hipshot. 
I would consider either and likely will use them on a future build...

Good luck with what ever you choose and welcome to the forum  :headbang1:

 

[-CB-]

Not to get off the thread too much - but Hipshot has a new stainless steel vintage Tele bridge that blows the C company (and F company) away.  I got to check one out the other day - yah, its goin on my blue tele

 

[rgjmce]

the reason i picked the fender bridge is simply because it's the best bridge i have played and i should have made it clear
it's warmoth vs. fender/gibson (standard models)

 

[rockskate4x]

were you thinking a fender 6hole trem or fender american standard trem? For both we can show you pretty much the same type of bridge but better. There are loads of companies that make replacement tremolos much better than anything stock that fender can throw out.

 

[Nando Vallart]

^^^
+1

 

[rgjmce]

american standard, 2 stud pivot bridge (if that is correct terms)

 

[rgjmce]

the only alternative is the gotoh wilkinson, oppinions?