Warmoth discontinued products......what do you think of this idea?

[PFDarkside]

Recently I noticed that a lot of pedal builders (for whatever reason) have a page on their website dedicated to their discontinued pedals. I figured what the heck, let's give it a try.

Warmoth discontinued products.

I was thinking maybe I could flesh out the page with more info, maybe other resources to date parts, like the rough year when the Warmoth brand changed, etc.

What you think?

Just a place to go to get depressed!

 

[Hodgo]

Wow. This and that Wayback link unlocked forgotten teenage memories. I forgot all about the BC Rich stuff. There’s still a part of me that pines for a Mockingbird.

 

[supertruper1988]

Just a place to go to get depressed!

Same. I miss the full carve lam tops.

 

[aarontunes]

there was variaxe stuff?!?!?!

Oh yeah I remember looking at that back in the day. I was trying to find out something about building a guitar with variax guts and found a snippet on a forum about Warmoth making the bodies for Yamaha and also selling custom color versions on the Warmoth site.

One of my first tasks when I started working for Warmoth was to name a bunch of new products that were replacements for the discontinued Gibson stuff. Diamondback, Regal, Royale, Hombre, Slapshot, Arcade, etc. are all names I came up with.

But I felt especially clever about renaming the "Variax" neck to "Vortex", because it started and ended with the same letters. LOL.

But I didn't know we did a body routed for Variax guts. The pics of the Variax body on that wayback page are the only ones I have ever seen, and may very well be the only ones that still exist.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

Of all of those, I miss the Eagle and the Music Man Axix.

 

[Tretgeraet]

I was eyeing the V for some time, but something else was always getting in the way and then they were discontinued.

Btw.: Why were they called "VW"? They look nothing like a Volkswagen! Or is that why they were discontinued? Did Volkswagen complain?

 

[Hodgo]

I was eyeing the V for some time, but something else was always getting in the way and then they were discontinued.

Btw.: Why were they called "VW"? They look nothing like a Volkswagen! Or is that why they were discontinued? Did Volkswagen complain?

My guess is “Van Halen / Wolfgang” since it’s a direct homage to the EBMM EVH model (now sold as the Axis). The site says the Warmoth VW came out in 1997, and Eddie had switched to Peavey to develop the Peavey Wolfgang in 1996.

 

[PFDarkside]

$299 flame koa on mahogany EXPLORER thats a HUGE chunk of koa. Source

https://imgur.com/gd2VKmF

I miss the old 7CT It went the way of the dodo when the new carved styles were introduced.

https://imgur.com/zIqVgzm

Both of these are amazing

 

[TheElvis]

Very nice.
I think it would help the readability a lot if start and end production dates would be in a table.

 

[Rick]

Two sources of inspiration could be:
The Fender Telecaster by AR Duchossoir
Fender by Martin Kelly

I know that Kelly relied on interviews and contributions by collectors, I think the thing to do would to be to start with interviews of everyone whoever worked at Warmoth, just get a cassette recorder and find them, and maybe they have pictures or even some of the old parts or machines. Because I've sold things the oldest parts from Warmoth are probably from 2015, even though I've been buying before then. That's the nature of the beast for a company that sells parts, but like I said, now's the time to do this ... it doesn't need to be all that extensive, but Warmoth needs something. I remember when Ovation wrote a book, that was a big deal in that community.

 

[rauchman]

Yes, please list out the discontinued products.

Have to say, I saw at least 3 designs I'd be interested in. Is it possible to special order a discontinued model? I'd have to believe that the CNC machining code would still be available?

 

[BroccoliRob]

Yes, please list out the discontinued products.

Have to say, I saw at least 3 designs I'd be interested in. Is it possible to special order a discontinued model? I'd have to believe that the CNC machining code would still be available?

and here's the exact reason why many companies don't show off discontinued stuff

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

Yes, please list out the discontinued products.

Have to say, I saw at least 3 designs I'd be interested in. Is it possible to special order a discontinued model? I'd have to believe that the CNC machining code would still be available?

Short answer = “No”.
After that, no point in pursuing further…

 

[Hodgo]

and here's the exact reason why many companies don't show off discontinued stuff

Yep.

Two sources of inspiration could be:
The Fender Telecaster by AR Duchossoir
Fender by Martin Kelly

I know that Kelly relied on interviews and contributions by collectors, I think the thing to do would to be to start with interviews of everyone whoever worked at Warmoth, just get a cassette recorder and find them, and maybe they have pictures or even some of the old parts or machines. Because I've sold things the oldest parts from Warmoth are probably from 2015, even though I've been buying before then. That's the nature of the beast for a company that sells parts, but like I said, now's the time to do this ... it doesn't need to be all that extensive, but Warmoth needs something. I remember when Ovation wrote a book, that was a big deal in that community.

I like the idea in concept, but time (and labor) is finite and I’d rather see Warmoth focus on expanding their offerings than some authoritative history of the company.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

Take into perspective that once legal action has been taken against you, it is far more cost effective to withdraw a product than it is to spend a fortune on legal fees in litigation.

One the answer of “No” is given, it’s a bit pointless to ask “why” in the same way that it would be to ask “why” a stop sign was placed at a particular intersection when there was none before. The long and short of it is, why it is there is pointless. Once it’s there, you have to stop at it.

Remember, Warmoth’s position is not to debate the why, only to comply with the what in matters such as this. The “why” question has far too many details, and quite often the person asking why is looking for a loophole, where a simple, yet firm “No” says it all.

 

[Rick]

I think other places to find info would be local newspapers, tv stations, and maybe trade magazines, like Music Trades, or guitar magazines? Maybe copies of lawsuits and cease and desist letters? It's a lot of work to search this stuff. I think you're going to need a helper. Maybe there's a trouve of letters written by the founders somewhere?

 

[JohnnyHardtail]

I like the idea in concept, but time (and labor) is finite and I’d rather see Warmoth focus on expanding their offerings than some authoritative history of the company.

Some of the online builders are not 100%. I recently heard that webpages are expensive to maintain, so I kinda accepted that is why.

 

[aarontunes]

and here's the exact reason why many companies don't show off discontinued stuff

Except they often do, as mentioned in the OP. It can be an important part of myth-building for a company.

For example, when is the last time you heard Fender crow about the Broadcaster/Nocaster/Telecaster? Probably yesterday, LOL.

Or this page of discontinued pedals on the Wampler site.

Or this page of discontinued and rare pedals on the JHS site. (It's actually four pages long.)

 

[aarontunes]

Yes, please list out the discontinued products.

Have to say, I saw at least 3 designs I'd be interested in. Is it possible to special order a discontinued model? I'd have to believe that the CNC machining code would still be available?

Short answer = “No”.
After that, no point in pursuing further…

And here it is again in Spanish: No.

 

[aarontunes]

I like the idea in concept, but time (and labor) is finite and I’d rather see Warmoth focus on expanding their offerings than some authoritative history of the company.

One does not rob the other.

Unless you want a web developer painting your body.....