warmoth practice

[Music Man 91]

i have been gathering info about warmoth for quite some time and have decided to eventually build my dream guitar. but, since i have absoultely NO expierence in building guitars, i have decided to get a cheap guitar and mod it out to see if i can do that. then, i'll get my warmoth. any suggestions as to what kinds of cheapo crap guitars that are easily modifiable? i know that squier '51s are the perfect mod-friendly axe, except they don;t make 'em anymore i'm looking for something i can buy new for under $200, and just tear up and put in new parts. anyone?

 

[rockdude326]

If you're gonna go cheap, you might as well buy a used knock-off axe from someone on E-bay.  Minimal risk, and essentially no different than buying something new if you're just gonna gut it and replace everything anyways.

 

[tfarny]

I was in exactly the same situation last year and I got a chinese squier strat (affinity series) for $75 off of craig's list. Did pickups and pickguard from GFS (a great source), then straplocks, then a hardtail conversion, then replaced the neck and tuners, then installed a piezo saddle system and took it out. Learned heaps, and eventually resold it and recouped some of the money I had invested in it. Definitely saved me from hacking up my first Warmoth.
What you want to look for is anything easily available with a bolt-on neck, that lots of parts are available for. Can't think of anything that fits the bill better than a squier.
I think it's better to look for a regular strat or tele instead of a 51, that way there are loads of cheap aftermarket parts you can easily fit.

 

[JK]

i picked up a complete guitar kit for about $150 from a local guitar shop. it has all the hardware and a pre-wired pickguard with the usual 3 pup setup. for the price you know the pups are crap and the rest of the hardware isn't much better. the main reason i got this over a used cheapo is that the body is unfinished, none of the holes are drilled, the peghead has to be cut and the neck has to be drilled as well. in other words you have to do most everything that will be required if you build an unfinished warmoth - except install pups. the interesting thing is the neck fits the pocket very well and the body (still haven't identified the wood type, but it's soft) is really nicely grained.

since i am new to this i figured it would be better to learn on a $150 kit than a $250 neck. and i can always switch out parts if it turns out to be a decent guitar.

 

[jackthehack]

You can typically find Squier Strats for under $100 at most pawn shops, also Teles. Always be on the look out for late '90s/early '00s models with CBS headstocks on all maple necks "Made in Indonesia" many of them sound/play the same or better then the $400-500 MIM Strats off the shelf now. One caveat is that there are a zillion models of Squiers built in several countries and you ALWAY need to carefully measure the bridge spacings as many will NOT match up with a "vintage" 6 hole tremolo bridge. Everything else is pretty much interchangable, but never expect pickguard holes to line up.

 

[tfarny]

JK, just to be clear, you don't have to cut the peghead or drill the neck of a Warmoth unless you specifically want to - that's a bit above and beyond the call.
Also to the OP, if you order finished body / neck and do a standard build around standard warmoth hardware, and are handy with a hand drill, there's not too much that can go wrong. Get a scrap piece of maple to practice drilling if you want to, and make sure you're drilling the right size hole.
If you want a NEW guitar to hack up (not sure why you'd want a new one in this case), go for a squier, same reasoning.
OR, you can find MIM fender strat bodies on Ebay for under $100, from which you could just build from scratch and end up with a pretty decent product that wouldn't be a throwaway guitar at all. Strats are the way to go in general though, parts are everywhere  and cheap.

 

[Music Man 91]

thanks a lot guys. there is a pawn shop/used music store near my house and they typically stock several cheap strat/tele copies at once. i am leaning towards a tele--since i already have a nice american deluxe strat--i think i will go to that shop soon and check out what they've got. cheers ccasion14:

 

[vegababy]

What exactly are you planning on doing ?

Like it's been said here before, if you order a finished body and neck there's nothing like re-fretting etc. The tuner holes are there, all the routing etc.  You can even get a pre-wired pickguard with the pick ups you want...

One question I've got though is when it comes to bridges. Are all the holes for example for a Floyd Rose in place already ?

 

[jackthehack]

What exactly are you planning on doing ?

Like it's been said here before, if you order a finished body and neck there's nothing like re-fretting etc. The tuner holes are there, all the routing etc.  You can even get a pre-wired pickguard with the pick ups you want...

One question I've got though is when it comes to bridges. Are all the holes for example for a Floyd Rose in place already ?

In what?

 

[Music Man 91]

What exactly are you planning on doing ?

i dunno, i just wanted to make sure that i had the know-how to assemble a guitar before i got my hands dirty and ruined a beautiful slab of wood. i know i am probably overreacting, but i don't my first guitar building/modding expierence to be with an expensive instrument--i would much rather get a cheapo squier, competely f@#$ it up, and realize that i need a tech to assemble the warmoth for me. and, if my modding of the squier works out, i get to have a warmoth that i assemble myself (probably the best part of the whole process) and a cool, modded squier. its just an idea that i had, that's all.  

 

[vegababy]

In what?

If you do a custom order (not showcase) with a recessed Floyd Rose, are the holes drilled in the body and neck already ? That's what I meant and hope that's what you asked .

 

[jackthehack]

In what?

If you do a custom order (not showcase) with a recessed Floyd Rose, are the holes drilled in the body and neck already ? That's what I meant and hope that's what you asked .

Yes for the body with Recessed Floyd Rose optioned pecked. You need to ensure you also specify you need the FR nut shelf setup when ordering the neck and ensure you spec the proper nut size for the neck width you're ordering.

 

[tfarny]

Musicman, if you're buying finished parts and going with the warmoth standard routs and buying hardware from them, it's all very easy - you'll need a hand drill, soldering iron, and good screwdrivers of the all the normal sizes.
Take it slow, double check what you're doing, etc. There's no measuring needed unless you're doing something unusual, I mean for instance putting a neck on involves four wood screws, a plate, some wax, a good screwdriver, and about 5 minutes time if you take it slow. it drops right in the pocket and lines up perfectly, doesn't take much expertise at all. You could have the whole thing together in a couple hours and another hour or so for fine-tuning the setup.
All of the 'high skill' stuff has been done for you - the frets will be awesome, their pre-cut nuts are fine (well the one I have is very good), neck holes are pre-drilled, etc.
One suggestion would be to carefully take apart and reassemble your strat - this may help you realize just how simple all of this is. Just take the strings off and start unscrewing things until you're satisfied, maybe take some pictures for reference. You could do a mod such as 7-way switching or something while you're at it.

Then you can spend that $200 on a more-expensive body or neck like a flamed koa top or something even more ridiculous, and make us all jealous. Several board members are being driven slowly insane in this way.

 

[Music Man 91]

yeah you're right, i'll just take it slow and get advice form the pros at this forum. thanks for the tips!

 

[JK]

one of the nice things about a warmoth build is that you can do as much or as little as you want. i'm more interested in finishing and customizing the peghead for a really unique guitar - i didn't say good looking, just unique. but if that's not what trips your trigger you can get that done by the pros at warmoth and it'll look great. my biggest hang up is wiring, something i'll just have to learn the hard way. hope your build turns out great!

 

[Music Man 91]

i think the wiring thing was the part that intimidates me the most. that and worrying about porr intonation after bolting on the neck. i feel like i will  bolt it too tight and warp it or something crazy like that...probably just going to by a pre-wired assembly to drop in, seeing i still kinda need to learn how to solder...

 

[dbw]

You can probably get some sort of electronics kit at Radio Shack to learn to solder.  It's not hard

 

[tfarny]

The neck thing is a piece of cake, probably the easiest part. You are NOT going to destroy a Warmoth neck while screwing it onto a Warmoth body. Basic wiring is just a matter of following a schematic and careful soldering - if you just take it slow and follow a plan it'll come out fine, and it's hard to permanently screw up anything expensive in the soldering. Check out: http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/
With any screws, the principle is the same; the screw should seat firmly but not overly tight, and should be tightened down till its seated properly but no more than that. Id say the place people seem to screw up the most, based on lurking on this board, (and where I've made a minor mistake) is drilling for and screwing in the little tuner and string tree screws. Too small of a hole, and you can break one of those little screws. Too big a hole, and it won't stay in there. May be a good idea to practice on a piece of scrap maple till you get the hang of drilling the right size holes.

 

[Music Man 91]

ok, this is gonna sound really dumb, but in those wiring diagrams--which were very clear and helpful, thank you--do the pups come with the red, white, yellow, etc wires already attached, or do you have to connect the wires to the pups. i am pretty sure that the wires are pre-attached, but i am just not sure. thanks for all the help!

 

[JK]

yeah, they are attached.