Warmoth Strat body

[Mickee]

Hi all. Newbie here. I just have one question that i hope someone can clear up for me if possible. I have read on one or 2 other forums that the Warmoth Strat body is not the correct shape of a Strat. Is this true..? I've been looking for ages to find decent replacement bodies & Warmoth seems to tick all the boxes.....but this has got me stumped now..

Cheers & thanks in advance...

 

[stratamania]

It depends on what is correct.  It's certainly of the same general shape and thickness, neck pocket dimensions etc. Some of the contours may differ slightly from some Fenders, which themselves vary quite a lot depending on year and so on.

I can almost guess whose comments you read. But unless your pedantic about being exactly the same as an ideal of someone else's concept of "the ideal shapes and contours"  then Warmoth bodies are top notch products.

I even have Fenders, where I could say this one doesn't exactly match that one. So what exactly is the definitive shape and contours ?

 

[Corey P.]

I have two different MIM strat bodies (one with a Warmoth neck) that have different contours when looked at next to one another, but your eye would never tell you either was anything but a Strat - the older body is from a 2000 or 2001 Standard (Midnight Wine) and the forearm countour has pretty sharp angles, and the newer is a 2013 or 2014 Classic Player 60's body (Sonic Blue), which has a more gradual forearm contour.  If I was 5 feet away I wouldn't see a difference.

I'll see if I can grab a pic of the red Strat, the point is these are both actual Fender bodies and there's some variance even among their own Strats...

 

[Mickee]

Thanks for the reply guys. I am aware that the body contours do vary a bit. I was mostly concerned with the actual Strat shape being the same as a Fender. I have a Clapton signature Strat & although i'd love to get my hands on the 'Brownie' replica, i dont want to spend $16,500 (aussie dollars) for one. So i'm looking at either building my own Brownie or even David Gilmours Black Strat.

Thanks again for the replies & when i get a chance i'll check out the pics you've posted..

Cheers

 

[stratamania]

The shape is the same I would say.

 

[Strat Avenger]

It's the correct shape. It's just not identical to "vintage" Strats, which if you want one of those, Warmoth offers it. The "Replacement" Strat body from Warmoth is closer to current production Fender Stratocaster shape.
I really like it.

Keep in mind that Fender Strat body contours changed over the decades, so there is no true "correct" shape. It just needs to be close enough.

 

[bagman67]

My Warmoth Strat will never be mistaken for anything but a Strat.  Warmoth is not Peavey or some other imitator - it operates under a license from Fender that requires stricter adherence to specifications than Fender itself is bound to.

 

[Neo Fender]

Look at this video of the Fullerton Plant.  From the beginning as a plank of wood, look how little automation and how much hand cutting and sanding was involved and how quickly it's done.  It's a wonder they could get two bodies within an 1/8" of one another.  Yes there's something to be said for those vintage, handmade guitars - a lot of variation:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3tMUx91STg[/youtube]

 

[Mickee]

Thanks guys, i appreciate all the comments. I have my answer. I should have been more specific, i wasn't so much concerned with the body contours as i know they do vary. Although i've had an extensive look at Warmoth Strats, i was thrown by a few comments on other forums & thought i may have overlooked something. No matter how good the quality, i didn't want to buy a Strat body that looks like a Peavey for example. Seeing as i'm in Australia (& the exchange rate not being very favourable) my purchase was going to be quite hefty & wanted to make certain of what i was getting.

Thanks again & cheers ccasion14:

 

[line6man]

No matter how good the quality, i didn't want to buy a Strat body that looks like a Peavey for example.

As Bagman stated, Warmoth is licensed directly by Fender. They have the right to use Fender's headstock trademarks, so surely their bodies are authentically spec'd, as well.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

No matter how good the quality, i didn't want to buy a Strat body that looks like a Peavey for example.

As Bagman stated, Warmoth is licensed directly by Fender. They have the right to use Fender's headstock trademarks, so surely their bodies are authentically spec'd, as well.

If memory serves, they settled with the American Standard for the bulk of the Strat's & Tele's, while referencing the Vintage ones in their respective lines.

 

[musicispeace]

Something like the Soloist body is obviously a variation-on-the-theme. But I have 3 strat bodies from Warmoth and when I walk into a music store and pick up a Fender to try it I do not get the impression there is any noticeable departure from the Fender stratocaster. As noted, you already know about historic variations by Fender themselves. I get what you are aiming at though. You should certainly be able to come up with something you will be happy with that will certainly not be as extremely costly as any custom shop or signature type model. That, in fact, was a large part of what attracted me to using Warmoth when I started playing again after years of having no interest and no guitars.

 

[Mickee]

Just tried to quote a line from musicispeace but failed miserably...Clearly my skills using this forum are not up to scratch. Hoping my guitar building skills are better..!


I still plan on getting a Fender CS sometime down the track, but for now i want to try my hand at building my own. You guys in the US are so lucky having companies like Warmoth, down here in Aust our choices are very limited..

 

[stratamania]

Not all of us are in the U.S. I'm in the UK and Europe some of the time. There are also some members from Oz. Forum member Updown, springs to mind.

 

[zebra]

And Updown builds some AMAZING stuff!  :redflag:

 

[musicispeace]

Just tried to quote a line from musicispeace but failed miserably...Clearly my skills using this forum are not up to scratch. Hoping my guitar building skills are better..!


I still plan on getting a Fender CS sometime down the track, but for now i want to try my hand at building my own. You guys in the US are so lucky having companies like Warmoth, down here in Aust our choices are very limited..

If you can make it past any Customs fees involved you may still come out ahead using U.S. parts makers. My own experience in this has involved learning way more than I ever expected about some guitar parts and a couple of episodes of literally laying awake at night rethinking a decision. But in the end you still end up with a guitar that is truly personal and arguably has better than most stock manufacture components. As for the forum, I still have no idea how to upload pictures for the life of me but if you click on quote in the upper right corner of someone's post it will start you a new response quoting their post. Best to you in your guitar efforts. Do be prepared for what seems like 1500 people making pickups these days. Our cup runnith over on pickup choices and listening to internet samples has become the new challenge in choosing.

 

[bbl4ck]

As for the forum, I still have no idea how to upload pictures for the life of me but if you click on quote in the upper right corner of someone's post it will start you a new response quoting their post.

To post a pic on the forum, you need to first post your pic on a picture hosting website.  I use Photobucket, but there are many out there.  Then click on the little picture of a picture [4th from the left on the second row of icons] and it will insert a set of brackets.  Right click on your pic to be posted and select "copy image location."  Then insert the image location between the two brackets that have been inserted into your forum post.  Boom, boom... that all there is!

I tell you this because we like lots and lots of pictures of what the heck your doing on this forum.
Good luck &  :rock-on:

 

[musicispeace]

Black Dog, thank you for the info on the picture mystery.  :blob7:

 

[drewfx]

A bit OT, but I don't recommend Photobucket - a while back I found that for every embedded picture on a site like this they redirect you not once but twice so that instead of just displaying the picture they apparently can run 10 marketing scripts before displaying it (behavior which caused my browser to choke and not display the pictures until I discovered and resolved it).

Thus I now use Imgur.

 

[bbl4ck]

A bit OT, but I don't recommend Photobucket - a while back I found that for every embedded picture on a site like this they redirect you not once but twice so that instead of just displaying the picture they apparently can run 10 marketing scripts before displaying it (behavior which caused my browser to choke and not display the pictures until I discovered and resolved it).

Thus I now use Imgur.

Hey Mr. Drewfx,
I don't do a lot of posting pics, so I don't use Photobucket often.  I have not had any problems with them, but I will certainly give Imgur a try.  Thanks for the tip  :icon_thumright: