Warmoth Strat Headstock Mistake

Do you think Warmoth should fix this?

  • Yes

    Votes: 3 9.4%
  • No

    Votes: 6 18.8%
  • I don't care.

    Votes: 20 62.5%
  • Flooby!

    Votes: 3 9.4%

  • Total voters
    32

HMstratocaster

Junior Member
Messages
92
Okay, I want you guys (and Warmoth) to take a good look at this. I was scrolling through some pictures of warmoth headstocks lately and I realized something. The normal pre CBS headstocks are not the correct shape! There is a slight curve that is not added right below where the logo or decal should be! Look at this! Of coarse this annoys me because I'm a perfectionist, I know some of you won't really be able to tell the difference, and I know to some of you this isn't a big deal nor do you care, but I wonder why warmoth does this. Is it so fender doesn't sue? I thought Warmoth had some legal thing witht them? Or is it just a way to make the headstocks faster and easier? Or is it just because someone didn't realize that the templates were slightly off?



See How this one is absolutely straight?
Warmoth_Revealed.jpg

Now see how this REAL strat headstock is slightly curved.
lkj.jpg

This is a much better example.
jimmieVaughanHeadstock.jpg



:rock-on:

HM

 
oops, I guess Warmoth wasn't that great of a company after all. I'm gonna have to change plans because that's not the way Leo Fender did. Just Kidding! Whoah whoah whoah are you out of ur mind man?
 
first off you've got a great eye for even thinking to look for something like that, but i don't think it's that big of a deal. and really, after looking at both a few times i think the warmoth one is curved. i definitely wouldn't be upset about it even if it were off a little
 
Yeah I probably am out of my mind but I'm not gonna just stop buying anything from Warmoth because of this. It just bugs me.
 
I think the curvature of the real Fender headstocks may have varied quite a bit, depending on how much Jimmy the sanding-machine guy had to drink last night.... seriously, early Fenders (AND Gibsons) were all over the map, spec-wise. Big necks, little necks, V-necks, D-necks, who cared about a friggin' headstock?!? Just pound it out, Jimmy, we got quotas.... I remember well into the 80's people would say "Yeah, some of those old guitars were great, but you gotta get just the right one...." Now they're ALL great, even a 1950's Telecaster that doesn't work is worth more than one that's been rewired so that you can, ahem, play music on it. :icon_scratch:
 
a lot of fender headstocks have little variations... the most famous are the 'the strats' and the 1st dan smith's

I had a mexican strat on which I wanted to sand down the headstock and turn it into a yngwie type strat, but I couldn't do it because I thought the headstock was 'off' , so I ended up selling.

still not sure what was off, maybe too curvy

Elan008.jpg
 
Well shite, apparently I need to pay more attention to my guitars. Cause I did not notice this before, and probably never would have noticed if you hadn't pointed it out! oops?

You are right, I am of the "do not care" crowd. So I am sorry because that is not a helpful answer. If you are really crazy perfectionist about it, maybe you should buy a paddle headstock and shape it yourself? Or even just a CBS headstock and shape it down to a pre-cbs headstock? I dunno.
 
Does warmoth have templates based on actual pre-CBS headstocks, or the modern Fender small headstock?
My guess is the latter.
 
patents, trademarks, licenses, copyrights etc, etc

they have a contractual agreement with fender that says that they can pump out fender style necks on the condition (im assuming) that there are slight variations. correct me if i'm wrong gregg. its a legal thing.
 
stubhead said:
I think the curvature of the real Fender headstocks may have varied quite a bit, depending on how much Jimmy the sanding-machine guy had to drink last night.... seriously, early Fenders (AND Gibsons) were all over the map, spec-wise. Big necks, little necks, V-necks, D-necks, who cared about a friggin' headstock?!? Just pound it out, Jimmy, we got quotas....

You are correct. There were variations in the bodies and the necks, especially from Fender. If you check the Musikraft site you will see the different bodies over the decades.
Personally I don't care for little details (like this) as I think Leo did it right but not perfect and all my W's are a lot different from a Fender. I see Warmoth as a custom shop who gives people the opportunity to make a guitar in their own way. Trying to make a perfect replica shows no imagination to me and I really don't get it. All the great musicians modded their guitars to their needs, they didn't think Leo did it like this so he should be right...
 
Let's be clear about this - the strat headstock shape is older than a CNC machine, so there's no way that there is just one 'perfect' shape out there to be copied exactly. Secondly, strats have been made by Fender all over the place and in hundreds of slightly varying designs. Third, the chicks are NOT going to notice this, dude!

FWIW, since Warmoth is Fender licensed, they have the legal right to exactly replicate the headstock shape. However, so is mighty mite (pictured) and their strat headstock is different yet again - but who cares?
 
In all manufacturing there are acceptable tolerances since there is nothing perfect in manufacturing. The idea is to keep the variances as tight as you can for the money you plan to charge. If we spent twice the amount of time with each neck, they would be twice the money. If we spent half the time to make them, then we'd be at import prices and quality.

I think Warmoth hits the sweet spot; a base price that is down towards the lowest, but with quality that is considered by many to be the highest. You can find an amazingly wide variance in Fender specs over the years and all for good reasons. We had (6) 1956 Fender Boatneck necks to study. Each one was a different back shape. It's hard to nail down a moving target. lol... 
 
Alright, guys I'm not mad and I'm not trying to down grade Warmoth here, I do consider Warmoth's replacement parts to be one of the highest quality in the entire market. I just thought it was curious.  And I love this "Third, the chicks are NOT going to notice this, dude!"-tfarny
 
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