What brand is your guitar (Tele, Strat, Soloist?)

[Torment Leaves Scars]

I really don't know what to refer to the title of this thread as, but I guess the title is as good as any....

Now, before anyone takes this thread, grabs it up, and runs the wrong way like Elway did in the Super Bowl, I'm just going to throw this out there.  I'm not making generalizations about anyone, or what they choose to do.  Instead, I'm just trying to gauge opinions out of curiosity.

When I finally pulled the trigger on the decision to build a Warmoth, I carefully selected each and every part from their website.  To my knowledge, the Star body is originally a Charvel design (is this correct?).  I didn't know this at the time, but I've seen Stars before, as they would pop up in the 80s from time to time, wielded by a share of Metal guitarists.

I remember my wife was standing over me while I was selecting parts, and she took a liking to the Jackson head stock.  I told her, "I love the Jackson head stock, but it's not a Jackson."  Being a Fender fan, I looked at the Fender head stock, and thought to myself, "Well, it's not a Fender, so I can't go with a Fender head stock."  When I had explained the neck I wanted to the salesperson, I told him I wanted the "Arrow-shaped" head stock.  I didn't realize there was a head stock they called the "Arrow," and that was what I wound up with.  :tard:  Obviously, that wasn't his fault, but it looks okay.  What I'd really wanted was the "V" head stock, but, whatever...

Anyway, we obviously see a ton of Teles and Strats on the site here, which of course, have the Fender head stock on them.  Now, remember, I'm not making generalizations here...

1. Do you refer to your guitar as a Warmoth, Fender, or Jackson?"

2. Given that Warmoth has the license to Fender designs for replacement parts, would you consider your build to be a "clone" or a legitimate Fender/Jackson?

3. What are peoples' reactions when they see your gorgeous masterpieces, and then they find out they aren't from the Fender/Jackson factory, and are built with Warmoth parts?  Do you get negative or positive reactions?

4.  Since you built a Tele, Strat, or Soloist, why did you build your own instead of purchasing one, provided you chose parts which appear to be actual Fender or Jackson parts?

For me, I chose not to go with a Fender or Jackson head stock, not because I was worried about how others would view my guitar, but because I considered it to be neither, as it didn't come from a Fender or Jackson factory.  In the end, I didn't want my guitar to be "identified" as a Jackson or Fender because of the head stock, because I felt it was my own creation.

 

[SustainerPlayer]

1. I refer to my Warmoths as  Warmoths. Cause that what they are. What I choose to put together in regards to materials, hardware and finishes (or lack hereof) does not exist in a production model from Fender, Jackson or any other guitar fabricator. Even if it did ... I still call it a Warmoth.

2. I consider it a Warmoth assembled by me.

3. A little of each. Mostly positive. But I really do not ask for opinions. These guitars are my ego trip.  :icon_biggrin:

4. I assembled them because I wanted "something else" so I do not qualify for this last question. I have owned 30+ production models of various makes - most of them great guitars in their own right - but I never really found exactly what I wanted in them. So after trying a lot of modding - trying to make them to my liking I decided to go all in and assemble from scratch. Best decision ever.

 

[AutoBat]

1. Usually Warmoth, though I can still claim fender, since the body & pups are theirs (and the neck is licensed) (headstock decal says Warmoth)
2. Certainly *could* as it's an official licensed replacement part for my strat. I don't though.
3. Usually that confused look of "war what now?" Usually mixed reactions.  I went with a Mahogany neck, so it's quite obvious from afar that I'm not rocking anything stock.
4. I went with Warmoth because I felt that my current neck was getting a bit 'meh' and I wanted a change. My brother in law had got a new neck for his strat on ebay so I thought I could go for a new one too.  I checked at several other sites. USACG was my first choice for quite a while until I found that I couldn't get the EBMM Axis headstock (I know why now).
I had heard really good things about Warmoth before, and began trolling this board for probably 5 or 6 months. I didn't register until I had actually bought the neck (showcase mahogany/ebony mop dots, tusq xl, 59 roundback, schaller lockers, ss frets).
With the money I considered getting a Dean Dimebag guitar, with floyd & a case for the same price, and to be brutally honest: I'm oh, so glad I didn't.

 

[swarfrat]

It's a Warmoth, but they do have a licensing agreement with Fender - so don't worry yourself about putting a Strat / Tele headstock on it.

 

[Torment Leaves Scars]

It's a Warmoth, but they do have a licensing agreement with Fender - so don't worry yourself about putting a Strat / Tele headstock on it.

I see what you're sayin', but I was just asking how others refer to their guitars.

 

[OzziePete]

1. Call mine Warmoths...
2. No I tend to consider the guitars as Warmoths, with design features I have selected, so it a Warmoth/Aussie Pete variant of whatever Fender they may resemble. The actual licence between Warmoth & Fender is quite limited in what it really refers to, its not all the Fender-ish stuff. Check out Warmoth's website for details.
3. Changes depending upon their bias. If they had been playing guitar for sometime, they have usually picked up a brand loyalty of some sort and either don't know, or when they are told, don't care about Warmoths.....though they like the quality of the woods... Folks who don't play guitar usually love the look of them.
4. Initial 2 Warmoths feature 24.75" conversion necks. I prefer a shorter scale but love Fender guitars...bad combo if you really want that Fender. #1 is a Tele that houses a genuine old 1960s L series bridge pickup from a Tele, and people had been at me to play Teles as they felt that was me all over. But having bought a Fender Strat and noticed that the 25.5" scale was a bit long at times for me, I didn't want that.  Do you know how much a Fender Custom Shop Tele made in 24.75" would cost ?!

 

[Torment Leaves Scars]

1. Call mine Warmoths...
2. No I tend to consider the guitars as Warmoths, with design features I have selected, so it a Warmoth/Aussie Pete variant of whatever Fender they may resemble. The actual licence between Warmoth & Fender is quite limited in what it really refers to, its not all the Fender-ish stuff. Check out Warmoth's website for details.
3. Changes depending upon their bias. If they had been playing guitar for sometime, they have usually picked up a brand loyalty of some sort and either don't know, or when they are told, don't care about Warmoths.....though they like the quality of the woods... Folks who don't play guitar usually love the look of them.
4. Initial 2 Warmoths feature 24.75" conversion necks. I prefer a shorter scale but love Fender guitars...bad combo if you really want that Fender. #1 is a Tele that houses a genuine old 1960s L series bridge pickup from a Tele, and people had been at me to play Teles as they felt that was me all over. But having bought a Fender Strat and noticed that the 25.5" scale was a bit long at times for me, I didn't want that.  Do you know how much a Fender Custom Shop Tele made in 24.75" would cost ?!

I haven't the slightest what a Fender Custom Shop Tele in 24.75 would cost.  :dontknow:

I guess for some reason, I guess I just never associated "Custom Shop" guitars with Fender, for some reason.  When I think of "Custom Shop," first and foremost, I always think of B.C. Rich, Jackson, and ESP, in that order.

Off the subject, but can you actually get a neck-through Strat?  I've never seen one...

 

[tfarny]

They're warmoths, but with the fender licensing agreement they are just as much a "fender" as a fender - technically, fender could buy warmoth necks and install them on USA fenders or custom shop models and call them fenders, so why can't you and I, if you want to? I stick a Warmoth logo on the headstock, though - usually, sometimes "no brand" works too.

 

[Torment Leaves Scars]

They're warmoths, but with the fender licensing agreement they are just as much a "fender" as a fender - technically, fender could buy warmoth necks and install them on USA fenders or custom shop models and call them fenders, so why can't you and I, if you want to? I stick a Warmoth logo on the headstock, though - usually, sometimes "no brand" works too.

You can do whatever you please, but that's not what I was going for. 

 

[Tonar8352]

If it looks, feels and sounds like a Strat it's a Strat no matter what the label says or who the manufacture is.  If it looks, feels and sounds like a Tele it's a Tele.

I don't think of my guitars as any thing other than a Strat or a Tele no matter where the pieces parts come from. Oh; and the pieces parts I use tend to make really nice Teles and Strats.  :laughing7:

 

[Mor Paul]

Well, Tonar, there's Max. Whatever that thing is  :icon_jokercolor:

Mine... are teles.
Warmoth teles, actually.  Well, except for the Fender.

Yeah, it's a parts guitar, but it's not a clone. I challenge you to find the original if it exists  :laughing7:
People like it. It's unique, but not unfamiliar. It also looks great.
My first tele? It was cost. I could build a better tele cheaper. The second? The opportunity arose for me to correct everything I wasn't crazy over in the first.

 

[line6man]

1. They are Warmoths. To call them anything else in false information.
2. My Warmoths are neither. Nothing that Warmoth sells is a legitimate Fender, Gibson, Jackson, etc. The parts are manufactured by Warmoth, not any other company, so they cannot qualify as a product made by any other company. Having a license to use a company's trademarks does not mean your that parts are produced by that company, or that the company in question had any involvement whatsoever in the manufacturing of those parts. Also, as Max pointed out, no original exists of the Warmoths I've built, so they can't be a clone of anything. They are just instruments loosely based on Fender designs.
3. Most people react positively, but some always complain about what they dislike about Warmoths. Usually the resale value, or the thickness of the necks. (Jazz bass necks.)
4. With my two basses, Fender did not make a bass with the features I want, so they were not an option. I'll be ordering a Warmoth Strat neck in the near future, because, to my knowledge, no one else sells replacement necks in exotic woods.

 

[Jusatele]

Warmoth

and proudly so

 

[pabloman]

There's a few people out there doin the necks. Every guitar I build is either a Pablocaster, Los Pablo, or a Choloist. I don't care where the parts come from I am the one that puts them together with love. I am the one that dreamed them up. BTW Elway never ran the wrong way. Everybody else was wrong. John's the man!

 

[AprioriMark]

1)  I agree with Tonar... they're "Strats, "Teles,"  "Les Pauls,"  etc.
2)  Not clone, but perhaps tribute.  If I'm replacing a Fender neck with a licensed Warmoth neck, and it's maple, I'll put a F style logo on it to please my own sense of aesthetic.  If it's entirely Warmoth parts, it gets a W logo, even though they don't manufacture the instrument, just the parts. 
3)  People who play them before talking about them are generally instantly sold.  People whose brand loyalty and "cool kid" status are very important to them might take longer to come around, but I've never met anyone who didn't eventually bow to the quality of W.  A former W-hating friend recently left his guitar at home for a gig, and I had my newest mutt Warmoth with me (mini, p90, stacked hb strat style guitar, walnut standard thin neck, flamed maple board, hardtaill, sperzel tuners).  He played it for three sets and not only sat me down to admit how wrong he had been, but offered to buy it on the spot.  I referred him to the website, promised to help walk him through it, and a new addict was born.
4)  Warmoth's necks and finish work are second to none.  I have never owned an instrument (aside from a couple Les Pauls) that I didn't mod the everliving fook out of.  I'd rather start with the best than mediocre.

-Mark

 

[Strat Avenger]

My guitar has a Warmoth Soloist body and a USACG neck with a custom headstock shape. I refer to it as "my custom guitar".
The only time I ever refer to it as a "Warmoth" or a "Soloist", is when I am on this forum.

 

[Orpheo]

the bulk is warmoth. so even if I were to stick on a decal with my own name *cough*perri ink*cough* in essence its still a warmoth. no matter if its a les paul (shape) strat(shape) tele(shape) or whatever.

 

[Cagey]

1. Do you refer to your guitar as a Warmoth, Fender, or Jackson?"

Always as a Warmoth, although I do use the model names they're based on, such as Strat, VIP, etc.

2. Given that Warmoth has the license to Fender designs for replacement parts, would you consider your build to be a "clone" or a legitimate Fender/Jackson?

Neither. Nobody makes 'em like Warmoth and me and their customer base, so they can't be "clones" and certainly Fender et al does not.

3. What are peoples' reactions when they see your gorgeous masterpieces, and then they find out they aren't from the Fender/Jackson factory, and are built with Warmoth parts?  Do you get negative or positive reactions?

So far, all reactions have been strongly positive. Often with some disbelief mixed in.

4.  Since you built a Tele, Strat, or Soloist, why did you build your own instead of purchasing one, provided you chose parts which appear to be actual Fender or Jackson parts?

I wanted a higher quality instrument than could be had from the usual suspects for the amount of money I was willing to spend.

 

[ptirman]

1. Do you refer to your guitar as a Warmoth, Fender, or Jackson?"
I refer to mine as a Warmoth. My newest is the 7/8 strat with the warhead headstock. Looks smells and feels custom. Warmoth has a high end feel and reputation.

2. Given that Warmoth has the license to Fender designs for replacement parts, would you consider your build to be a "clone" or a legitimate Fender/Jackson?
I consider it to be a legitimate Warmoth. Not trying to be a smartass, just saying exactly what I think because my guitar is so custom and I designed almost every part of it except the shape. When I took it to the guy to do the wiring he was bragging to everyone that came in his store that this guitar is an offical warmoth (he pronounced it WarMouth) .

3. What are peoples' reactions when they see your gorgeous masterpieces, and then they find out they aren't from the Fender/Jackson factory, and are built with Warmoth parts?  Do you get negative or positive reactions?
See number 2 above.

4.Since you built a Tele, Strat, or Soloist, why did you build your own instead of purchasing one, provided you chose parts which appear to be actual Fender or Jackson parts?
See number 2 above.

Thanks for the questions, interesting thread!

 

[Ace Flibble]

1. Do you refer to your guitar as a Warmoth, Fender, or Jackson?
A Warmoth. Though I mostly think of them more as "the carved Tele" (because it's a carved Tele), "the Paramore Tele" (because it is only used for one Paramore cover) and "that junky waste, I should really bin this thing" (because it was my first Warmoth order, I made some poor spec choices and then hacked it up to try and salvage it)

2. Given that Warmoth has the license to Fender designs for replacement parts, would you consider your build to be a "clone" or a legitimate Fender/Jackson?
Not at all. None of Warmoth's parts seem to actually replicate Fender's parts exactly (headstock too thick/bodies too slim/neck contours too flat). So they're not clones and obviously they're not legitimate Fender parts. They're Warmoth builds.

3. What are peoples' reactions when they see your gorgeous masterpieces, and then they find out they aren't from the Fender/Jackson factory, and are built with Warmoth parts?  Do you get negative or positive reactions?
One of mine has Warmoth on the front of the headstock so people just ask "War Mouth? What's that then?" The other has the Warmoth logo only on the back of the headstock; if people ask, I simply tell them that it's a custom guitar built using parts from a company called Warmoth. And that's that. Nobody has ever though they were Fenders, mistaken them for copy brands or anything else. Most people are vaguely interested but not particularly impressed.

4.  Since you built a Tele, Strat, or Soloist, why did you build your own instead of purchasing one, provided you chose parts which appear to be actual Fender or Jackson parts?

In the case of my first Warmoth build I could have easily bought a standard Fender Telecaster and had the same body, electronics set up and frankly a more comfortable neck. I was dead set on having a white body with a black pickguard and black hardware though and Fender did not make such a thing at the time. I worked out that building a Warmoth was cheaper than buying a Fender and having it refinished. I ordered parts from Warmoth purely as it was the cheapest way to get a decently built alpine white Telecaster body.
Neither of my other two Warmoths look much like Fenders, although one shares similarities with the special run of carved Teles Fender did a while ago and the other was built to replicate a Fender MIM Telecaster Deluxe in sound but not in look. Both are cases were again, I could have simply bought the Fenders but I don't like spalt maple nor do I like the big 70s headstocks of Tele Deluxes, so Warmoth it was and it just so happened I ended up going much further off-course than I originally intended.

My fourth (and probably final) Warmoth that is on the way is going to be much closer to a Fender build and in all honesty I'm very tempted to put a Fender neck on it (or at least have a neck made up with the Fender decal) because much like my first build, it's a Fender in spirit and the only reason I went Warmoth this time was to get a paint job on the body that Fender do not currently offer.