What is the action like?

[newpatch]

Hi,

I've been thinking about building a soloist type of guitar. I like the action of jackson's and charvel's, but I don't know what kind of neck action I can get building a warmoth....

My goal is to build a soloist style guitar with a jackson neck or fender....but in either case I want to be sure I will like the feel and action of the neck....

Is there anyone who can describe the feel and action of warmoth's jackson style necks?

BTW I will also opt for SS frets

newpatch

 

[line6man]

You know that the action is adjustable, right? :icon_scratch:

 

[tfarny]

Well the right setup can get a perfect action (by which I assume you mean super low with thin little strings) out of any old squire. Action has nothing to do with anything really, as long as the neck will get properly straight with no fretboard humps and the fretwork is perfect (which you can do with any guitar). If that is your question, then yes warmoth necks tend to be very nice and straight, the best I've ever seen, and the fretwork is very good overall but as with ANY new guitar you may want to plan on taking it in to a very good shop and getting the frets fine tuned. The nuts from Warmoth always need some work as well, but that's unavoidable.

 

[newpatch]

Yes, I know the action is adjustable....but every guitar has it's own unique action....When I first got my Les Paul I was amazed at how low the strings were, and that was because I didn't have a quality guitar.

It's not like I can just walk into a guitar store and pick up a Warmoth. I know how jackson's, ibanez's, and most of the other guitar's feel and I'm looking for that jackson feel. I know it will never feel like a jackson, but I can come close or even better. It's just without seeing and playing a guitar you are replying on people's opinions of it. People you don't know....

Using the Warmoth site I was able to put together a guitar with the same spec's as a high price charvel...Soloist alder body, quartersawn start maple neck & fret board, etc, for half the price. If the parts are as good as Warmoth claims, then the guitar should feel and play great....but I need some input to get an idea of Warmoth guitars...

Also, 1 last thing...I know the necks are 10" - 16" compund radius...Can they make a 12" - 16" radius neck? Or could you even tell the difference between the two?

newpatch

 

[GoDrex]

the parts are excellent  - but it's up to you or your guitar tech/luthier to set them up right. though it's always possible to get some dud parts. it's always a risk making a parts guitar. you're never going to be exactly sure how it's going to turn out.

People here like their Warmoths (generally) so you're mainly going to hear good things. there are occasional problems, but it's pretty rare. I had a big problem with the neck I ordered. It ended up working out fine in the end. other people have had some problems. Warmoth has great customer service to they're able to help if they screw anything up (usually).

I don't think you'd notice any difference, regarding 10 or 12 start for the compound radius. I don't think they do different compound radiuses.

 

[jimh]

the parts are excellent  - but it's up to you or your guitar tech/luthier to set them up right. though it's always possible to get some dud parts. it's always a risk making a parts guitar. you're never going to be exactly sure how it's going to turn out.

People here like their Warmoths (generally) so you're mainly going to hear good things. there are occasional problems, but it's pretty rare. I had a big problem with the neck I ordered. It ended up working out fine in the end. other people have had some problems. Warmoth has great customer service to they're able to help if they screw anything up (usually).

I don't think you'd notice any difference, regarding 10 or 12 start for the compound radius. I don't think they do different compound radiuses.

I agree with Gary....
However I will say this..... I think you are making a good move by looking at Warmoth stuff (its the reason all of us are here on this forum after all), however I have to say it sounds to me like you're pretty new new to guitar building / maintenance and set-ups.  I'd suggest you do a good bit of research by reading around some of these forums.  There is an awful lot of information here about how people like their guitars to play, and you have to bear in mind that we each like different things.

Set-up and action are all very subjective, so simply asking "what kind of action can I get?" isn't a terribly helpful question for us to help you achieve what you're after.
If you do some reading up on other peoples experiences and like the sound of what someone has said, then you can ask a more detailed question and get a better answer.

The great thing about Warmoth and this forum is you can do almost anything you want, but you have to get an idea of what it is you want first.

Welcome, to a world of "I've built one like this, now I want another one like that".... More, more, more  :icon_tongue:

:icon_thumright:

 

[DesmoDog]

Assuming I did  the math correctly - on a fingerboard that's 1 11/16" wide at the nut, the difference in height of a 10" radius vs a 12" radius is a whopping .006" at the center of the board.

I'd worry about other things...

chord r1 r2
1.6875 10 12
theta = 0.169 0.141 Angle subtended by arc (radians)
s = 1.690 1.689 Length of arc (in)
d = 9.964 11.970 Distance of chord to center of radius (in)
h = 0.036 0.030 Height of arc (in)
Difference in height = 0.006 inches

 

[newpatch]

Thanks for everything...

I'm just asking questions so I know what to expect...right now I'm in the planning stages...

And from what I'm gathering here...it seems like Warmoth will provide you with good materials but it's up to you to setup your guitar....

But whatever guitar you build you can definitely set it up and make it "feel" awesome.

newpatch

 

[oldmanatc]

there is a great set of videos on youtube made by a guitar tech who put together a customer's warmoth strat. There are going to be a few things (especially with the neck) you're going to want to pay a professional to do. As far as low action is concerned, get large frets 6105 or bigger and use light string gauges. Your tech will be able to get it real low.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqLfllURlo8/url]

 

[Dan025]

Assuming I did  the math correctly - on a fingerboard that's 1 11/16" wide at the nut, the difference in height of a 10" radius vs a 12" radius is a whopping .006" at the center of the board.

I'd worry about other things...

chord r1 r2
1.6875 10 12
theta = 0.169 0.141 Angle subtended by arc (radians)
s = 1.690 1.689 Length of arc (in)
d = 9.964 11.970 Distance of chord to center of radius (in)
h = 0.036 0.030 Height of arc (in)
Difference in height = 0.006 inches

well that's a fancy looking way of doing it, i look at everything in triangles, but .006 sound right off the top of my head. i've done the math for people before, so i have a bit of a rough idea just looking at it. i forgot alot of highschool math because i haven't come across anything i couldn't solve with sine cosine tangent and pythagorean theorum...

but with my experience most poeple insist they never even saw radians, quadratic equations, law of sines and other things that were required in new york, or the standard progression of classes would lead to that anyway, there were buisness and household math classes for the kid that didn't get it. but 3 years highschool math was required and if you didn't windup in an alternative class you did basic statistics and somewhat advanced trig in your 3rd year, quadratics were in your second year, precalc was if you wished to do a forth year and calculous was for the smart kids the had accelerated classes or doubled up there senior year. yet every where i go people believe there schools were better than new york. ok now im just ranting...

 

[DesmoDog]

Well that's a fancy looking way of doing it,

It's nothing a quick google search couldn't solve. Which is to say... it's something a quick google search solved. (fine, I admit it. I didn't do it from memory.)







But then, I suppose that Aerospace Engineering degree didn't hurt none neither.  :laughing7:

 

[newpatch]

Hey I saw that video series...pretty sick stuff..

Seems like the owner of that guitar will get a pretty hefty bill. I wonder how many hours that tech actually spent on the build and setup?

newpatch

 

[Dan025]

Yes, I know the action is adjustable....but every guitar has it's own unique action....When I first got my Les Paul I was amazed at how low the strings were, and that was because I didn't have a quality guitar.

It's not like I can just walk into a guitar store and pick up a Warmoth. I know how jackson's, ibanez's, and most of the other guitar's feel and I'm looking for that jackson feel. I know it will never feel like a jackson, but I can come close or even better. It's just without seeing and playing a guitar you are replying on people's opinions of it. People you don't know....

Using the Warmoth site I was able to put together a guitar with the same spec's as a high price charvel...Soloist alder body, quartersawn start maple neck & fret board, etc, for half the price. If the parts are as good as Warmoth claims, then the guitar should feel and play great....but I need some input to get an idea of Warmoth guitars...

Also, 1 last thing...I know the necks are 10" - 16" compund radius...Can they make a 12" - 16" radius neck? Or could you even tell the difference between the two?

newpatch

to directly answer, yes you can tell 10" from 12" even though the difference is just over half the distance of a high e string, or about twice a human hair. fingers are sensitive.. that said the difference is small.. the compound radius is partly for feel, a small radius at lower frets for comfort and a flatter one for soloing, the other purpose is to give the strings a conical surface, so they are closer to parallel to it. the warmoth according to my math can get lowest action with a vintage fender string spacing(wide) with either a 1-5/8 nut (narrow but not atypical) or a 1-11/16 nut(typical on modern guitars) or a more modern trem with a 1-5/8th nut.

but dont worry if the combo you want is not one of those the compound will still work ok and feel great that is just the ideal setup and is likely that way because they base there products on fender parts. getting it to fit other nut/bridges is simply a matter of leveling the fret with a long strait edge and sand paper along the string path, or you can do nothing and let the neck relief compensate for it as you would with a strait radius, remember the diference at the nut between the warmoth compound and the jackson is a matter of .006"! not a big deal. go for a warmoth you will like it! :icon_thumright: trust me  ; )

the ideal bridge for thew warmoth compound is 18-18.5" radius and for the jackson is about 17.5"radius.

 

[mullyman]

You know, the best answer to this is to call Warmoth and talk to a sales rep. Those guys have never failed to be totally helpful in answering all of my questions. Not to mention that they sales reps aren't just some kids that picked up a summer job. These guys are guitarists and guitar builders and they know what they are talking about. What you should do is find a guitar that you think fits what you're looking for and give Warmoth a call. They can direct you with the back contours, fingerboard radius, fret height etc.... They will be able to make whatever you want. On my first build I wanted my neck contour and radius to match the Peavey Wolfgang. I had no idea what the specs were. When I called I was a little unsure of how to approach it but the guy on the phone immediately knew the specs of that neck and said it wouldn't be a problem. They nailed it too.

So, the final answer is, give them a call and tell them what you want. They will sort you out better than any of us can.
MULLY

 

[RU36]

BUILD IT YOURSELF!!!

When your done you can say I built this!

And as far as getting the jackson feel its easy, go play a jackson you really like, then write down the year and model.
Find the specks on line and copy it.

You can learn to all of the set up and building yourself.
(the painting is a little tricky though, but thats why you have warmoth do it)

 

[Alfang]

I recommend watching all of this guys videos, he realy does a teriffic almost over the top setup.  I've built a dozen warmoths, my next one I may follow this guys methods and examples

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqLfllURlo8&feature=related