What's after I receive parts from Warmoth?

[andrius]

I almost placed an order at Warmoth for a neck and a body (along with screws, bridge mounting studs and everything else), but people at an other forum got me discouraged by saying that it's not as easy as simply assembling everything. I am aware that I will have to have fretwork done on a Warmoth guitar, so what else is there that a newbie wouldn't manage to do themselves properly?

 

[croquet hoop]

Many people find their neck perfectly playable out of the box, despite the fact that if you want a perfect guitar, you need to have the fretwork checked and the frets leveled.

You should check the "work in progress section", where you can find several quite detailed build logs detailing the steps taken to build a guitar from Warmoth parts.

 

[Surf n Music]

You know mine play just fine and while I had a lot of mechanical experience I didn't have any guitar setup experience. If you are not afraid of fiddling around with a guitar you can set it up pretty good. It is just measurements. I even bought a fret file, level and polishing paper and did my own fret work. I have played plenty of guitars in stores and mine plays just as well if not better and on top of that I understand how it all works now. There is so much info out there on setup. Just have fun that is what it is about. You don't need something mass produced for it to be good. In fact I think you will put far more time into your guitar then anyone else would. Well that is my 2 cents  :laughing3: Really though just do what you are comfortable doing.

 

[Cagey]

Past the neck, it depends on your comfort level with drill motors, soldering and setup. The neck is sorta tricky and can require tools that you don't often find in your average toolbox, which is why many job it out. Wiring isn't particularly difficult, but if you don't have a lotta experience with it there can be some mystery involved. Setup depends mainly on understanding the geometry of how the strings interact with the neck. None of it is particularly difficult, really, it's mostly just tedious and may require tools you don't have or aren't comfortable with.

Some guys just have the neck done, as that provides a good foundation that solves most potential problems by itself, along with a little bridge adjustment once it's installed. Others want the whole thing done because it's usually not expensive and can save you a lotta time/heartache. Plus, if things go wrong, you have somebody who can recognize and resolve issues right away.

There are a lotta people here with a lotta experience that are perfectly willing to help, though, so if you take it all on yourself, you're not alone.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

If this is something that you envision becoming a regular thing for you moving forward, I'd follow some of the tips of veteran members here, but I'd also highly recommend going to StewMac.com and signing up for the weekly email "StewMac Tips".  I have every single one of them for the past 7 1/2 years in a special folder in my Hotmail account, and there are times when I will go back and refer to specific ones as needed. 

The rest, is a lot of practice and purchasing of tools, some of which you may find in numerous vendors.

 

[Alfang]

I've done a bunch (10?) of warmoth builds, I've never done anything to any frets from warmoth necks.

All my W necks play amazing, all you need to do is a good setup and don't worry so much about fret leveling and polishing.

The notion that fretwork on a warmoth neck is a must is silly, and spreading this idea is disrespectful 

 

[Cagey]

The fretwork isn't a must, but it's a Good Thing. Warmoth doesn't dress their fret ends, so if you'd like those smoothed over then you have no choice at that point but to polish them. Same if you want to level them. You have to recrown the frets that get filed, and of course again you need to polish. Warmoth makes no claims as to their fret height integrity, and in fact describes what you may expect to have to do to a new neck here. So, no disrespect intended to Warmoth at all; just following their suggestions.

You're right - you can play their necks right out of the box, and lotsa folks do. But, for those who want the most out of their instrument, some additional attention is required.

 

[Verne Bunsen]

it's not as easy as simply assembling everything...

This statement is as true as you want to make it. I liken building a guitar from parts to building a truck motor from parts. Just about anyone can put the parts together with a bit of patience and some (several) forum visits, but the quality of the end result will be very much dependent on the experience and attention to detail of the builder. But everyone starts somewhere.

I always level and dress the frets on any neck I get, regardless of where it comes from. It eliminates myriad setup issues down the road, and a good fret job will have a profound impact on the overall playability of the finished product. For what it's worth though, The frets on my Warmoth necks have been pretty good right out of the box.

I wouldn't let anybody discourage you from taking this on. It's a blast, and it's incredibly educational. Also it's quite addictive. Your first attempt might not be on par with the Fender Custom Shop, but if you take your time and pay close attention to detail, then you'll have something to be proud of. And your second one will be better.

There is an excellent book I found called "Custom Guitar Building: A New Approach For A New Era" that details the finer points of building a guitar from parts. It covers the basics very well and, if you're interested in getting your feet wet with this, I recommend it highly. It revolves around a Strat build, but the information it imparts can be easily applied to whatever your project happens to be.

http://www.telenator.com/product/custom-guitar-building-a-new-approach-for-a-new-era/

If you've got the funds and you've got the inclination, I'd say go for it. I look forward to seeing a "Work In Progress" thread!

 

[andrius]

Verne Bunsen, thanks for the info. I am only planning on building just one guitar in the near future (I won't be building more guitars for financial reasons). I want to get а solid well-built guitar so I can't afford to have a not so nice first build.

I haven't read the topics Cagey suggested (which I will when I have some more time), therefore right now - as naive as that might sound - except for the fretwork (which I am going to ask some luthier in an other country to do, because I'm not sure there are any good ones where I live), the only area that in my opinion I could cause potential problems is neck pocket, if it's not properly cut for the neck. I wouldn't know how to get around that and I wouldn't want to risk to ruin things irreversibly by cutting or sanding something in the neck pocket, and I wouldn't want to have to shim the neck as I know I just wouldn't be able to find the right amount of shimming... In other words, I'm not feeling confident with woodwork because a tiny mistake could make all this thing go really wrong or would require more talent than I have to rectify it.

 

[Re-Pete]

While it is true that it isn't simply assembling, it's not master luthiery either. Agree with what Cagey has said: if you are comfortable with drill tools and setting the neck into place to a professional level (ie: no stuff ups!), the next stumbling block is if you have string ferrules to set in and the tricks surrounding the tuner's tiny screws (they break VERY easy). Also, if you are not familiar with soldering and electronics, they can cause you niggles later on with pops & crackles if the joints aren't made properly. Grounding loops also cause hassles when wiring up passive pickups if you accidentally cause those.

I've 'assembled' three Warmoths & got them all to the stage where they were sounding good & the neck fit etc. was done to a satisfactory level. I then took them to a tech who just  checked the work & then tweaked the neck if necessary (only 1 of 3 needed a fret dress /polish & a truss rod adjustment).

As for the OPs comment about worrying about the neck pocket, my experience has been that these are very tightly engineered. The only issue you may find is if you use a body/neck combination that may require shimming, though Warmoth does reduce that occurring by having neck pocket options including angling the neck pocket for bridges that require a different angle to the neck.
http://www.warmoth.com/Guitar/Bodies/Options/GuitarNeckPocket.aspx

 

[JimBeed]

I did the majority of the assembly of mine myself, right up to the electronics.

Even using this forum as a source of tips, she still has battle scars from getting a badly stripped screw out of the headstock and a screwdriver slip in the bridge pickup pocket.

It was a learning experience, and my next build will be pristine cause the first took the force of my first time dumb-assery.

When it got the electronics, I fudged the first try, as it has a somewhat complex wiring system, So I got a tech to do that.
The price he gave me at the end was reasonable enough that if I'd kept trying myself I might have spent that in parts and a better soldering iron alone.
So don't be afraid to go at it, and if you're really not comfortable with a part of it. There's people out there to help for only a small fraction of what the guitars already  cost

 

[PhilAngus]

I can only suggest that you run your potential order spec past us first in this thread for us to check for potential issues. It took me about four weeks on intensive studying on the Warmoth site and a few emails to them to get acquainted enough to confidently order the correct parts. That said, the guys at Warmoth are very good at spotting potential issues. I for example ordered a neck with pearloid binding, and mother of pearl side dots. It was flagged up (because the dots would not be seen properly within the binding) and of course then I realised and changed them to black which is what was advised. At the time of ordering, I had Indian rosewood in my head, so I never gave it a thought!

If you are ordering ready finished neck and body, then as long as you obtain the correct rest of the hardware, there is little you can do wrong. That said, you should do your homework and be reasonably competent at DIY.

 

[KDC1956]

It's not hard to build one or get it all setup it just takes time.Now days we have you tube.Back when I was learning how to do all of this I just ask ? at one of the guitar shop I went to back in the day.They was great to me they told me how to do a lot and that alone got me in to working on them.I hate when people tell me you can't do it but they always want me to pay them to do it.I look at it this way if they can do it so can I most of the time I will do it better or just as good anyway.I say order what you need/want and go for it.There is a lot of help here to get you going the right way and if you need help just ask someone will know how.

 

[stubhead]

What I always, always say is: buy Dan Erlewine's book "Complete Guitar Repair" FIRST. It will be the best $25 you ever spent. He goes into enough detail of every aspect that you can get a fine guitar out of it. And references to others, if you end up going deep into some certain element.  And even if you don't take on all the parts of assembling & fine tuning setup, the book will give you an oversight and the vocabulary to talk to the people who are helping you; there is a rather large percentage of guitar store employees who really shouldn't be working on guitars, at least from the point of view that the faster they do something, the better (for them!). You need a bit of knowledge to spot them, and you want to go in and tell them "I want this and this done" and DON'T get talked into some nonsense.

There's a lot of what I call transfer credits; if you've done some woodworking and finishing, just lining stuff up & measuring, fiddled with jewelry, any thing else really small helps*. My fretwork got a lot better after I spent some time working on fountain pens, for example. (Look at the width of a written line on a piece of paper, then envision what you'd have to do to make a pen write half that width... and then half that... grinding iridium make stainless steel seem like butter!) I will say that most people who got to this point started out by working on their own guitars, changing pickups, learning setup details etc.

I need magnification to do things right, and there's a whole lot of knowledge about process and order that you either have or can learn from it. PATIENCE, and never rush through something you're not really sure about. NEVER work mad... At least half of the specialty "guitar tools" were made for something else and can be found cheaper and/or better, you really want to beware of those Stewart-McDonald "kits" they sell. I like them, they have a few neat tools you can't get elsewhere, but you can get an 11-blade feeler gauge for $25 from Stewie or a 25-blade feeler gauge for $11 from any auto supply. What country are you in? There are various members here pretty much all over, who can at least advise on suppliers, parts etc. Warmoth carries other parts specifically as a way to sell more necks & bodies, and it's not at all unusual to get some things elsewhere.

http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Player-Repair-Guide-3rd/dp/0879309210/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1423315999&sr=1-3&keywords=Dan+erlewine

*(One of the best, highly sought-after inlay artist in the world is a genu-ine BRAIN SURGEON in her spare time :toothy12

 

[Day-mun]

Yes to the wise words above. Get this that you see below:

 

[PhilAngus]

Well I think I will buy that book. However, I have not so far read any books, I have just looked at a lot of Youtube videos and podcasts, especially those from Crimson Guitars (this is not a plug). Their fret toolkit is excellent, I have just received mine. I also purchased the levelling bar. A lot of building the guitar is common sense, but there are a few key things that must be right. If going for the 720 mod for example (if going for a Strat or Tele with rear rout, so no top scratch plate and you want the fret board to sit directly on top of the body), you need to ensure the bridge used will also sit low enough. There is a wealth of info regarding Warmoth specifically on this forum and loads more on Youtube. You can often tell the bad ones from the good and when two good ones tell you to do pretty much the same thing and it makes sense then you can pretty much take it that is what you do. I am on my second Tele. The first one was built and finished just by reading lots of posts and watching videos, and whilst the finish is not perfect (as in PRS, Fender Gibson perfect), it is now my favourite guitar. I would say the actual build and parts quality is as good. The action is low and the frets are pretty much spot on. This was a standard build though, standard body, standard neck joint, standard rout and wiring. The second one is more complicated, but all I needed was advice from Brian at Warmoth and a bit more research, mainly centred around the 720 mod.

If you are buying ready finished body and neck, there is very little to go wrong if you take your time and exercise care. Finishing the frets would be the hardest bit, and with the right tools and knowledge it's not difficult.

I also learned a lot from here, especially regarding finishing:

www.manchesterguitartech.co.uk