To shift a bit back toward positivity, I agree that getting into WM building for purpose of resale is a foolish gamble. If it's even an inkling in one's mind before getting into it, even if it's not a primary goal. After all, we're talking about the sale of a good with a market demand of 1, if any of us had a basic intro-to-economics course.
And conversely, if one is trying to build something with the appeal of a mass-production Fender or Gibson.....why would anyone want to buy anything other than a mass-production Fender or Gibson for probably half the price?
What I've been taking out of my WM experience is learning. Sure, I could swap out parts on my existing instruments before, maybe even do some setup. But it wasn't until I started a few non-WM kits that I started getting my feet wet in this world of guitar building. Then I took the plunge on my first WM because WM had the unique body available in the Showcase that I wanted (three, in fact....pre-pandemic, obviously).
I haven't played in a band in about 10 years and quite frankly, I don't see going back to it anymore. But guitar building has inspired me to at least start playing for myself again, even if it's only 10 minutes here, 6 minutes there, maybe once or twice a week if I'm lucky. I've also gotten back into the habit of keeping a notebook or sketchbook nearby in case I get struck with design ideas (I used to do this when I was more involved in art).
And finally, in that learning process, I've learned so much more about woodworking and tools over the last two years than in the decades+ since I was last in a wood shop class in junior high school. By applying what I'm learning to something I have an affinity for anyway and also understand the practical effects of technique in a subject of familiarity, I can absorb and internalize the fundamentals of woodworking better and more deeply than if I was to practice on furniture, for example.
But as I'm learning woodworking, I can then transfer that knowledge TO some beginner furniture or cabinetry, or at least understand the terminology when speaking to a furniture maker or cabinet maker. I may not have made dados or rabbets personally, but I now know what they are.
So I think that makes the cost of the Warmoth hobby worthwhile. To me, there has been a larger and more significant benefit than just ending up with a custom guitar built to the specs I had in my head. The unexpected gains -- even starting to evaluate and maintain the tools I've acquired since beginning this adventure -- have been immeasurable and priceless.
If I was in it just to get a cool guitar in the end, I'd have built one, looked at the total cost, and just gone back to production models (like I suspect was the realization that some of the more recent new forum members discovered after posting 3-5 times then disappearing).
My objective now is to keep improving in building bodies out of blanks, so in the meantime, I'll still be buying necks from WM (unless a really sweet body comes around that I don't already have a template for). Then, I'd like to delve into building necks. That might eventually take me out of the WM pool, but I know myself and my available-time capacity; it's not happening for several years to come, as I'm still a rank novice at bodies.
