Will my new neck need fret work?

[Last Triumph]

Just wondering if my new Warmoth neck is likely to need any fret work?

For the record...

24.75"
Warmoth lefty
Indian Rosewood raw
Macassar Ebony board
Gold 6150s
Compound 10-16



??

 

[AutoBat]

Maybe.
Depends how you like your setup.  The fret ends may be a bit on the sharp end. There may be a high fret somewhere.
Usually it's fine but there are no absolutes with wood.

 

[Last Triumph]

Maybe.
Depends how you like your setup.  The fret ends may be a bit on the sharp end. There may be a high fret somewhere.
Usually it's fine but there are no absolutes with wood.

I like my action lower than a snakes belly in a wheel rut and the frets like wet ice on chrome.

 

[Tipperman]

Maybe.
Depends how you like your setup.  The fret ends may be a bit on the sharp end. There may be a high fret somewhere.
Usually it's fine but there are no absolutes with wood.

I like my action lower than a snakes belly in a wheel rut and the frets like wet ice on chrome.

I like my action semi-high, so I haven't bothered with fret leveling yet. To get super low action (like so low you can't mute 5 of 6 strings with one finger low) you will more than likely need fretwork if you want every note.

 

[Jusatele]

Warmoth is a neck builder, not a guitar tech company.
Yes all Warmoth necks need set up work
I have my action so low you can hang a pick between the fret and strings so you know I have it done,but bottom line is this: Warmoth does not set up necks,even though they have a great speck on the necks, they are not a neck setup company. The necks should be brought to a professional guitar tech and have a fret dressing done. Sides, top and leveled. I know guys are going argue with me about this as they have never had to set up a Warmoth neck,but trust me, you have gone out to improve your axe by getting a Warmoth neck, now why do you want to skimp on perfection? Go do it correct and have no issues.

 

[Strat Avenger]

There are two possibilities, neither of which are unusual or unacceptable.

1. The neck will play great right out of the box.

2. There may be one or more high frets which will need the attention of an experienced Luthier for optimum playability and performance.

As mentioned previously, wood is unpredictable. Warmoth presses the frets in nice & flat, and trims the ends. Beyond that, they do no fret "dressing" (leveling/re-crowing/polishing). It's simply not their job, and if it was, the cost to the customer, as well as wait times would increase substantially.

I got my neck from USACG, and frets 11 and 13 were slightly high. This was easily remedied by my Luthier.

 

[Patrick from Davis]

I believe to keep their license from Fender to make authorized replica parts, they cannot sell a finished product.  Therefore in the strictest sense, yes they need some work.  Fret end beveling, finish filing to remove sharp ends, truss rod set up, fret leveling all need to be done.  With Warmoth's excellent work, not much work is needed.  But out of the box, it is not considered ready to play.
Patrick

 

[Last Triumph]

Ok, thanks.

As my neck is coming with a pre installed nut, is it possible to level frets without having my nut removed?

When I had my les Paul set it, the tech removed the nut to level the frets which I'd rather try and avoid if possible...?

 

[Cagey]

The nut doesn't have to be removed, but they're usually not too firmly held in place to begin with so they often get knocked off during the leveling process. As a result, sometimes it's easier to just knock it off on purpose so it's not in your way. I'm usually 6 of one, half dozen of the other. Nuts frequently need replacing anyway, so it's a good time to do it. That way you're starting with a fresh setup on the neck. Of course, if you've just paid Warmoth $40 to install/cut a nut on a new neck, you don't want to lose that.

 

[Last Triumph]

The nut doesn't have to be removed, but they're usually not too firmly held in place to begin with so they often get knocked off during the leveling process. As a result, sometimes it's easier to just knock it off on purpose so it's not in your way. I'm usually 6 of one, half dozen of the other. Nuts frequently need replacing anyway, so it's a good time to do it. That way you're starting with a fresh setup on the neck. Of course, if you've just paid Warmoth $40 to install/cut a nut on a new neck, you don't want to lose that.

Yup - new neck, pre installed black tusq nut.

 

[Cagey]

I wouldn't worry about it. The amount of leveling a new neck can require varies between none at all and not much. For instance, I just took delivery of one the other day that has less than .001" variation along it's length. That's pretty damn tight, and somewhat unusual. Others have varied more, but it's not a major rework to get it right. Usually where you have to get ambitious with leveling/crowning is on older necks that have some actual wear. In those cases, you'd probably need to replace the nut as well.

Where I spend the most time with Warmoth necks is on end dressing and polishing. They come beveled, but the transition from the edge to the top is sometimes more abrupt than many people like.

 

[stubhead]

The nut is a non-issue, they come out (and go in) really easily. I always remove them, otherwise you're fidgeting around the first four or five frets instead of zooming your leveling block over them. For most all tech guys time is money, and it takes 0.5 seconds to take out the nut and 1.875 seconds to put it back.*

And I'm with Cagey here, every Warmoth or USA Custom neck I've ever bought needed the fret ends attended to. They are cut to a single bevel, and Warmoth doesn't do anything to remove the resultant edges. And they've all been pretty level, with the exception of one high 23rd fret on a seven-string neck. Several times it seemed as though there were issues with the highest frets on the longer necks, like may Warmoth's Fret-O-Tron** didn't go all the way. It seems to have gotten fixed.

It's not even hard to round the fret ends if you think really hard about what you are try to get to - rounded ends, without shortening the string contact area across the top of the fret. Protect the fretboard.... It's just really tedious, and you have to have a brain that works in thousandths of an inch. If you're into doing it yourself, post again and I (or somebody) will point you at some info. Everybody and their dog should own Dan Erlewine's "Guitar Player Repair Guide." arf.

*(Exactly!)
**(Gotta get me one of them...)

 

[Last Triumph]

Oh, ok - I thought the nut was glued in or something.

 

[Jusatele]

I order without a nut, it is going be taken off for a good fret dressing and depending on how you like your action, more than likely recut anyway.
that is me, not you. there are many ways to do things, you will find your groove and we will have as strong of opinions as we have. Mine is built from watching my tech unstring a guitar, pop off the nut and throw it in the trash before setting up a guitar. Yes he charges for the new nut, but the cost is worth it. he says it is easier to start with a fresh nut that to rework the old nut to the action desired.

 

[Johnfv]

I order with a nut so I can do assembly and rough setup before taking to my tech; he says it's no problem for him. The Warmoth nuts do tend to be high (which makes sense since you can always cut the slots deeper). As others have mentioned, the Warmoth quality is quite good out of the box but will always benefit from a pro setup; the fret ends is the area that has needed the most attention on the necks I've had (4 so far).

 

[Last Triumph]

Well I've chosen and paid for a black tusq nut to be cut and fitted by Warmoth. My tech will just have to work with it.

 

[mayfly]

I have had a lot (er, I think 10) warmoth necks.  One of them has a high fret.  I just have not bothered to do anything about it yet.  I managed to get very very low action on my warmoth 12 string without touching the frets.  Just careful setting of the fingerboard relief (it's pretty much flat).

I will say that I had to file the fret ends on one neck.  They are SS frets and they were a smidge uncomfortable until I took a set of needle files to them.  Very tedious indeed, but worth doing.  Have not bothered with a fret level on any of my necks.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

I've had some that needed it, some that don't.  It really comes down to your own personal preference on how your guitars are set up.  If you like very low, consistent action, then it would be advisable.  If you like your action a bit on the high side, you likely won't need any work done.

My current Baritone-Tele neck has had no additional work, and I have the action at what I would consider to be playable, but I will still likely have it levelled & properly dressed when I have it finished, as it is currently raw (Mable Shaft/RW Fingerboard).

 

[stubhead]

I do my own fretwork, so this may not be applicable, but I think it best to hold off on the leveling for a year if you can play it as is. The reason being that the neck will "settle" a bit as it goes through a few temperature changes, so for ultra-perfect lowest-possible action, it really needs to be done after a year or so. This is more true of a single-trussrod neck than Warmoth's Pro. I also usually try a range of different strings on a guitar, some just work better than others.

I always do the fret ends, but I play with fairly high action for tonal reasons so I can get away with this leveling delay. When I see a manufacturer advertising brand new "Plek'd" necks, it seems just a little bit dumb. It's still going to widge around a bit.

 

[Jusatele]

Stub, just whatare the plek'd necks and what is the supposed advantage.