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Your Opinion

wow didnt expect that many responses lol. I was just curious to know because there are a few gibsons i had in mind but out of my reach money wise. My re enlistment bonus wont cover the guitar and ass whoopin my wife would give lol. I could however build a warmoth LP for about half to more then half of what i wanted. I wanted the black tobacco sunburst style body without the pickguard which most run about 1800+ with gibson. I still am debating thats why i started this topic because i have never owned a warmoth however i did play a gibson for the first time yesterday. I took my daughter back to guitar center with me and we played some more and i did love the guitar. I come from owning only fender which im expanding my guitar selection to something other then that. But i do like alot of what warmoth offers because i  can get exactly what i want without paying massive amounts of money with a custom shop if gibson even offers that.


better yet how many built the Warmoth LP with the LP neck and put the gibson logo on it lol i was thinking the LP body with the Warmoth neck im kind of digging that neck. lol i think what im saying is i want something thats mine and original everyone owns a gibson or most do, but who owns something you made obviously no one its yours the way you wanted it. I think the value is greater not in re sale but for you as the builder. You spent the time on it getting it how you want it, yea it doesnt have a name brand on it but does that really make the guitar, or does the sound and quality make the guitar? I think i just answered my own question but i still like to get opinions of those who own the warmoth gear.


>>PS

if there are any miss spellings or confusion blame it on the Jack Daniels :| typing some what drunk isnt a smart thing to do.
 
We like to think there are a lot of differences that we would "know."  As this forum has proved the last few days, when comparing modeling with tubes in an AC30, we as a group are right half of the time.  When comparing modeling vs. tubes on Orange amps, we're wrong more often than right.  Is there a difference in tone, feel, sound, playability between bolt-on and set neck.  Sure, but what do we know?  Could this board even do an Apples to Apples comparsion with a Warmoth LP and Gibby?  Assuming same scale, material, finish, and pickups.  I haven't seen many Mahogany conversion necked Warmoth LPs.  It's amazing what we know when our eyes give us hints.  Play a recording of a comparable Warmoth LP and a Gibby, I couldn't guess correctly.

Instead, look to Warmoth for things Gibson can't do, or do for the same price. 
 
I have a Heritage H-120, shaped like a les paul studio, ie flat top. solid maple body, 22 fret maple neck. It's heavy but sustains longer than any guitar I have ever played
 
with a gibson LP (non-customshop), the neck is attached to the body with lots of glue. warmoth's bolt on joint is so very tight, you can't even squeeze in a piece of paper, lots of glue would only ruin the tight joint. with a gibson, its a neccacity though, otherwise the neck won't be attached firmly. the neck doesn't even have a tight fit, without the glue, cause its too much work to make it fit supertight. its routed out quite widly, and the glue holds it together. and I think that that's a cheap way of constructing. not to mention the location where there is some contact: the 'sides' of the neck: perpendicular to the string-direction! you want a flat surface with lots of contact, like the bolt-on 'plateau', not the sides! cause the energy of the neck will be transfered via that plateau, not via the sides, pure simple physics. Its even worse with gibson, cause the strings have to go through 'liquid' (the glue, even set its got liquidish-properties), and that dampens out the waves tremendously. thats why I believe a warmoth is better.


not to mention Gibson's use of wood: Gibson doesn't use south american (farm grown) mahogany, like Warmoth, but.... phillipines mahogany, or even meranti on occasion. I talked with a guy who worked at the factory of gibson, and I saw the woods, raw, no finish, and was able to compare it with 'real' mahogany. the differences are huge in tone and hands-on feel, but with paint on, you can barely see the differences...
 
Orpheo,

Thank you for actually laying out what you did above. I can appreciate your points of conviction being conveyed w/o cynicism or condemning of another's capability/qualifications to express their own opinion on a subject.

I've spent quite a bit of time researching info, reviews, results, etc on Warmoth vs. Gibson, Set Neck vs. Bolt On (various spellings...vs., versus, vs, advantages of..., benefits of..., etc)...most of it threads on other "forums"...and, quite frankly...it's all over the place...with proponents/opponents each way...and it's all opiniion...no facts, no conclusive tests. I won't even get into the additon of "Neck Thru vs...yadda yadda yadda" to the equation.

Regardless...it's ultimately about what one likes and wants in a guitar...to each his own, whether it be a Warmoth LP w/a Bolt On Neck or a Gibson LP w/a Set Neck. Everyone loves their guitar(s) and believes it's "the one", right? What I'm finding in this situation, is that there really is no way to truly compare them and deem one "superior" to the other, as they're different beasts in various ways. Each has their benefits and deficits and that's up to the individual to decide.

BTW...I have no problem w/bolt on guitars. I've retained 4 to date ('03 Warmoth SRV Tribute, '88 Gunslinger/Assassin "Graffiti", '87 Kramer E.E. SC-3 Tele, and, I'm building an '89 Kramer Tele Custom at current).
 
Well, the real test would be to take a bolt on guitar, test it's sound and sustain, then take the neck off and reattatch it with glue instead of screws to see if the guitar sounds any different.  I personally don't think there would be any difference, but that's just my hypothesis. 
 
When I first built my Warmoth LPS, I A/Bed it with my Epiphone Alleykat. The Warmoth has a chambered mahogany body with wenge/ebony neck, tune-o-matic bridge, and a set of Pearly Gates pickups. The Alleykat (essentially a semi-hollow Les Paul) had a hollowed-out mahogany body with maple cap, set mahogany/rosewood neck, tune-o-matic bridge, and a Pearly Gates bridge pickup with a mini humbucker in the neck. I ran both guitars through the same amp with an A/B box and switched back and forth listening for differences. Overall they sounded very similar, but the Warmoth had more going on (my fiance agreed). It just seemed to have a slightly fuller sound. My guess is that the wenge neck in '59 roundback profile had a lot to do with that. A while later I ended up getting a Gibson ES-335, but the Warmoth can absolutely hold it's own sound-wise against that guitar, and the build quality of the Warmoth is better hands-down. The ES is different, but not neccesarily better. In fact, the Warmoth is still my number one, because I love the feel of the raw wenge neck and the fatter neck profile, I like the fact that it has a scarf joint and volute, making the neck much stronger, and because it has better tuning stability then any guitar I've owned. It may not fit the mold of what a Les Paul is for most people, but that's what Warmoth is all about to me - breaking the mold. My experiences have led me to believe that the neck joint just doesn't play as big of a role in the tone of a Gibson as most people think, but I understand that it's always going to be a hang up for many people. To each their own...
 
i dont care much about the set or bolt necks i just wanted to see how much of a difference the les paul was to those who have built a warmoth LP, I am leaning more towards the Warmoth LP because i can build it in steps at my own pace and also to what i want without spending 7k or more with a custom shop when i can do it for 1400 or less depending on a few things i may change.
 
Different pickups, scale length, bridge, FB radius, neck shape, and woods. Except for that they're the same, sure.
 
Thanks tfarny.  I'm tired of the Tele comparisons.  They're not the same thing, they just have the same electronics configuration (um, sometimes... unless you pick something different).
 
hannaugh said:
Thanks tfarny.  I'm tired of the Tele comparisons.  They're not the same thing, they just have the same electronics configuration (um, sometimes... unless you pick something different).
Click to expand...

That comparison will always be there...as long as the "bolt on" neck component exists...esp if it's a 25.5" Scale Neck.
 
Well that's stupid.  I don't see how anyone could just ignore the bridge, which makes a huge difference in my opinion.  If you build a traditional LP with Warmoth parts, it's gonna be mahogany, it's gonna be in the conversion scale, it's gonna have the TOM/stop bridge.  Those are some huge differences, and I don't see how anyone could just ignore them.  Plus if you ask me, there is no way the Warmoth LP isn't going to look drop dead sexy compared to a Fender Tele.  They are two different things. 
 
Even Fender does alright sometimes...

FenderTele1.jpg
 
muttznmongrelz said:
Even Fender does alright sometimes...

FenderTele1.jpg
Click to expand...

I have nothing against Fender or Teles, but come on man, my guitar is a Warmoth LP.  In my world, that's the sexiest, and that's why I chose it.  It's a personal taste thing.  Not that I wouldn't love to have a Warmoth Tele, I just don't think anything will ever replace the LP design aesthetically as my favorite.
 
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