Zebrawood strat with Rick Toone Trapezoidal Neck Profile

[RexTheDog]

Hello everyone, i have just recently finished putting together my first Warmoth strat and it looks and plays great! Im really pleased with the way this guitar has turned out and sent Warmoth an email a couple of weeks ago thanking them for making such a great product.  

Some of you may remember a thread i started several months ago about a neck profile invented by a luthier named Rick Toone that is trapezoidal rather then the traditional round shape (http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=9662.0).  Some of you were interested, some others were sceptical.  The main message i got from that was that most of you would like to try one for yourselves before you bought one because of how radical the shape was.  Well i was adventurous enough to send my neck to Rick who then modified it with the Trapezoidal Profile, and now that i have tried one for myself i can honestly say i prefer it to a round neck, and i believe many others would as well.  The profile to me is simply better then a round profile, period.  The flat surfaces along the back and sides of the neck make playing less fatiguing and the shape sits in your hand really well.  Playing a round neck feels weird now.  I will definitely be having all my future Warmoth necks modified with this profile.

The specs for the guitar are as follows:
Hardtail zebrawood strat body
25 1/2" Padouk neck
1 5/8" nutwidth
Stainless steel ss100 frets
Bill Lawrence pickups L290 bridge, l280 middle and neck

http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/4720/myguitar6.jpg
http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/5976/myguitar3.jpg
http://img693.imageshack.us/img693/5416/myguitar1.jpg

Check out some of Ricks work on his website www.ricktoone.com

 

[whyachi]

Your pics didn't work.

 

[RexTheDog]

I've uploaded some images on image shack but dont know how to link it so you can see the actual image on this site.

 

[JaySwear]

i think thats definitely on my list of "must try before you buy" but MAN that is a pretty guitar. congrats! bet it plays as great as it looks

 

[whyachi]

 

[RexTheDog]

Thank you knucklehead i appreciate it.

 

[whyachi]

Thank you knucklehead i appreciate it.

:rock-on:

That's a pretty guitar, I'd like to try that profile out myself and see if there is any bass potential in it.

 

[RexTheDog]

Thank you knucklehead i appreciate it.

:rock-on:

That's a pretty guitar, I'd like to try that profile out myself and see if there is any bass potential in it.

The first instrument Rick made with the Trapezoidal Profile was in fact a bass guitar.  In my original post about the profile (Linked above) theres a youtube video of a guy talking about and playing the bass in question.  He's also created a variation of it for 5 string basses which is even more unusual than the profile on my guitar.

 

[Watershed]

That's a cool idea.
Seems like it would have the comfort benefits of a "V" (sides) and a "D" (back) all in one.

 

[DangerousR6]

That's awesome, solid zebra wood looks tight....I love the endgrain effect... :icon_thumright:

 

[bbl4ck]

Man, that solid zebra body is just sick...  I love it  :headbang1:

As for the neck, I still am a bit leery about having a brand new Warmoth neck changed to something that I have never played.  :dontknow:  Maybe :dontknow:
What shape did you start out with and what did Rick charge you to do the mod???
He definitely is a great luthier and has some beautiful wacky geetars.
I could be tempted to check out his neck.

:kewlpics: :rock-on:

 

[tubby.twins]

Wow!

 

[RexTheDog]

Man, that solid zebra body is just sick...  I love it  :headbang1:

As for the neck, I still am a bit leery about having a brand new Warmoth neck changed to something that I have never played.   :dontknow:  Maybe :dontknow:
What shape did you start out with and what did Rick charge you to do the mod???
He definitely is a great luthier and has some beautiful wacky geetars.
I could be tempted to check out his neck.

:kewlpics: :rock-on:

Thanks for the compliment.  Im really happy with how well this turned out Warmoth really do make a great product.

Its really the flat surfaces on the back of the neck that make it so comfortable.  Like i said above having your thumb on a flat surface makes gripping the neck a lot easier, so the amount of force required to fret is lessened.  Being trapezoidal rather than round also means you can reach further around the fretboard due to there being a bit less wood (Smaller Diameter).  I have very small hands and my neck is about .900" at the nut and i can reach much further around the fretboard then i can on the original fender neck this one replaced and it is .825" at the nut.  That extra thickness helps make it easier to grip also.

The neck started out as a 1" fatback.  Rick needed that much wood to start off so he could make it the right shape and still have it thick enough as well.  Due to the fact that i started a thread about Ricks neck profile a few months ago to try and get some interest in the design and also contacted Warmoth about the profile Rick didn't charge me to do the modification.  You would have to contact him to find out how much he would charge to do the modification.

 

[RexTheDog]

Rick has created a post on his website about my Neck.  The post includes some history about how it all came about and new and improved photos of me and the guitar.

http://www.ricktoone.com/2010/03/warmoth-trapezoidal-neck-profile.html