Warmoth necks

Stevepage

I've been itching to have a massive neck made for my Strat. However, having just chose my specs, shipping quote, tax, new tuners, fret dress and set up it's going to cost as much as a new guitar (in the £400 to £500 region).

Is it really worth bothering with? Or are there alternatives (aside from not doing it)?

stonevibe

Warmoth necks have really sharp fretboard edges, need rolling. So be prepared to put work in to make them feel good.

guitarfishbay

Allparts do a fat neck, I've not used it but you can source it in the UK.

GoldenEraGuitars

It’s quite typical for custom necks to cost this. Regardless of having to pay shipping and tax from the US. There is a massive fallacy that you can do a “custom neck” for less than a painted body.

If you add up the cost of getting a neck made in the UK, having it dressed and rolled in then painted and posted it’ll not be far off the £400 mark. It’s the part of the guitar you have to gel with so I’d say it’s worth the money if you’re sure the specs are what you’re after.

guitarmangler

Secondhand and have it adjusted to your specs ? Allparts are also good. For £400/£500 you can get your pick of UK luthiers to build one. 
GSPBASSES on here makes an excellent neck for not much money .

GoldenEraGuitars

stonevibe said:

Warmoth necks have really sharp fretboard edges, need rolling. So be prepared to put work in to make them feel good.

Any unfinished neck will have undressed fret ends unless you’ve paid to have them bevelled. I lower, level, crown and bevel in all my customers necks before spraying them. Nothing nastier on a guitar than having a cheese grater for a neck.

stonevibe

lonestar said:

stonevibe said:

Warmoth necks have really sharp fretboard edges, need rolling. So be prepared to put work in to make them feel good.

Any unfinished neck will have undressed fret ends unless you’ve paid to have them bevelled. I lower, level, crown and bevel in all my customers necks before spraying them. Nothing nastier on a guitar than having a cheese grater for a neck.

No, not the fret ends.

The fretboard edges, on Warmoth necks they are super sharp.

stonevibe

I have the Allparts Fat neck on my Strat and it is pretty decent. I also have a Warmoth, Musikraft and a few other large necks to compare with.  Including a Kotzen Tele (the smallest of all my fatter neck guitars).

mudslide73

GSP I think here. I picked up a S/H but unused Musikraft neck and have also bought parted Fender stuff from the Stratosphere. Very expensive both but good enough to put straight onto a guitar. 

Danielsguitars

Imo all the work on a guitar is in the neck, especially on f style ones, my hand made ones take bloody ages to do, alot of people don't see the value unfortunately, i can't say if it's worth it, ask @poopot he had a pre cbs tele one made 

GoldenEraGuitars

customkits said:

Imo all the work on a guitar is in the neck, especially on f style ones, my hand made ones take bloody ages to do, alot of people don't see the value unfortunately, i can't say if it's worth it, ask @poopot he had a pre cbs tele one made 

I know we’re doibg different things but when it comes to finishing a neck, we share the same thoughts... no one sees, values or cares about how much work goes into making a neck feel right. And I agree, the neck makes a guitar.

Danielsguitars

lonestar said:

customkits said:

Imo all the work on a guitar is in the neck, especially on f style ones, my hand made ones take bloody ages to do, alot of people don't see the value unfortunately, i can't say if it's worth it, ask @poopot he had a pre cbs tele one made 

I know we’re doibg different things but when it comes to finishing a neck, we share the same thoughts... no one sees, values or cares about how much work goes into making a neck feel right. And I agree, the neck makes a guitar.

I got given an allparts neck for the tele body I'm doing, well i did get stuart to route it while i was busy, even that neck didn't fit the body and the fret edges are sharp, needs a bone nut etc, if you factor in the extra work it'll work out close to a hand made anyway 

stickyfiddle

I've had two necks from Musikraft with MJT finishing and both are excellent. I rolled the edges more myself, but comfy enough out of the box. Fretwork and nut fitting were good in both cases. 

No cheaper than Warmoth, but an alternative, at least.

Philly_Q

I think the great advantage with Warmoth is being able to shop from their in-stock showcase.  There's a big choice, you get to see the actual neck you're buying and you can specify fret size and type, type of tuners, nut material and finish (if you want one).  I agree that their necks will always need the edges rolled and a bit of a fret dress, but the same is true of Musikraft, USACG, certainly Allparts.

If you do a custom order with them, it's a lot more expensive and you can no longer see what you're getting - although you can choose a fretboard, at a price.  For a custom order I'd probably shop closer to home.

Stevepage

My idea was to originally ask Feline guitars to make a neck for me but Jonathan has been going through quite a tough time and is understandably not making custom orders for the foreseeable future. 

matone

stonevibe said:

Warmoth necks have really sharp fretboard edges, need rolling. So be prepared to put work in to make them feel good.

Would agree! Musikraft turn out a better job imho in terms of `feel` out of the box.

prowla

I have a Warmoth neck on a Strat and I have to say that it is rather excellent!

stephen.wood125

From my experience, I've got the SMO-FAT Allparts neck and I do really like it, but I recently got one from @GSPBASSES and it's superb. 

Philly_Q

Stevepage said:

My idea was to originally ask Feline guitars to make a neck for me but Jonathan has been going through quite a tough time and is understandably not making custom orders for the foreseeable future. 

I wasn't aware of that, very sorry to hear it...

Paul7926

I know nothing about the subject so bear with me. Are you after something non standard? I mean someone like crimson guitars do necks as part of a lot which you can buy or maybe they would quote you for something bespoke. Not sure that helps you though with there being people on here already that make necks.

Zodiac51

What's your spec? 

I've got a Warmoth 59 Roundback lovely rosewood board with vintage tuners, compound radius, that I'm not using. may not be fat enough for you though, if you want proper baseball bat.  Doesn't need a fret dress or have sharp edges

I had a SMO-FAT tele neck, was HUGE, ended up re-carving it.