Just got my Warmoth Carved Top - Pics!

[quiksilver]

Re: My neck has arrived!

Thanks, everyone! I brought all the pieces to my tech today and hope to pick up a completed guitar the day after tomorrow. To answer your question, Michael, the neck was kinda pricey, IMO, at $279. Here's how it added up:

$204 Rosewood/Ebony neck
+25 Floyd nut prep
+35 Wizard backshape
+15 Abalone inlays
$279

It doesn't seem particularly heavy, though I'll have to re-evaluate that after it's mounted on the guitar.

[Number Of The Priest]

Re: My neck has arrived!

Was that a special-ordered neck, or was it a Showcase neck? Also, same question posed about the body. I'm doing my research... any help would be appreciated. I'm trying to find out the price difference between, say, two identical bodies, one of which is a Showcase body and the other one special-ordered with the exact same specs. From what I understand so far, I THINK they'd be the same price, but you'd have to WAIT for the special-ordered one to be made. How close am I? [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[quiksilver]

Showcase vs. Special Order

Generally speaking, you're right, NOTP. Showcase items are the same price as the special orders. The only difference is the wait, and the fact that you are somewhat limited in mods to Showcase items (more on that below). However, when things sit in the Showcase for a long time, they will sometimes be discounted. (More on that below, too).

In my case, the neck was a special order, and the body was from the Showcase. It took Warmoth about 3 weeks to build the neck.

I had been stalking this body in the Showcase for a long time (around a year, I think). In fact, there's a thread somewhere in the JCF where people were posting their dream guitars made with the Custom Shop Generator, and I imported the image of this carved top from Warmoth's Showcase as a graphic on my Custom Shop creation to make it look like it had that body. I guess you could say my virtual creation is now coming to life. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Anyway, when my plans to sell a bunch of guitars and buy VWall's Silver Swirl SL2H fell through (at the hands of EVH's lawyers, who killed my 5150 eBay auction), I decided to console myself with finally buying that body. I did. The NEXT day, I browsed Warmoth's site and saw, to my horror, that Warmoth was now discounting its Showcase Soloist Carved Top bodies, big-time. I emailed my salesman at Warmoth, and he was very cool, spoke to his manager, and gave me a discount, too, knocking $50 off my price. Then, when I received the body and was blown away by its beauty, I thought, "Hell, they're playing fair with me and I love their workmanship. I'm going for it," and I ordered a neck with all the trimmings. Incidentally, I had also been watching a neck very similar to mine in the Showcase, which is still there (SN956), but it lacks abalone dots, which are only a $15 upcharge, and it's not discounted, so I decided to special order one, wait and get exactly what I wanted. I was really surprised when mine had such highly figured rosewood, since the one in the Showcase doesn't (still pretty, though). The abalone, too, is very intensely variegated, which I love. It was well worth an extra $15 IMO. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Anyway, I don't know what you're looking for, but Warmoth still has a STEAL on a Soloist carved top body in the Showcase. SLCP14 is a carved top Soloist in Swamp Ash finished in Tobacco Sunburst for $319!! Special ordering one like it would cost $520 ($320 for the body + $200 for a sunburst finish). That's cheaper than mine was, even after the discount.

One potential downside to getting a Showcase item is that you're somewhat limited on options. For example, I originally ordered my body with: 1. a top-mount Floyd route (+$10); and 2. a recess for the trem cover (+20), so it would be recessed into the body, Jackson Soloist-style, instead of having it sit on top of the body, Strat-style, but the salesman emailed me a few days later and said, sorry, turns out it too late for those mods now, because: 1. a top-mount Floyd requires an angled neck pocket, and this neck pocket had already been routed; and 2. a trem cover recess has to be done before the guitar is painted/finished. I also kinda wanted an angled pickup route, like a Model 88, but my body's bridge pickup was already routed. And finally, I wanted a JEM/Californian-style upside-down output jack. I don't think they do those at all though, as my salesman seemed a bit mystified by that request.

Neckwise, you can't get scallops if the inlays are already done. You can get any kind of frets, though. I really like the 6105s I got. I would've liked to have had the upper frets scalloped, but then I couldn't have abalone (scallop jobs only come with synthetic inlays). I really didn't have much to choose from in the Showcase necks, because I wanted the Wizard profile. If you are happy with the Standard Thin profile, there're a ton to choose from.

Good luck! Mine is being built right now. I hope to pick it up on Saturday, and I'll post pics and a review ASAP.

[Number Of The Priest]

Re: Showcase vs. Special Order

Thanks for confirming everything! [img]/images/graemlins/toast.gif[/img] I was drooling at the thought of a carved top bolt-on Les Paul Custom sort of Warmoth beast... [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] I see a finished Showcase body I badly want, but the body is not made for the typical Les Paul 24.75" scale. So I am outta luck there. As far as I can tell, there's no way to tell by looking at the Showcase Les Paul bodies whether or not they're made for a Fender scale or Gibson scale Warmoth neck. I'll have to e-mail them about that...

[quiksilver]

. . . and here she is!

The waiting is over! My virtual guitar has become a real one. Here she is:

[Jacksonfan]

Re: . . . and here she is!

[img]/images/graemlins/drool2.gif[/img] Wow, it looks great! How does it play/sound? Any great difference tonally over a maple neck? mahogany?

Beautiful guitar [img]/images/graemlins/toast.gif[/img]


Chris

[txcharvel]

Re: . . . and here she is!

That is gorgeous man [img]/images/graemlins/toast.gif[/img]

[Number Of The Priest]

Re: . . . and here she is!

Awesome! [img]/images/graemlins/headbang.gif[/img] How do you like the contoured heel? Which model EMG is that in there?

[quiksilver]

Re: . . . and here she is!

Thanks! I LOVE it. The guitar is extremely comfortable to hold and play. It's light, and seems well balanced. I love the unfinished, Wizard profile neck and the contoured heel. I can't point to any great tonal difference based on woods, though it is not set up properly yet (not even intonated - hope to work on that tonight). The EMG is an 85. For those of you thinking about a Warmoth project, I'd say to go for it. I just love this thing.

[Number Of The Priest]

Re: . . . and here she is!

Warmoth Les Paul coming right up... [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]