c jury wrote: Sat May 24, 2025 12:12 am sometimes it was a drag, when they used bad parts or squandered an unreasonable amount on an objectively dumb idea.

I'd be interested to hear about some of the dumb ideas. I've def seen some builds where I think "you spent all that time and money on THAT?" The fancy top haters here probably think that about mine, which is fine (and rhymes).

You can get parts way cheaper from places other than Warmoth, but their QC is really good, shit just goes together right, they're playable right off the bench.

I don't know anything about this company, but I have an irrational craving for a Firebird, think I'm gonna get one of these when they're back in stock:

https://www.solomusicgear.com/product/s ... aple-neck/

For that price I imagine it's gotta be garbage but that's cheap enough for a fun fuck-around project.

MoreSpaceEcho wrote: Sat May 24, 2025 10:05 am

c jury wrote: Sat May 24, 2025 12:12 am sometimes it was a drag, when they used bad parts or squandered an unreasonable amount on an objectively dumb idea.

I'd be interested to hear about some of the dumb ideas. I've def seen some builds where I think "you spent all that time and money on THAT?" The fancy top haters here probably think that about mine, which is fine (and rhymes).

You can get parts way cheaper from places other than Warmoth, but their QC is really good, shit just goes together right, they're playable right off the bench.

I don't know anything about this company, but I have an irrational craving for a Firebird, think I'm gonna get one of these when they're back in stock:

https://www.solomusicgear.com/product/s ... aple-neck/

For that price I imagine it's gotta be garbage but that's cheap enough for a fun fuck-around project.

There's a guy on reverb that makes firebird clones with warmoth necks. They look pretty cool.

I see a lot of painted bodies for under $200 made of alder. I'd be curious how they'd fit a standard neck.

Check out the Warmoth YouTube for the fury build. Looks rad, but also I wouldn't play it.

This is my main Escape Rope guitar. Chambered walnut body with wenge top, baked maple compound radius neck with jumbo frets. Babicz bridge, roller nut, Sperzel locking tunas. Dimarzio at the bridge and Alumitone at the neck, with a 2-way toggle. Sounds great even when it's unplugged.

ChudFusk wrote: Tue May 27, 2025 1:50 am

This is my main Escape Rope guitar. Chambered walnut body with wenge top, baked maple compound radius neck with jumbo frets. Babicz bridge, roller nut, Sperzel locking tunas. Dimarzio at the bridge and Alumitone at the neck, with a 2-way toggle. Sounds great even when it's unplugged.

How's that Babicz trem?

That's an awesome use of gold hardware. Did you stain it black yourself?

cakes wrote: Tue May 27, 2025 10:11 am

ChudFusk wrote: Tue May 27, 2025 1:50 am

This is my main Escape Rope guitar. Chambered walnut body with wenge top, baked maple compound radius neck with jumbo frets. Babicz bridge, roller nut, Sperzel locking tunas. Dimarzio at the bridge and Alumitone at the neck, with a 2-way toggle. Sounds great even when it's unplugged.

How's that Babicz trem?

That's an awesome use of gold hardware. Did you stain it black yourself?

Love the Babicz, with the roller nut it perty much stays in tune even with wang bar abuse. Thanks, I like the way gold hardware corrodes over time and I think the gaudiness is counterbalanced by the woodiness. I didn’t do anything but a light oiling of the body and neck, and while wenge is naturally very dark, the color is lighter in person. The back is a rosy nutty brown as walnut should be.

I went down a Tele bridge rabbit hole and learned something interesting. The thicker bridges tend to give the Tele a different sound, somewhat losing the traditional twang. Sometimes, people call them "rock" bridges for this reason. So, if you like the Tele twang, it's suggested to go with the thinner, more traditional plates. As for the saddles, that's a more personal preference.

Anyway, if this truly is the case, then I'm convinced on the thicker plates. This is more of a take on a LP than a Tele, it's really only a Tele shaped guitar. I was interested in the Van Dyke Harms bridge, which is stainless steel only. But then I came across the Callaham bridge, which offers a nickel option. Mixing metals can look bad. I am concerned what a nickel humbucker cover would look like next to a stainless steel bridge? For that, I am considering the Callaham in nickel over the Van Dyke, even though I kinda like the look of the Van Dyke more. Overall, though, I think they'll offer the same tone and feel, and the Callaham is a bit cheaper. Only question is, if going for that one, which style saddle to get? Seems like it's just an aesthetic choice. I do like the angled over the enhanced.


The Callaham

The Van Dyke Harms

I found these cool plastic screw-type knobs of varying colors. I'm gonna get a pink, green, purple and yellow one to start, I think the wide dome one:



My idea is to wire up the 4 pots as such: neck vol, bridge vol, master tone, blender knob. Instead of mixing like traditional Gibson controls, I'd rather blend the neck pickup into the bridge. The traditional mix I don't like because the volume of both pots change when you get closer to zero on either pot, and if one pot is at zero, both pickups are off. I'd rather just have the volume of the bridge be normal (controlled by it's volume knob as normal), and mix in the neck as needed. For this, I think a two-way switch would be better, and just deal with the two pickups with the blender knob. Finding a two-way switch to fit in that hole can be difficult. Usually they're mini-toggles, I'd rather have a normal-sized toggle, if possible. However, if I can't find a two-way switch, it's probably better to use the traditional setup. I just wonder if there's a way to blend the two pickups without the volume issue in the traditional setup? I also think I'd like a treble bleed.

MoreSpaceEcho wrote: Sat May 24, 2025 10:05 am

c jury wrote: Sat May 24, 2025 12:12 am sometimes it was a drag, when they used bad parts or squandered an unreasonable amount on an objectively dumb idea.

I'd be interested to hear about some of the dumb ideas. I've def seen some builds where I think "you spent all that time and money on THAT?" The fancy top haters here probably think that about mine, which is fine (and rhymes).

You can get parts way cheaper from places other than Warmoth, but their QC is really good, shit just goes together right, they're playable right off the bench.

I don't know anything about this company, but I have an irrational craving for a Firebird, think I'm gonna get one of these when they're back in stock:

https://www.solomusicgear.com/product/s ... aple-neck/

For that price I imagine it's gotta be garbage but that's cheap enough for a fun fuck-around project.

Oh boy. Where to start? Usually things started to go wrong when ordering parts that don't easily work together- like a flat bottomed bridge on a carved top. Then there are parts and color choices. To each their own, but spending $1500 on parts to essentially build a marginal telecaster that will resell for 1/3 of the investment seems silly.

c jury wrote: Thu May 29, 2025 1:26 am To each their own, but spending $1500 on parts to essentially build a marginal telecaster that will resell for 1/3 of the investment seems silly.

Yeah parts guitars don’t sell for much. Parts do, though, so its easier to recoup if you disassemble it and sell it off by piece, which is kind of sad.

On the same turn, the resale value of Warmoth parts is relatively high. I bought some Warmoth semi-hollow Tele parts used that had the bridge drilled wrong by the previous owner and that guitar never really felt right. That sold fairly quickly when I parted it out.

Then I had a double cut Tele you put together that was a super great guitar. I sold it when I got my first EGC - I wouldn't part that one out and it sat for forever until the right guy just happened upon it and had to have it. Still probably barely cleared half of what I originally paid.

I've loaded a warmoth cart like 20 times and never pulled the trigger. always ends up being as much as some other guitar I like and can just go buy and like a Squier that has been modded to be $1500, will never resale for what you put into it. add to that that I would absolutely fuck up the build in some annoying way. Still, If I could get one of their Baritone necks to fit on a Starcaster body and the scale be right and it all stay in tune... maybe...